1. A method comprising: storing, by a database server instance that is executing on a particular machine, a plurality of in-memory chunks that contain data from an object; wherein the plurality of in-memory chunks include a first in-memory chunk and a second in-memory chunk; wherein the first in-memory chunk includes a first portion of the object; wherein the second in-memory chunk includes a second portion of the object; wherein the first portion of the object is different than the second portion of the object; wherein each in-memory chunk of the plurality of in-memory chunks is stored in a corresponding memory area within volatile memory of the particular machine; wherein the particular machine includes a plurality of compute nodes; wherein the plurality of computer nodes includes a first compute node and a second computer node; wherein each compute node of the plurality of compute nodes has direct access to all memory areas within the volatile memory of the particular machine; wherein each compute node, of the plurality of compute nodes, has a local memory area, within the volatile memory of the particular machine, that the compute node is able to access more efficiently than other areas of the volatile memory of the particular machine; wherein storing the plurality of in-memory chunks includes: assigning, by the database server instance, each in-memory chunk of the plurality of in-memory chunks to one or more compute nodes of the plurality of compute nodes; and causing each in-memory chunk of the plurality of in-memory chunks to be loaded into one or more local memory areas of the one or more compute nodes to which the in-memory chunk is assigned; wherein the step of assigning each in-memory chunk includes: assigning the first in-memory chunk to the first compute node; and assigning the second in-memory chunk to the second compute node; storing, by the database server instance, an in-memory map that indicates the one or more compute nodes to which each of the plurality of chunks is assigned.