Patent ID: 7984043

Claim:
A computing system, comprising: a plurality of query processing nodes, each comprising: a query processor; and a portion of a distributed storage system, wherein the distributed storage system comprises data stored on each of the plurality of query processing nodes; wherein the query processor of one of the plurality of query processing nodes is configured to: receive a query request; generate a query plan for execution of the query request, wherein to generate the query plan, the query processor is configured to parse or translate the received query request, wherein the query plan generated by the query processor is not dependent on locations of data in the distributed storage system, wherein the query plan is generated such that the particular query processing nodes on which segments of the query plan are to be instantiated are not determined until the query plan is carried out; and when the query plan is carried out: instantiate a segment of the query plan on each of one or more others of the plurality of query processing nodes, wherein instantiating comprises determining the query processing node on which each segment is to be instantiated; receive query results from each of the one or more others of the plurality of query processing nodes; and return the query results.