HIVE TABLE LINKS

System and method for virtual data warehouses having table link capabilities are provided. In particular, some embodiments include a plurality of virtual data warehouses built on top of a data center running Apache Hive. Each virtual data warehouse can be modeled as a database and manage data in forms of database tables. The virtual data warehouse can include links which import tables from other virtual data warehouses by reference. Each link may contain partition metadata for the table partitions by dates of the source table and retention metadata to declare the needed retention time period for the partitions of the source table. The links can be dynamic and update when the corresponding source table receives new partitions or drops partitions. When a virtual data warehouse is migrated to another data center, the system can retain necessary table partitions to remain on the current data center based on the partition metadata and retention metadata of the links.