The design of distributed databases is an optimization problem requiring solutions to several interrelated problems including: data fragmentation, allocation, and local optimization. Each problem can be solved with several different approaches thereby making the distributed database design a very difficult task. Although there is a large body of work on the design of data fragmentation, most of them are either ad hoc solutions or formal solutions for special cases (e. g., binary vertical partitioning). In this paper, we address the general vertical partitioning problem formally. We first provide a comparison of work in the area of data clustering and distributed databases to highlight the thrust of this work. We derive an objective function that generalizes and subsumes earlier work on vertical partitioning in databases. The objective function developed in this paper provides a basis for developing heuristic algorithms for vertical partitioning. The objective function also facilitates ...

The design of distributed databases is an optimization problem requiring solutions to several interrelated problems: data fragmentation, allocation, and local optimization. Each problem can be solved with several different approaches thereby making the distributed database design a very difficult task. Although there is a large body of work on the design of data fragmentation, most of them are either ad hoc solutions or formal solutions for special cases (e. g., binary vertical partitioning). In this paper, we address the problem of n-ary vertical partitioning problem and derive an objective function that generalizes and subsumes earlier work. The objective function derived in this paper is being used for developing heuristic algorithms that can be shown to satisfy the objective function. The objective function is also being used for comparing previously proposed algorithms for vertical partitioning. We first derive an objective function that is suited to distributed transaction proces...

Users of distributed database systems often observe performance problems such as unexpectedly low throughput or high latency. Determining the cause of the performance problems can be very hard task. Bottlenecks can occur in any of the components through which the data flows: the applications, the operating systems, the network interfaces and hardware. Horizontal and vertical partitioning are important aspects of physical design in relational database system that has a significant impact on performance. The distribution design involves making decisions on the fragmentation and the allocation of data across the sites of a computer network. In this paper we address the fragmentation phase of distributed database systems. In this paper, vertical partitioning problem during the design of distributed databases is discussed by conducting a comparative study for different vertical partitioning algorithms to reach the most efficient vertical fragmentation scheme that leads to a proper data allocation and replication.