The MemSQL Query Optimizer: A modern optimizer for real-time analytics in a distributed database

Summary: MemSQL delivers real-time analytics on a distributed, memory-optimized SQL DB with fast optimization. It introduces a distribution-aware optimizer that uses rewrite strategies and bushy-join enumeration to yield high-quality plans for complex star/snowflake queries quickly. (summarized by gpt-5-nano on Feb 09 2026)

Paper ID: 11249
Venue: VLDB
Year: 2016
Pagerank: 7.4686089e-05
Overall Rank: 3,154 | 78.06%
DOI: -

Incoming Non-self Citations Over Time

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Incoming Citations (Sorted by Pagerank)

Showing 21 of 21 citing papers.

Rank	Citing Paper	Year	Venue	Pagerank
2,596	WeTune: Automatic Discovery and Verification of Query Rewrite Rules	2022	SIGMOD	8.4729982e-05
3,628	OceanBase: A 707 Million tpmC Distributed Relational Database System	2022	VLDB	6.9031596e-05
3,648	One WITH RECURSIVE is Worth Many GOTOs	2021	SIGMOD	6.8831123e-05
3,680	SingleStore-V: An Integrated Vector Database System in SingleStore	2024	VLDB	6.8496415e-05
4,767	Pinot: Realtime OLAP for 530 Million Users	2018	SIGMOD	5.9364731e-05
5,173	FiGO: Fine-Grained Query Optimization in Video Analytics	2022	SIGMOD	5.6447253e-05
5,490	The Case for Distributed Shared-Memory Databases with RDMA-Enabled Memory Disaggregation	2023	VLDB	5.4778129e-05
5,678	Cloud-Native Transactions and Analytics in SingleStore	2022	SIGMOD	5.3746593e-05
5,865	ByteHTAP: ByteDance’s HTAP System with High Data Freshness and Strong Data Consistency	2022	VLDB	5.296893e-05
6,388	Optimizing Data-intensive Systems in Disaggregated Data Centers with TELEPORT	2022	SIGMOD	5.0851841e-05
7,092	CompuCache: Remote Computable Caching using Spot VMs	2022	CIDR	4.8370308e-05
7,889	Cost-Intelligent Data Analytics in the Cloud	2024	CIDR	4.6253386e-05
8,345	SlabCity: Whole-Query Optimization using Program Synthesis	2023	VLDB	4.5426916e-05
8,432	SPRINTER: A Fast n-ary Join Query Processing Method for Complex OLAP Queries	2020	SIGMOD	4.5153924e-05
8,861	A Model for Query Execution Over Heterogeneous Instances	2024	CIDR	4.4331977e-05
9,124	Dynamic Speculative Optimizations for SQL Compilation in Apache Spark	2020	VLDB	4.391961e-05
9,671	BIPie: Fast Selection and Aggregation on Encoded Data using Operator Specialization	2018	SIGMOD	4.306318e-05
10,497	PilotDB: Database-Agnostic Online Approximate Query Processing with A Priori Error Guarantees	2025	SIGMOD	4.1945683e-05
10,653	Alchemy: A Query Optimization Framework for Oblivious SQL	2025	VLDB	4.1945683e-05
10,668	Twisted Twin: A Collaborative and Competitive Memory Management Approach in HTAP Systems	2025	VLDB	4.1945683e-05
10,772	veDB-HTAP: a Highly Integrated, Efficient and Adaptive HTAP System	2025	VLDB	4.1945683e-05

Outgoing Citations (Sorted by Pagerank)

Showing 10 of 10 cited papers.

Citations counted here include only citations to other VLDB/SIGMOD/CIDR/PODS papers in this database.

Rank	Cited Paper	Year	Venue	Pagerank
1	Access Path Selection in a Relational Database Management System	1979	SIGMOD	0.0040449103
310	The Vertica Analytic Database: C-Store 7 Years Later	2012	VLDB	0.00028132402
423	Measuring the Complexity of Join Enumeration in Query Optimization	1990	VLDB	0.00023669348
659	The Making of TPC-DS	2006	VLDB	0.00018500853
784	Optimization of Large Join Queries: Combining Heuristics and Combinatorial Techniques	1989	SIGMOD	0.00016675823
2,241	Query Optimization in Microsoft SQL Server PDW	2012	SIGMOD	9.2191212e-05
2,249	Orca: A Modular Query Optimizer Architecture for Big Data	2014	SIGMOD	9.2034693e-05
4,261	Parallelizing Query Optimization	2008	VLDB	6.31244e-05
4,511	Of Snowstorms and Bushy Trees	2014	VLDB	6.1247645e-05
6,337	Parallelizing Extensible Query Optimizers	2009	SIGMOD	5.1053757e-05

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4,261	Parallelizing Query Optimization	2008	VLDB	6.31244e-05
7,098	Optimizing Queries over Partitioned Tables in MPP Systems	2014	SIGMOD	4.833012e-05
6,337	Parallelizing Extensible Query Optimizers	2009	SIGMOD	5.1053757e-05
196	R* Optimizer Validation and Performance Evaluation for Distributed Queries	1986	VLDB	0.00035261496
7,715	Query Centric Partitioning and Allocation for Partially Replicated Database Systems	2017	SIGMOD	4.6699261e-05
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5,293	MQJoin: Efficient Shared Execution of Main-Memory Joins	2016	VLDB	5.5815698e-05
2,241	Query Optimization in Microsoft SQL Server PDW	2012	SIGMOD	9.2191212e-05