[en] We report on a first step to an international stellarator database on global confinement data. The structure of the database is presented and a list of plasma parameters coveredis added as an appendix. The principal problems encountered in stellarator databases are discussed on the basis of ATF and W7-AS data. A simple comparison with tokamak data is made in terms of LHD and tokamak L-mode scaling expressions. Furthermore, some useful relations are derived to convert scaling expressions from machine to physics variables. Constraints deduced from these relations are used to compare regression expressions which follow Bohm-like or gyro-Bohm-like scalings. Finally, it is demonstrated that in the frame of linear regression analysis it is technically not possible to deduce a reliable dependence of the energy confinement time on the plasma energy. (orig.)