file:// Protocol

The URI includes the host name, port, and path to the file. Each file must reside on a segment host in a location accessible by the Greenplum Database superuser (gpadmin). The host name used in the URI must match a segment host name registered in the gp_segment_configuration system catalog table.

The number of URIs you specify in the LOCATION clause is the number of segment instances that will work in parallel to access the external table. For each URI, Greenplum assigns a primary segment on the specified host to the file. For maximum parallelism when loading data, divide the data into as many equally sized files as you have primary segments. This ensures that all segments participate in the load. The number of external files per segment host cannot exceed the number of primary segment instances on that host. For example, if your array has four primary segment instances per segment host, you can place four external files on each segment host. Tables based on the file:// protocol can only be readable tables.

Parent topic: Defining External Tables