Parallel database processing on the KSR1 computer

The Kendall Square Research high performance computer (KSR1) provides a spectrum of parallel database processing techniques to achieve scalability and performance in a shared memory environment. The techniques include running multiple transactions in parallel, decomposing queries into parallel subqueries, running multiple instances of the DBMS and partitioning data over disks. These techniques enable on-line transactions to be run in parallel at high throughput rates and decision-support queries to be parallelized and executed very rapidly. This paper focuses upon two of the parallel database processing techniques used on the KSR1—the Kendall Square Query Decomposer and the Oracle Parallel Server. The Query Decomposer intercepts costly decision support queries and decomposes them into subqueries which are executed in parallel. Parallel Server enables multiple ORACLE instances to run simultaneously on the same database.