If relocation of a table with a high reference frequency is made possible, the database management method and system are arranged to improve performance according to the number of increased nodes and accumulate a reference frequency of each external storage unit allocated to each database management node. A data storage area for storing the table with a high reference frequency, located in the external storage unit, is specified as a shared data area to be referenced by plural nodes. The system is controlled to cause the nodes to refer to the shared table stored in the shared data area on any timing in parallel. This prevents load from being concentrated onto the node allocated to the data area.