Partitioning of time index for optical disks

The authors present a storage model for temporal databases that accommodates large amounts of temporal data. The model supports efficient search for object versions based on temporal conditions, using a time index. They define an access structure, the monotonic B/sup +/-tree, that is suitable for implementing a time index for append-only temporal databases. The storage model uses a combination of magnetic disks and write-once optical disks to keep current, past, and even future states of a database online and readily accessible. It provides an automatic archiving of both object versions and time index blocks to optical disks.<<ETX>>