Inventors:
Hui-I Hsiao - Saratoga CA
Inderpal Singh Narang - Saratoga CA
Assignee:
International Business Machines Corporation - Armonk NY
International Classification:
G06F 1730
Abstract:
A computer system updates a data object that is maintained in data storage external to a database management system (DBMS), after receiving an update request from a DBMS client for the data object, by first scheduling the update request with the DBMS to provide access to the external data object, then initiating a subtransaction in the DBMS for the update request, updating the data object with an in-place update action at the external data storage to thereby produce an updated data object and also updating the DBMS metadata of the data object, next appending information relating to type and time of the update action in an object version table, and then executing a backup operation of the updated data object. This permits update-in-place operations on the external data object, under supervision of the DBMS. The system thereby supports update-in-place operations on external data with access control, backup and recovery, and transaction consistency in accordance with a database management system, while avoiding large copy operations that would consume network resources.