US Patent 7440973 Systems, methods and software for automating database tasks

Various embodiments of the invention provide solutions to facilitate the management and/or automation of various database tasks, in particular system tasks. Merely by way of example, some embodiments provide methods systems and/or software products that can facilitate automation of such tasks. In accordance with certain embodiments, a maintenance window may be defined. The maintenance window can provide an opportunity for system tasks (and/or other tasks, especially those that consume significant database resources) to execute without significantly impacting the usability of the database. In particular embodiments, a maintenance window may be defined to coincide with a period of relatively low user activity. In some cases, a maintenance window may be implemented in conjunction with a job scheduler and/or a resource manager. Merely by way of example, a resource manager might allocate relatively more system and/or database resources to system tasks during the maintenance window, and/or a job scheduler may schedule system tasks to execute during the maintenance window.