July 30, 2009, "VectorWise next-generation database technology is based on a novel query processing architecture that allows modern microprocessors and memory architectures to reach their full potential. This is a unique achievement: in detail studies that compare common computing tasks such as scientific calculation, multi-media authoring, games, and databases have consistently shown that typical database engines do not benefit from new processor performance features such as SSE, out of order execution, chip multithreading, and increasingly larger L2/L3 caches due to their large, complex legacy code structure. The computational power that database systems provide is known to be lower than the performance realized by hand-coding the same task in a (e.g. C++) program. However, the actual performance difference can be surprisingly large: a factor 100. VectorWise has created the first database system to revert that situation, with dramatic efficiency improvements as a result" http://nextbigfuture.com/2009/07/open-source-database-breakthrough-10-80.htm...