Considerations on Space Usage When Using SQL*Loader (Doc ID 2902283.1)

Last updated on APRIL 17, 2023

Applies to:

Goal

When loading data into SQL*Loader, you might encounter extent expansion error(s) or use more disk space than estimated.

In SQL*Loader there are conventional path load and direct path load:

In conventional path load

• it will read the text data and execute insert statement internally.
• if there is any free space before the HWM, it will reuse the space.

In direct path load

• it will not go through the database buffer cache and directly start writing after the HWM(High Water Mark). This is why direct path load loads data several times faster than conventional path load.
• it will start writing after the HWM, so even if there is space that is reuseable, it will not be reused. If there is a big amount of free space before the HWM, it might use more disk space than originally.
  
  

Solution

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