Performance considerations when using external tables
Use external tables when you want to manipulate data in an ASCII file using SQL commands, or when loading data from an external data file to a RAW database table.
There are several ways to load information into a database, including:
- LOAD FROM ... INSERT INTO... DB-Access command
- dbimport utility
- High-Performance Loader utility
- External tables
The High Performance Loader utility provides best performance for loading external data into a database table with indexes.
External tables provide the best performance for loading data into a RAW table with no indexes.
Note: Locking an external table prior to loading data increases the
load performance