In Greenplum, the query plan is divided into slices to achieve maximum parallelism during query runtime. The process of dividing the query plan into slices involves the following steps:
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Query Planning: The query dispatcher (QD) on the master node generates the query plan. This plan is a sequence of operators such as table scans, joins, sorts, aggregates, and data motions.
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Identifying Data Motions: The query plan is analyzed to identify points where data needs to be moved between segments. These points are marked by data motion operators. Data motion operators indicate when data needs to be redistributed, broadcast, or gathered across segments.
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Creating Slices: The query plan is divided into slices at these data motion points. Each slice represents a portion of the query plan that can be executed independently on a segment. The division ensures that each slice can be processed in parallel by different segments.
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Assigning Slices to Segments: The QD assigns each slice to a set of segments. Each segment will execute its assigned slice independently. The segments communicate with each other through the interconnect component to transfer data as required by the data motion operators.
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Execution: Each segment executes its slice, and the results are combined to produce the final query result. The segments work in parallel, processing their local data and performing the operations specified in their respective slices.