December 18, 2021 - 1 minutes read

How to Work With Historical Data: Use Slower Storage for Historical Data

Dominika is a Python software developer. She graduated from the Warsaw University of Technology with a degree in computer science. At Vertabelo, she creates content as a technical writer. In her free time, she runs, practices yoga, and learns foreign languages.

Fast storage is expensive. However, you can reduce costs by using a separate, slower disk space for tables that are not accessed very frequently. Examples include those with historical data.

Below, you can see a database diagram with the historical account plans in a separate table. account_plan_history can be placed in a tablespace that uses slower storage, while more frequently accessed tables use separate, faster storage space.

How to Work With Historical Data: Immutable Data in a Database

Note: if you use this solution, various objects related to these tables (such as indexes or BLOB data) must also be placed in the slower disk space.

This solution works best if there is a lot of historical data. Having separate disk spaces complicates the maintenance and support of the entire database. If the database holds a relatively small amount of historical data, the potential savings may not be worth the effort.