Patent attributes
Methods and systems are provided for using a hybrid-distribution system to identify relevant documents based on a search query. A group of documents is assigned to a particular segment. The group of documents is indexed both by atom and by document to form a reverse index and a forward index. Both indexes are divided amongst each node in that segment so that each node is responsible for storing and accessing a different portion of both the reverse and forward indexes. The reverse index portion is accessed on each of a first set of nodes to identify a first set of documents that is relevant to a particular search query. Document identifications associated with the first set of documents are used to identify a second set of nodes that access their forward index portions to limit the number of relevant documents to a second set of documents.