Abstract: A process for performing a transaction, such as a write operation, on a data object in a non-log based database is described. An information storage and retrieval system described can execute a transaction at a speed limited only by the hardware of the system. Updates to the data are done in sequential block writes which allow the data to be written continually to memory. This allows for real-time feed of large blocks of data, such as Web content of all types, into the database. The process described allows for handling large data updates in the same manner as small data updates. An entry for a data object containing version data for the data object is created and maintained in an object table. This entry for the data object is written or saved to a non-persistent memory, such as a cache memory at a particular non-persistent memory address. This write operation is then committed by saving the data object in a persistent memory area at a persistent memory area address.

Abstract: A technique for stabilizing and collecting data in an information storage and retrieval system, referred to as checkpointing, is described. Checkpointing is used to increase the speed of the database during a recovery by only scanning data that the information storage and retrieval system knows is unstable, instead of scanning all the data in the database. Data that is deemed collectable, such as old data or obsolete data, is identified in a non-persistent memory space, such as a cache memory. A data page contained in an initial or first buffer is stored, also in the form of a data page, to a persistent memory type, such as a hard drive or virtual memory. Next, non-collectable data, or data that is to be maintained, in the initial or first buffer is identified. This data is stored in a second buffer. It is then determined whether the non-collectable data is referenced in an object table in the information storage and retrieval system.