A Multi-Resolution Block Storage Model for Database Design

We propose a new storage model called MBSM (Multiresolution Block Storage Model) for laying out tables on disks. MBSM is intended to speed up operations such as scans that are typical of data warehouse workloads. Disk blocks are grouped into “super-blocks,” with a single record stored in a partitioned fashion among the blocks in a superblock. The intention is that a scan operation that needs to consult only a small number of attributes can access just those blocks of each super-block that contain the desired attributes. To achieve good performance given the physical characteristics of modern disks, we organize super-blocks on the disk into fixed-size “mega-blocks.” Within a megablock, blocks of the same type (from various super-blocks) are stored contiguously. We describe the changes needed in a conventional database system to manage tables using such a disk organization. We demonstrate experimentally that MBSM outperforms competing approaches such as NSM (N-ary Storage Model...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2003
• Where: IDEAS
• Authors: Jingren Zhou, Kenneth A. Ross
• Keywords: Block Storage Model, Database, Disk Blocks, IDEAS 2003, Storage Model