Contemporary applications continuously modify large volumes of multidimensional data that must be accessed efficiently and,
more importantly, must be updated in a timely manner. Single-server storage approaches are insufficient when managing such
volumes of data, while the high frequency of data modification render classical indexing methods inefficient. To address these
two problems we introduce a distributed storage manager for multidimensional data based on a Cluster-of-Workstations. The
manager addresses the above challenges through a set of mechanisms that, through selective on-line data reorganization, collectively
maintain a balanced load across a cluster of workstations. With the help of both a highly efficient and speedy self-tuning
mechanism, based on a new data structure called
stat-index, as well as a query aggregation and clustering algorithm, our storage manager attains short query response times even
in the presence of massive modifications and highly skewed access patterns. Furthermore, we provide a data migration cost
model used to determine the best data redistribution strategy. Through extensive experimentation with our prototype, we establish
that our storage manager can sustain significant update rates with minimal overhead.
Keywords Multi-dimensional data - Cluster of workstations - Self-tuning storage