Method of speeding up access to design databases having large numbers of design units

A computer-implemented method is disclosed for speeding up database access of electronic design automation (EDA) tool which utilizes a database manager for file access. The EDA tool accesses a plurality of design files, and each of the plurality of design files is associated with one of a plurality of design units for an integrated circuit (IC). The plurality of design files are encapsulated into an archive file which comprises a plurality of data units, wherein each of the data units corresponds to a design file. A request to access a design file will be redirected to access the archive file. The design file is then accessed by accessing the corresponding data unit in the archive file.