Lock communications in a shared disk database system is reduced by several approaches: sending a single message to a lock manager for locks required for an operation and locks that will be required in the future, the operations may include row update, row delete, large scan, and row insert; performing an operation in two executions, where in a first execution locks required for the operation is determined without performing the operation, and in a second execution a single message is sent to a lock manager for the required locks and the operation is performed; in free space searching, sending a single message to a lock manager for row and page locks before a row insert is actually performed; and granting locks in an unfair manner.