Hardware acceleration of database operations
Jared Casper, Kunle Olukotun · 2014
As the amount of memory in database systems grows, entire database tables, or even databases, are able to fit in the system's memory, making in-memory database operations more prevalent. This shift from disk-based to in-memory database systems has contributed to a move from row-wise to columnar data storage. Furthermore, common database workloads have grown beyond online transaction processing (OLTP) to include online analytical processing and data mining. These workloads analyze huge datasets that are often irregular and not indexed, making traditional database operations like joins much more expensive.