Abstract: A shared-nothing database system is provided in which parallelism and workload balancing are increased by assigning the rows of each table to “slices”, and storing multiple copies (“duplicas”) of each slice across the persistent storage of multiple nodes of the shared-nothing database system. When the data for a table is distributed among the nodes of a shared-nothing system in this manner, requests to read data from a particular row of the table may be handled by any node that stores a duplica of the slice to which the row is assigned. For each slice, a single duplica of the slice is designated as the “primary duplica”. All DML operations (e.g. inserts, deletes, updates, etc.) that target a particular row of the table are performed by the node that has the primary duplica of the slice to which the particular row is assigned. The changes made by the DML operations are then propagated from the primary duplica to the other duplicas (“secondary duplicas”) of the same slice.

Abstract: A shared-nothing database system is provided in which parallelism and workload balancing are increased by assigning the rows of each table to “slices”, and storing multiple copies (“duplicas”) of each slice across the persistent storage of multiple nodes of the shared-nothing database system. When the data for a table is distributed among the nodes of a shared-nothing system in this manner, requests to read data from a particular row of the table may be handled by any node that stores a duplica of the slice to which the row is assigned. For each slice, a single duplica of the slice is designated as the “primary duplica”. All DML operations (e.g. inserts, deletes, updates, etc.) that target a particular row of the table are performed by the node that has the primary duplica of the slice to which the particular row is assigned. The changes made by the DML operations are then propagated from the primary duplica to the other duplicas (“secondary duplicas”) of the same slice.

Abstract: Techniques are provided for using an intermediate cache to provide some of the items involved in a scan operation, while other items involved in the scan operation are provided from primary storage. Techniques are also provided for determining whether to service an I/O request for an item with a copy of the item that resides in the intermediate cache based on factors such as a) an identity of the user for whom the I/O request was submitted, b) an identity of a service that submitted the I/O request, c) an indication of a consumer group to which the I/O request maps, d) whether the I/O request is associated with an offloaded filter provided by the database server to the storage system, or e) whether the intermediate cache is overloaded. Techniques are also provided for determining whether to store items in an intermediate cache in response to the items being retrieved, based on logical characteristics associated with the requests that retrieve the items.

Abstract: Techniques are described herein for supporting multiple versions of a database server within a database machine comprising a separate database layer and storage layer. In an embodiment, the database layer includes compute nodes each hosting one or more instances of a database server. The storage layer includes storage nodes each hosting one or more instances of a storage server, also referred to herein as a “cell server.” In general, the database servers may receive data requests, such as SQL queries, from client applications and service the requests in coordination with the cell servers of the storage layer.

Abstract: Techniques are described herein for supporting multiple versions of a database server within a database machine comprising a separate database layer and storage layer. In an embodiment, the database layer includes compute nodes each hosting one or more instances of a database server. The storage layer includes storage nodes each hosting one or more instances of a storage server, also referred to herein as a “cell server.” In general, the database servers may receive data requests, such as SQL queries, from client applications and service the requests in coordination with the cell servers of the storage layer.

Abstract: Techniques are provided for using an intermediate cache to provide some of the items involved in a scan operation, while other items involved in the scan operation are provided from primary storage. Techniques are also provided for determining whether to service an I/O request for an item with a copy of the item that resides in the intermediate cache based on factors such as a) an identity of the user for whom the I/O request was submitted, b) an identity of a service that submitted the I/O request, c) an indication of a consumer group to which the I/O request maps, or d) whether the intermediate cache is overloaded. Techniques are also provided for determining whether to store items in an intermediate cache in response to the items being retrieved, based on logical characteristics associated with the requests that retrieve the items.

Abstract: Processing resources at a storage system for a database server are utilized to perform aspects of a join operation that would conventionally be performed by the database server. When requesting a range of data units from a storage system, the database server includes join metadata describing aspects of the join operation for which the data is being requested. The join metadata may be, for instance, a bloom filter. The storage system reads the requested data from disk as normal. However, prior to sending the requested data back to the storage system, the storage system analyzes the raw data based on the join metadata, removing a certain amount of data that is guaranteed to be irrelevant to the join operation. The storage system then returns filtered data to the database server. The database system thereby avoids the unnecessary transfer of certain data between the storage system and the database server.

