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: 11250
Venue: VLDB
Year: 2016
Pagerank: 7.4765759e-05
Overall Rank: 3,150 | 78.11%
DOI: -

Incoming Non-self Citations Over Time

Authors

Incoming Citations (Sorted by Pagerank)

Showing 21 of 21 citing papers.

Rank	Citing Paper	Year	Venue	Pagerank
2,595	WeTune: Automatic Discovery and Verification of Query Rewrite Rules	2022	SIGMOD	8.4725961e-05
3,612	SingleStore-V: An Integrated Vector Database System in SingleStore	2024	VLDB	6.9177653e-05
3,641	OceanBase: A 707 Million tpmC Distributed Relational Database System	2022	VLDB	6.8877808e-05
3,649	One WITH RECURSIVE is Worth Many GOTOs	2021	SIGMOD	6.8764882e-05
4,766	Pinot: Realtime OLAP for 530 Million Users	2018	SIGMOD	5.933206e-05
5,168	FiGO: Fine-Grained Query Optimization in Video Analytics	2022	SIGMOD	5.6446115e-05
5,498	The Case for Distributed Shared-Memory Databases with RDMA-Enabled Memory Disaggregation	2023	VLDB	5.4738497e-05
5,649	Optimizing Data-intensive Systems in Disaggregated Data Centers with TELEPORT	2022	SIGMOD	5.3897976e-05
5,691	Cloud-Native Transactions and Analytics in SingleStore	2022	SIGMOD	5.3697521e-05
5,853	ByteHTAP: ByteDance’s HTAP System with High Data Freshness and Strong Data Consistency	2022	VLDB	5.2982336e-05
7,063	CompuCache: Remote Computable Caching using Spot VMs	2022	CIDR	4.8397918e-05
7,787	Cost-Intelligent Data Analytics in the Cloud	2024	CIDR	4.6468106e-05
8,339	SlabCity: Whole-Query Optimization using Program Synthesis	2023	VLDB	4.5383933e-05
8,423	SPRINTER: A Fast n-ary Join Query Processing Method for Complex OLAP Queries	2020	SIGMOD	4.5112315e-05
8,861	A Model for Query Execution Over Heterogeneous Instances	2024	CIDR	4.4289485e-05
9,122	Dynamic Speculative Optimizations for SQL Compilation in Apache Spark	2020	VLDB	4.3877539e-05
9,238	PilotDB: Database-Agnostic Online Approximate Query Processing with A Priori Error Guarantees	2025	SIGMOD	4.3648789e-05
9,671	BIPie: Fast Selection and Aggregation on Encoded Data using Operator Specialization	2018	SIGMOD	4.302191e-05
10,661	Alchemy: A Query Optimization Framework for Oblivious SQL	2025	VLDB	4.1905499e-05
10,676	Twisted Twin: A Collaborative and Competitive Memory Management Approach in HTAP Systems	2025	VLDB	4.1905499e-05
10,778	veDB-HTAP: a Highly Integrated, Efficient and Adaptive HTAP System	2025	VLDB	4.1905499e-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	0.0040465394
310	The Vertica Analytic Database: C-Store 7 Years Later	2012	VLDB	0.0002815547
422	Measuring the Complexity of Join Enumeration in Query Optimization	1990	VLDB	0.00023654556
659	The Making of TPC-DS	2006	VLDB	0.00018514913
782	Optimization of Large Join Queries: Combining Heuristics and Combinatorial Techniques	1989	SIGMOD	0.00016665859
2,244	Query Optimization in Microsoft SQL Server PDW	2012	SIGMOD	9.2095696e-05
2,247	Orca: A Modular Query Optimizer Architecture for Big Data	2014	SIGMOD	9.201975e-05
4,255	Parallelizing Query Optimization	2008	VLDB	6.3080082e-05
4,503	Of Snowstorms and Bushy Trees	2014	VLDB	6.131076e-05
6,333	Parallelizing Extensible Query Optimizers	2009	SIGMOD	5.1013149e-05

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Overall Rank	Paper	Year	Venue	Pagerank
9,929	Rethink Query Optimization in HTAP Databases	2023	SIGMOD	4.2470891e-05
4,255	Parallelizing Query Optimization	2008	VLDB	6.3080082e-05
7,096	Optimizing Queries over Partitioned Tables in MPP Systems	2014	SIGMOD	4.8283743e-05
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196	R* Optimizer Validation and Performance Evaluation for Distributed Queries	1986	VLDB	0.00035240105
9,312	Parallelizing Query Optimization on Shared-Nothing Architectures	2016	VLDB	4.353536e-05
2,928	Shared Workload Optimization	2014	VLDB	7.881485e-05
5,298	MQJoin: Efficient Shared Execution of Main-Memory Joins	2016	VLDB	5.5762694e-05
2,244	Query Optimization in Microsoft SQL Server PDW	2012	SIGMOD	9.2095696e-05