A computer system designed for database access. Database machines never caught on until the early 1990s when massively parallel processors (MPPs) from companies such as Teradata (acquired by AT&T), nCube, Thinking Machines and Kendall Square Research, proved the concept. Using hundreds and even thousands of microprocessors with database software designed for parallelism, database machines can scan large files much faster than a mainframe.
Dramatic Improvements
Huge performance increases have been documented. For example, a large financial organization reduced 30 days' worth of month-end analysis and reporting to a single day. In other cases, queries have been speeded up by a factor of 100. Database machines using MPP architecture are expected to grow in popularity for decision support systems in large organizations.
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