A dynamic database reorganization algorithm

Reorganization is necessary in some databases for overcoming the performance deterioration caused by updates. The paper presents a dynamic reorganization algorithm which makes the reorganization decision by measuring the database search costs. Previously, the reorganization intervals could only be determined for linear deterioration and known database lifetime. It is shown that the dynamic reorganization algorithm is near optimum for constant reorganization cost and is superior for increasing reorganization cost. In addition, it can be applied to cases of unknown database lifetime and nonlinear performance deterioration. The simplicity, generality, and efficiency appear to make this good heuristic for database reorganization.