distributed database management system implemented on a cluster of computers. The cluster including disks organized as data nodes. The data nodes being locally connected to one or more computers in the cluster. The distributed database management system includes a distributed database manager layer having a lock manager, a resource manager, and an architecture manager. The lock manager serializes access to the data nodes in the cluster. The resource manager maintains a data representation of the resources of each computer in the cluster and makes the data available to other computers in the cluster to facilitate access to the resources by the other computers. The architecture manager defines logical ownership relationships between data nodes and computers in the cluster to permit the architecture of the database to be dynamically reconfigured to provide improved performance.