Abstract: A method comprises receiving a range query from a requestor. The range query requests a range of sequential items in a database that is distributed among a plurality of storage devices or partitions. The range query is divided into R sub-range queries, where R is an integer. Each sub-range query corresponds to a respective portion of the range of sequential items stored in a respective storage device or partition. The sub-range queries are issued to respective ones of up to K storage servers, where K is an integer less than or equal to R. Each of the K storage servers is configured with read access to the respective storage device or partition storing the respective portion of the range of sequential items in the respective sub-range query issued to that storage server.