Symantec Operating Corporation

HanCheng Hsiung

Qiang Li

Xinyi David Lai

Par Botes

Ron-Chung Hu

Gaohong Wei

Mark F Wu

Lalgudi V Sujatha

Procedures and systems may be used for assigning data partitions to data-processing host computers, for example, to initially assign data partitions at the outset of a large data-processing job or during failover measures taken in response to a failed host in a share-nothing database management system (SN-DBMS). In one implementation, a method of managing exclusive access to a data partition within a database system assesses a first host and a second host that have exclusive access to a first and second data partition, respectively, within a database system. The method assigns exclusive access of the data partition to one of the first and second hosts based on factors that may include the processing powers of first and second the hosts, and on processing requirements (such as data quantity and data criticalness) for data on the first and second data partitions.

Automated optimal workload balancing during failover in share-nothing database systems

System and method for tracking statistics at the subfile level and transparently placing or migrating inactive or less active blocks of data to other storage devices. Embodiments may provide mechanisms to track statistics at the subfile level of files including, but not limited to, database files, and to transparently place or migrate inactive or less active blocks of data of the files from higher-performing, typically more expensive, storage to lower-performing, typically less expensive, storage, while placing or migrating active blocks of data of the files to higher-performing storage, based on the subfile-level statistics rather than on file-level timestamps. In some embodiments, knowledge of file structure (e.g., database file structure), for example knowledge of database partitions with header blocks and data blocks in databases using data partitioning, may be used to separate more active and less active blocks of data of files onto storage with different performance and/or other characteristics.

Dynamic storage mechanism

System and method for refreshing databases. A refresh mechanism may allow a data warehouse to remain available to users while the data is being refreshed. Embodiments may be used to perform low impact off-host data loading for databases including, but not limited to, data warehouses and to reduce the data loading window. A checkpoint of the production database may be generated. A database clone may be generated from the checkpoint. In one embodiment, the generated database clone includes references to data in the production database and not the data itself, and is thus storage space-efficient. Data may be loaded to the database clone. The checkpoint may then be switched to be the entry point to the production database after the loading is complete.

Low-impact refresh mechanism for production databases

A method and system of generating a point-in-time image of at least a portion of a database is disclosed. According to one embodiment, a method is provided wherein a plurality of components of a database are discovered, a component of the plurality of components is selected, a data management resource of a plurality of data management resources is selected using an attribute of the component, and a point-in-time image of the component is generated using the data management resource.

Method and system of generating a point-in-time image of at least a portion of a database

A method and system of generating a proxy for a database is disclosed. According to one embodiment, a method is provided wherein an image creation technique used to create a point-in-time image of a database is identified, a logical copy of the point-in-time image of the database is created using the image creation technique, and the logical copy of the point-in-time image of the database is presented as a proxy for the database. In another embodiment, one or more updates applied to the database following the creation of the point-in-time image are applied to the logical copy of the point-in-time image of the database.

Growing community of inventors

Union City, CA, United States of America

HanCheng Hsiung