A method for starting up a database system, comprising allocating memory spaces for three buffers; initializing two of the buffers; partially initializing the third buffer where the third buffer is larger than the other two; instructing the memory manager to initialize the remainder of the third buffer in the background process; performing recovery operations; and opening the database system for use. The database is operated in an open phase while the remainder of the third buffer is initialized in the background and ran in parallel to the recovery operation that may extend beyond the completion of opening the database. Thus opening the database prior to completion of full initialization and initializing the third buffer in the background improves the startup time of the database which becomes significant when the size of the third buffer is very large (e.g., 500 GB+).