Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!pyrdc!pyrnj!rutgers!bellcore!kitchen!billp
From: billp@kitchen.ctt.bellcore.com (Bill Puig)
Newsgroups: comp.databases
Subject: Re: large informix databases
Summary: Tables can be put on different file systems
Keywords: informix, unix, large database
Message-ID: <10573@bellcore.bellcore.com>
Date: 30 Sep 88 12:42:16 GMT
References: <4477@pdn.UUCP>
Sender: news@bellcore.bellcore.com
Reply-To: billp@kitchen.UUCP (Bill Puig)
Organization: Planning and Engineering Systems Lab, Bellcore
Lines: 34


 In article <4477@pdn.UUCP> yerneni@pdn.UUCP (Prasad Yerneni) writes:
 >
 >Hello,
 >I would like to know if anyone has tackled the problem of an Informix2.3 
 >database, on a SYSV machine, growing beyond the volume size of the partition 
 >that it is resident on.
 >
 >The informix manuals don't tell me what happens in such a case, and since 
 >Unix does not allow a file to be split between volumes is there any ingenious 
 >method that someone has tried to overcome this problem? 

An INFORMIX-SQL database can have tables within the database
residing on different file systems, so long as each individual table
can fit on its assigned file system.  I don't have a manual handy, but
I think options to the "CREATE TABLE" SQL statement are provided to let
you do this if needed.

The INFORMIX-TURBO backend of the product (optionally available $$$)
uses raw disk space instead of the UNIX file system, and is able to
split databases across devices automatically.  The major drawback with
this product is that, at least in its current implementation, a raw
disk partition should not be taken away from TURBO once allocated to it.
Options on the TURBO admin monitor program provided with the product
don't provide much statistical info on how data is distributed across the
devices available to TURBO.  A menu option is available thru the program
from disassociating disk "chunks" from TURBO, but attempts to use this
option result in a message that reads "Option not available".  Hopefully
this situation will be corrected in future editions of the product.
(Are you listening, guys?)

Hope this helps --

Bill