Re: what fits in one physical block of memory?

In article <7ggb65$sk9$1_at_nnrp1.dejanews.com>, <setwhite_at_indiana.edu> wrote:
>I need to know how large i can grow this table:
>create table median(salary int);
>and still have it fit into one physical block of memory.
>
>This is an academic (read college) question, which explains why median has no
>key. I have to do a complexity analysis based on the premise that it will only
>take Oracle one memory access to read the entire median table.
>
>Can people help me out by suggesting a large number of records that will
>fit in one block? I dont need to know the absolute largest the
>table can get. I just need an idea of a very very large number of
>INT records that will definetly fit in one physical block of memory.
>
>Right now i am limiting the table to 50 records, because I am new to Oracle,
>but the larger I can grow the median table, the more interesting my results
>will be to my professor types.
>
>Surely there is a number larger than 50 that could safely use?

First of all, are you talking about memory as in RAM, or disk space? There is a big difference, and disk space is not "memory" to most computer people. If it is memory you are referring to, I have never heard of it referred to in physical blocks.

As for disk space, the physical block size for an Oracle database is system dependent, but usually 4K or 8K bytes. If you look into an Oracle reference manual (try the Administrator's Guide), it has a section that will tell you how to calculate how much data will fit into a single data block of a table.

Good luck!

Steve Cosner Received on Sun May 02 1999 - 07:14:31 CEST