Introduction to NonStop SQL/MP

A High Performance DBMS
Introduction to NonStop SQL/MP
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A High Performance
DBMS
The NonStop SQL/MP database management system (DBMS) achieves high
performance because it operates at the lowest levels of the NonStop server
architecture. Instead of operating as a software layer above the operating system,
NonStop SQL/MP is integrated with NonStop Kernel system processes such as the file
system, message system, and data access manager (DP2 disk process).
Figure 1-2 compares the architecture of a traditional DBMS with that of
NonStop SQL/MP. In a traditional DBMS, the DBMS must perform most of the query
processing, communicating with low-level system processes only to retrieve the data.
With NonStop SQL/MP, the low-level system processes themselves perform most of
the query processing. The NonStop SQL/MP architecture considerably shortens the
path length to the data residing on disk, significantly enhancing performance.
Figure 1-2. Comparing Traditional DBMS Architecture With NonStop SQL/MP Architecture
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NonStopSQL/MP
Data
Traditional DBMS
Data
I/O Drivers
Disk Access
File System
DBMS
Application
SQL Data Access
Manager
I/O Drivers
Message System
Application
SQL File System
SQL Data Access
Manager
DBMS
The data access manager (also called the DP2 disk process) evaluates SQL requests
made on a single table or table partition. Because the data access manager is fully
responsible for data access to a single disk volume, it can be said that the access is
encapsulated—that is, no other process can access the data and thus subvert the
DBMS.