System and Method for Distributed SQL Join Processing in Shared-Nothing Relational Database Clusters Using Stationary Tables

A method for query processing in a massively parallel processing (MPP) database system, the method comprising:

• receiving, at a processing node of the MPP from a coordinator process that runs on the MPP, a join query associated with a plurality of tables of the MPP database system;
• receiving indication for stationary tables selected from the tables by the coordinator process according to table partition keys in the join query;
• generating an execution plan for the join query;
• and
• executing, at the processing node, the execution plan to obtain query results without sharing information of the stationary tables with other processing nodes of the MPP that are processing the same join query.

An apparatus for query processing in a massively parallel processing (MPP) database system, the apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of data nodes configured to process a join query on partitions of data tables of the MPP database system;
• a processor;
• and
• a computer readable storage medium storing programming for execution by the processor, the programming including instructions to:
• receive, at a coordinator process communicating with the data nodes, a join query associated with the tables;
• select stationary tables from the tables;
• indicate the stationary tables and send the join query to the data nodes;
• and
• combine, a plurality of query results from the data nodes.