Improved method of and apparatus for aggregating data elements in multidimensional databases (MDDB). In one aspect of the present invention, the apparatus is realized in the form of a high-performance stand-alone (i.e. external) aggregation
server which can be plugged-into conventional OLAP systems to achieve significant improments in
system performance. In accordance with the principles of the present invention, the stand-alone aggregation
server contains a scalable MDDB and a high-performance aggregation engine that are integrated into the
modular architecture of the aggregation
server. The stand-alone aggregation server of the present invention can uniformly distribute data elements among a plurality of processors, for balanced loading and
processing, and therefore is highly scalable. The stand-alone aggregation server of the present invention can be used to realize (i) an improved MDDB for supporting on-line analytical
processing (OLAP) operations, (ii) an improved Internet URL
Directory for supporting on-line
information searching operations by Web-enabled
client machines, as well as (iii) diverse types of MDDB-based systems for supporting real-
time control of processes in response to complex states of information reflected in the MDDB. In another aspect of the present invention, the apparatus is integrated within a
database management system (DBMS). The improved DBMS can be used to realize achieving a significant increase in
system performance (e.g. deceased access / search time), user flexibility and ease of use. The improved DBMS
system of the present invention can be used to realize an improved
Data Warehouse for supporting on-line analytical
processing (OLAP) operations or to realize an improved informational
database system,
operational database system, or the like.