Patent ID: 8645423

Claim:
A method comprising: defining, by a computer system, a first partition and a second partition within a multi-tenant database, wherein each of a plurality of tenants is assigned to one or more of the first and second partitions; assigning, by the computer system, a first set of data stored in the database to both the first partition and the second partition, a second set of data stored in the database exclusively to the first partition, and a third set of data stored in the database exclusively to the second partition, wherein: the first set of data is associated with a first instance of an application and a second instance of the application; the second set of data is associated with only the first instance of the application; the third set of data is associated with only the second instance of the application; the first partition is associated with a first security type; and the second partition is associated with a first physical location; receiving, by the computer system, a request from an entity associated with one of the plurality of tenants to access a first datum stored in the database; determining, by the computer system, whether the tenant with which the entity is associated is assigned to the first partition, the second partition, or both the first partition and the second partition; and granting, by the computer system, access to the first datum to the entity if: the first datum is a member of the second data set assigned exclusively to the first partition, the tenant with which the entity is associated is assigned to at least the first partition, and the entity has security access for the first security type; the first datum is a member of the third data set assigned exclusively to the second partition, the tenant with which the entity is associated is assigned to at least the second partition, and the entity is physically located within the first physical location; or the first datum is a member of the first data set assigned to both the first partition and the second partition, the tenant with which the entity is associated is assigned to both the first partition and the second partition, the entity has security access for the first security type, and the entity is physically located within the first physical location.