Solving Local Cost Estimation Problem for Global Query Optimization in Multidatabase Systems

To meet users' growing needs for accessing pre-existing heterogeneous databases, a multidatabase system (MDBS) integrating multiple databases has attracted many researchers recently. A key feature of an MDBS is local autonomy. For a query retrieving data from multiple databases, global query optimization should be performed to achieve good system performance. There are a number of new challenges for global query optimization in an MDBS. Among them, a major one is that some local optimization information, such as local cost parameters, may not be available at the global level because of local autonomy. It creates difficulties for finding a good decomposition of a global query during query optimization. To tackle this challenge, a new query sampling method is proposed in this paper. The idea is to group component queries into homogeneous classes, draw a sample of queries from each class, and use observed costs of sample queries to derive a cost formula for each class by multiple regression. The derived formulas can be used to estimate the cost of a query during query optimization. The relevant issues, such as query classification rules, sampling procedures, and cost model development and validation, are explored in this paper. To verify the feasibility of the method, experiments were conducted on three commercial database management systems supported in an MDBS. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method is quite promising in estimating local cost parameters in an MDBS.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44824/1/10619_2004_Article_181758.pd

Evolutionary techniques for updating query cost models in a dynamic multidatabase environment

Deriving local cost models for query optimization in a dynamic multidatabase system (MDBS) is a challenging issue. In this paper, we study how to evolve a query cost model to capture a slowly-changing dynamic MDBS environment so that the cost model is kept up-to-date all the time. Two novel evolutionary techniques, i.e., the shifting method and the block-moving method, are proposed. The former updates a cost model by taking up-to-date information from a new sample query into consideration at each step, while the latter considers a block (batch) of new sample queries at each step. The relevant issues, including derivation of recurrence updating formulas, development of efficient algorithms, analysis and comparison of complexities, and design of an integrated scheme to apply the two methods adaptively, are studied. Our theoretical and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed techniques are quite promising in maintaining accurate cost models efficiently for a slowly changing dynamic MDBS environment. Besides the application to MDBSs, the proposed techniques can also be applied to the automatic maintenance of cost models in self-managing database systems.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/47868/1/778_2003_Article_110.pd