File Partitioning and Record Placement in Attribute-Based File Organizations.
Edwin J. McCauley, Frank Manola · Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) · 1975
The position occupied by a record of the data base on secondary storage can affect performance in a variety of ways. Record placement and file organization interact with one another. A model was developed for certain techniques that use the physical device characteristics and the logical file content to optimize retrieval efficiency and precision. Methods were reviewed for partitioning the file into disjoint groups of records(called clusters) such that in most cases an access to the file will involve a small number of clusters. A record placement technique that preserves these clusters was developed, followed by a search algorithm which, when this record placement policy is followed, gives improved performance in the areas of precision and efficiency. Finally, application of the techniques to existing systems was considered.