Abstract :
To hear those in the know tell it, database management systems leave a lot to be desired: They require too much hardware, and they make poor use of it. Some advocate a shift in the type of hardware used¿away from the CPU toward graphics-processing units [see "Data Monster," September 2009]. But opensource database firm Ingres, of Redwood City, Calif., and start-up VectorWise, of Amsterdam, see the answer in a better use of the CPU.
