Tracking Row And Object Database Activity Into Block Level Heatmaps

A method, apparatus, and system for tracking row and object database activity into block level heatmaps is provided. Database activity including reads, writes, and creates can be tracked by a database management system at the finest possible level of granularity, or the row and object level. To efficiently record the tracked database activity, a two-part structure is described for writing the activity into heatmaps. A hierarchical in-memory component may use a dynamically allocated sparse pool of bitmap blocks. Periodically, the in-memory component is persisted to a stored representation component, sharable with multiple database instances, which may include consolidated last access times and/or a history of heatmap snapshots to reflect access over time. The heatmaps may then be externalized to database users and applications to provide and support a variety of features.