Systems and methods of database optimization and distributed computing

1. A method, comprising:

distributing remote agents to a plurality of remote computing systems;

receiving incoming inventory from a database of available inventory via the remote agents;

generating the database of available inventory that comprises complete inventory records;

generating thin locator style records for the complete inventory records, wherein the thin locator style records comprise key record identifiers, wherein the thin locator style records are maintained in a cache memory;

distributing a query to one or more of the remote agents;

selecting the thin locator style records in response to the query;

obtaining the complete inventory records corresponding to the thin locator style records of the selected key record identifiers; and

providing the complete inventory records to a requestor.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of remote computing systems is coupled with an original equipment manufacturer system and at least a portion of the complete inventory records are obtained from the original equipment manufacturer system.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the incoming inventory is received periodically from the remote agents.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the database stores information concerning a plurality of vehicles available for sale, the stored information including a plurality of features for each vehicle.

5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the query comprises a price quote request, the price quote request specifying a make and model for a requested vehicle.

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the complete inventory records comprise a first set of vehicles from the plurality of vehicles which match the make and model of the requested vehicle.

7. The method according to claim 6 , further comprising

determining that a first set of complete inventory records does not meet a predefined target, the predefined target including a minimum number of vehicles for inclusion in a price quote response;

identifying a body style of the requested vehicle; and

retrieving a second set of complete inventory records from the database, the second set of complete inventory records including a second set of vehicles from the plurality of vehicles which match at least the body style of the requested vehicle.

8. The method according to claim 7 , further comprising:

selecting a third set of vehicles from the first and second sets of complete inventory records for the price quote response in accordance with the predefined target; and

generating the price quote response.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the minimum number of vehicles is defined prior to receiving the price quote request.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the incoming inventory is received and the thin locator style records are generated such that the database of available inventory is never more than 24 hours old.

11. A system, the system comprising:

remote agents distributed to a plurality of remote computing systems; and

a server in communication with the remote agents that:

receives incoming inventory from a database of available inventory from the remote agents;

places the incoming inventory into an extraction queue;

generates the database of available inventory that comprises complete inventory records;

generates thin locator style records for the complete inventory records, wherein the thin locator style records comprise key record identifiers, wherein the thin locator style records are maintained in a cache memory;

distributes a query to one or more of the remote agents;

selects the thin locator style records in response to the query;

obtains the complete inventory records corresponding to the thin locator style records of the selected key record identifiers; and

provides the complete inventory records to a requestor.

12. The system according to claim 11 , wherein each of the plurality of remote computing systems is coupled with an original equipment manufacturer system and at least a portion of the complete inventory records are obtained from the original equipment manufacturer system.

13. The system according to claim 11 , wherein the incoming inventory is received periodically from the remote agents in an incremental manner.

14. The system according to claim 11 , wherein the database stores information concerning a plurality of vehicles available for sale, the stored information including a plurality of features for each vehicle.

15. The system according to claim 14 , further comprising:

determining that a first set of complete inventory records does not meet a predefined target, the predefined target including a minimum number of vehicles for inclusion in a price quote response;

identifying a body style of a requested vehicle;

retrieving a second set of complete inventory records from the database, the second set of complete inventory records including a second set of vehicles from the plurality of vehicles which match at least the body style of the requested vehicle;

selecting a third set of vehicles from the first and second sets of complete inventory records for the price quote response in accordance with the predefined target; and

generating the price quote response.

16. The system according to claim 15 , wherein the query comprises a price quote request, the price quote request specifying a make and model for the requested vehicle, and further wherein the complete inventory records comprise a first set of vehicles from the plurality of vehicles which match the make and model of the requested vehicle.

17. The system according to claim 16 , wherein the remote agents are located in specific geographical locations, further wherein if a prior query for another vehicle in a geographical location has been resolved by one or more remote agents, the server will use a solution generated by the one or more remote agents rather than refreshing a response to the query.