Patent ID: 8176037

Claim:
A method for allocating the execution of a database query in a system comprising a database server and a storage system communicatively coupled to the database server via a communication network, comprising: establishing a ranking scheme comprising a plurality of rank values; assigning a first rank from the plurality of rank values to the database query, comprising: determining whether the database query comprises at least an outer table query and an inner table query; if the database query comprises at least an outer table query and an inner table query, assigning the first rank to an outer table query of the database query and assigning a second rank to the inner table query of the database query; determining a threshold rank from the plurality of rank values; comparing the first rank to the threshold rank; if the first rank is greater than the threshold rank, communicating the database query to the database server for execution; and if the first rank is not greater than the threshold rank, communicating the database query to the storage system for execution.