BLOBspace Blob Compression

A partition BLOB (binary large object) column is a TEXT or BYTE column that is stored in a DBspace, in the same RSAM partition as the home row. A BLOBspace BLOB column is the same data type (TEXT or BYTE), but the BLOB data is stored in a BLOBspace.

All TEXT and BYTE BLOBs may be compressed, whether they are stored in the partition or a BLOBspace. If a table containing TEXT or BYTES columns is created with the COMPRESSED keyword, the BLOB data will be automatically compressed along with the home row data once the number of rows has reached a certain threshold (2000 by default). Separate compression dictionaries are built for the home rows and each BLOB column.

  • By using the "compress" sysadmin task() command rather than the auto compress feature, it is possible to compress only the BLOB data in a table, or to compress only the home row data without compressing BLOBs.
  • ER is able to replicate BLOB data whether it is compressed or uncompressed.