PostgreSQL B-Tree Index Optimizations
A collaborative database study comparing small-page search and range-scan prefetching changes in PostgreSQL’s B-tree implementation.
My Role
Co-developed the study, contributing the small-page search change and benchmark analysis with a collaborator responsible for prefetching.
Team Size: 2 people
Problem
Index traversal has different costs on small pages and I/O-heavy range scans. A database optimization needs a workload comparison to reveal where it helps or adds overhead.
Approach
Worked on a C implementation that switches the search strategy for small leaf pages. A collaborator implemented prefetching; the project compared the changes with analytical queries from the Join Order Benchmark.
Impact
Produced a coursework implementation and benchmark comparison of two index strategies. The catalog retains the engineering method without extending the historical results to PostgreSQL performance in general.