1. A distributed database system, comprising: a plurality of database nodes forming a distributed database, the plurality of database nodes being executed on a plurality of host computers, the plurality of database nodes including: an first tier with a plurality of administrative nodes, each administrative node of the plurality of administrative nodes configured to manage and monitor the plurality of database nodes; and a second tier with a plurality of storage manager nodes, each storage manager node of the plurality of storage manager nodes belonging to at least one storage group in a plurality of storage groups, each storage group of the plurality of storage groups storing a respective subset of records in the distributed database, the plurality of storage groups collectively storing all records in the distributed database, wherein a first storage manager node of the plurality of storage manager nodes having a memory coupled with a processor configured to: receive, via a user interface hosted by an administrative node in the plurality of administrative nodes, a first request to assign a first storage group to the first storage manager node, identify the first storage group within the first request, determine if the identified first storage group exists in the distributed database, in response to determining that the first storage group exists among the plurality of storage groups, broadcast a storage manager assignment message to each database node of the plurality of database nodes, the storage manager assignment message indicating that the first storage manager node belongs to the first storage group, and retrieve and store table partitions and associated records that are associated with the first storage group, wherein the first storage manager node is configured to retrieve and store table partitions and the associated records by: transitioning to a synchronization state; determining a subset of records associated with a first table partition that is serviced by the first storage group; requesting a second record in the subset of records associated with the first table partition not present in the first storage manager node from another database node of the plurality of database nodes that includes the second record; receiving the second record from the other database node; committing the second record to a durable storage; and transitioning from the synchronization state to a running state.