SEARCHABLE DATA ARCHIVE

摘要

A method and apparatus are provided to store transaction records in a retrievable form and to enable subsequent search and retrieval of stored transaction records. Transaction records are captured and then grouped according to predetermined grouping criteria such that they may be indexed to a first level and then efficiently compressed for bulk storage. In the event that records need to be retrieved subsequently, the first level index may be used to select one or more groups of records satisfying first level search criteria and, following retrieval of the selected groups from storage and de-compression, a second level index may be created to enable a more detailed record-level search for matching records in the retrieved groups. Preferably, the same indexing technique is used for both the first and second level of indexing.

主权项

1. A method for generating a searchable archive for transaction records, wherein each transaction record comprises values for each of a plurality of parameters at least one of which relates to time, the method comprising:
receiving a plurality of transaction records; collating the received transaction records into a plurality of groups of transaction records according to predetermined grouping criteria; generating one or more first level indexes to the plurality of groups of transaction records, wherein each of the one or more first level indexes is based upon at least one data type associated with the transaction records; applying a selected compression algorithm to compress each of the plurality of groups resulting from the collating; and storing the compressed groups of transaction records: wherein said predetermined grouping criteria are defined according to the selected compression algorithm and to the content of the received transaction records thereby to achieve a predetermined level of compression performance.