Re: Fractal tree indexing

On 13.02.2013 18:20, Tom Lane wrote:
> Heikki Linnakangas<hlinnakangas@vmware.com>  writes:
>> The basic idea of a fractal tree index is to attach a buffer to every
>> non-leaf page. On insertion, instead of descending all the way down to
>> the correct leaf page, the new tuple is put on the buffer at the root
>> page. When that buffer fills up, all the tuples in the buffer are
>> cascaded down to the buffers on the next level pages. And recursively,
>> whenever a buffer fills up at any level, it's flushed to the next level.
>
> [ scratches head... ]  What's "fractal" about that?  Or is that just a
> content-free marketing name for this technique?

I'd call it out as a marketing name. I guess it's fractal in the sense 
that all levels of the tree can hold "leaf tuples" in the buffers; the 
structure looks the same no matter how deep you zoom, like a fractal.. 
But "Buffered" would be more appropriate IMO.

- Heikki