According to one aspect, methods and systems are provided for selectively employing storage engines in a distributed database environment. The methods and systems can include a processor configured to execute a plurality of system components, wherein the system components comprise an operation prediction component configured to determine an expected set of operations to be performed on a portion of the database; a data format selection component configured to select, based on at least one characteristic of the expected set of operations, a data format for the portion of the database; and at least one storage engine for writing the portion of the database in the selected data format.