Llama: Leveraging columnar storage for scalable join processing in the MapReduce framework

Abstract

To achieve high reliability and scalability, most large-scale data warehouse systems have adopted the cluster-based architecture. In this paper, we propose the design of a new cluster-based data warehouse system, LLama, a hybrid data management system which combines the features of row-wise and column-wise database systems. In Llama, columns are formed into correlation groups to provide the basis for the vertical partitioning of tables. Llama employs a distributed file system (DFS) to disseminate data among cluster nodes. Above the DFS, a MapReduce-based query engine is supported. We design a new join algorithm to facilitate fast join processing. We present a performance study on TPC-H dataset and compare Llama with Hive, a data warehouse infrastructure built on top of Hadoop. The experiment is conducted on EC2. The results show that Llama has an excellent load performance and its query performance is significantly better than the traditional MapReduce framework based on row-wise storage. © 2011 ACM.