Patent ID: 8688585

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving, by a computer, data to be inserted into a container data field of a relational database, the data including content being associated with a first access privilege; encrypting, by the computer, the data using an encryption key that is specific to the container data field; storing, by the computer, the encrypted data in a database file on a file system specified for the container data field, the database file being external to other database files storing data of other data fields of the relational database, the file system being associated with a second access privilege, wherein storing the encrypted data comprises: identifying existing data that are stored in an existing database file, the existing database file referenced by an existing remote container; determining that the existing data are identical to the received data; and upon the determining, incrementing a reference count of the existing remote container; storing, by the computer, a reference to the database file and the encryption key in a remote container; and associating, by the computer, the existing remote container with the container data field, wherein a user's access to content in the data is limited based on association of the existing remote container and the container data field.