Integrating tablespaces with different block sizes

Abstract

Provided herein is a mechanism that allows a given database system to access data blocks from another database system, where data blocks from the given database system and data blocks from the other database system have different sizes. According to an aspect of the present invention, a tablespace in the other database system contained the data blocks. The tablespace is detached from the other database system and integrated into the given database, which is capable of processing data stored in data blocks of different sizes.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] The present application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. application Ser. No. 09 / 871,476 entitled “Integrating Tablespaces with Different Block Sizes”, filed May 30, 2001, by Sreedhar Mukkamalla, et al., which is (1) a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08 / 865,693, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,272,503 B1, entitled “Tablespace-Relative Database Pointers”, filed on May 30, 1997 by William H. Bridge, Jr., et al., and (2) a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09 / 675,195, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,549,901 B1 entitled “Using Transportable Tablespaces for Hosting Data of Multiple Users”, filed on Sep. 29, 2000, by Juan R. Loaiza, et al. The present application hereby claims priority to and the benefit of the application filing dates for each application listed above, the contents of which are each fully incorporated herein by reference. [0002] The present application is related to U.S. application Ser. No. 08 / 852,968, now U.S. Pat. ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0013] Described herein is a mechanism that allows a given database system to access data blocks from another database system, where the data blocks from the given database system and data blocks from the other database system have different sizes. According to an aspect of the present invention, the data blocks in the other database system are contained in a tablespace. The tablespace is detached from the other database system and integrated into the given database, which is capable of processing data stored in data blocks of different sizes.

Problems solved by technology

Executing an insert command for each record to export is typically a slow process, one which may span days for larger databases.

While data is being exported, access to the data is restricted.

Consequently, the database user, who requires access to the data, may be significantly impacted.

Thus, conventional techniques for exporting data may be significantly burdensome.

While the use of ETL tools may be more efficient than the command generation technique, the process of transferring data may still require undesirably long periods of time.

Unfortunately, it is not always possible to plug in a tablespace from one database system to another because the database systems may not be configured to handle the same data block size.

Once a database is created, however, the data block size may not be changed.

Consequently, a tablespace composed of data blocks of a given size may not be plugged into a database system that expects data blocks of a different block size.

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