Abstract: Techniques are described herein for supporting multiple versions of a database server within a database machine comprising a separate database layer and storage layer. In an embodiment, the database layer includes compute nodes each hosting one or more instances of a database server. The storage layer includes storage nodes each hosting one or more instances of a storage server, also referred to herein as a “cell server.” In general, the database servers may receive data requests, such as SQL queries, from client applications and service the requests in coordination with the cell servers of the storage layer.

Abstract: Processing resources at a storage system for a database server are utilized to perform aspects of a join operation that would conventionally be performed by the database server. When requesting a range of data units from a storage system, the database server includes join metadata describing aspects of the join operation for which the data is being requested. The join metadata may be, for instance, a bloom filter. The storage system reads the requested data from disk as normal. However, prior to sending the requested data back to the storage system, the storage system analyzes the raw data based on the join metadata, removing a certain amount of data that is guaranteed to be irrelevant to the join operation. The storage system then returns filtered data to the database server. The database system thereby avoids the unnecessary transfer of certain data between the storage system and the database server.

Abstract: Processing resources at a storage system for a database server are utilized to perform aspects of a join operation that would conventionally be performed by the database server. When requesting a range of data units from a storage system, the database server includes join metadata describing aspects of the join operation for which the data is being requested. The join metadata may be, for instance, a bloom filter. The storage system reads the requested data from disk as normal. However, prior to sending the requested data back to the storage system, the storage system analyzes the raw data based on the join metadata, removing a certain amount of data that is guaranteed to be irrelevant to the join operation. The storage system then returns filtered data to the database server. The database system thereby avoids the unnecessary transfer of certain data between the storage system and the database server.

Abstract: Techniques are provided for isolating faults in a software program by providing at least two code paths that are capable of performing the same operation. When a fault occurs while the one of the code paths is being used to perform an operation, data that indicates the circumstances under which the fault occurred is stored. For example, a fault-recording mechanism may store data that indicates the entities that were involved in the failed operation. Because they were involved in an operation that experienced a fault, one or more of those entities may be “quarantined”. When subsequent requests arrive to perform the operation, a check may be performed to determine whether the requested operation involves any of the quarantined entities. If the requested operation involves a quarantined entity, a different code path is used to perform the operation, rather than the code path from which the entity is quarantined.

Abstract: Techniques are provided for isolating faults in a software program by providing at least two code paths that are capable of performing the same operation. When a fault occurs while the one of the code paths is being used to perform an operation, data that indicates the circumstances under which the fault occurred is stored. For example, a fault-recording mechanism may store data that indicates the entities that were involved in the failed operation. Because they were involved in an operation that experienced a fault, one or more of those entities may be “quarantined”. When subsequent requests arrive to perform the operation, a check may be performed to determine whether the requested operation involves any of the quarantined entities. If the requested operation involves a quarantined entity, a different code path is used to perform the operation, rather than the code path from which the entity is quarantined.

Abstract: Techniques are provided for using an intermediate cache to provide some of the items involved in a scan operation, while other items involved in the scan operation are provided from primary storage. Techniques are also provided for determining whether to service an I/O request for an item with a copy of the item that resides in the intermediate cache based on factors such as a) an identity of the user for whom the I/O request was submitted, b) an identity of a service that submitted the I/O request, c) an indication of a consumer group to which the I/O request maps, d) whether the I/O request is associated with an offloaded filter provided by the database server to the storage system, or e) whether the intermediate cache is overloaded. Techniques are also provided for determining whether to store items in an intermediate cache in response to the items being retrieved, based on logical characteristics associated with the requests that retrieve the items.

Abstract: Processing resources at a storage system for a database server are utilized to perform aspects of a join operation that would conventionally be performed by the database server. When requesting a range of data units from a storage system, the database server includes join metadata describing aspects of the join operation for which the data is being requested. The join metadata may be, for instance, a bloom filter. The storage system reads the requested data from disk as normal. However, prior to sending the requested data back to the storage system, the storage system analyzes the raw data based on the join metadata, removing a certain amount of data that is guaranteed to be irrelevant to the join operation. The storage system then returns filtered data to the database server. The database system thereby avoids the unnecessary transfer of certain data between the storage system and the database server.