A database system may store data across several data volumes of a data area. During operation of the database system, it may occasionally become desirable to delete a data volume from the data area in order to reduce a size of the data area and/or to otherwise reconfigure the data area. Conventional techniques necessitate the database system to enter an offline mode prior to deleting a data volume. Since the database system cannot be read or written in an offline mode, conventional techniques for deleting a data volume are unsuitable for some applications.
Conventional techniques for deleting a data volume pose additional problems if the data volume stores a restart page for the database system. A restart page may include information used to start the database system and reconstruct its underlying structures. Upon start-up, the database system looks for the restart page at a particular location of a particular data volume. The database system will therefore fail to start properly if the data volume including the restart page has been previously deleted.
Systems are therefore desired for deleting a data volume of a database system while the database system remains in an online operational mode. Systems to perform such deletion and to efficiently move and access a restart page of the deleted data volume are further desired.