1. A database system comprising: a cluster manager; an index; a first database cluster containing one or more database nodes including a first database node, the first database cluster configured to operate according to a first database protocol; and a data set distributed among the first database cluster; wherein the first database node reports a first data range within the first database cluster; wherein the index contains a second data range associated with the first database node, the second data range different from the first; wherein the cluster manager receives a request having a target data value from a requesting process, performs a query of the index in response to the request, and communicably directs the requesting process to access the first database cluster based on a determination that the target data value falls within the second data range.