Patent ID: 8108352

Claim:
A method for providing data availability while the data is migrating across partitions, the method comprising: receiving, by a service provider, a user request to access data in an entity; obtaining, by the service provider, information about a first partition where the entity is stored, wherein the first partition is configured to manage the entity; determining, by the service provider, whether the first partition is in process of migrating data stored therein to a new partition and whether the process of migrating is complete; in response to determining that the first partition is in process of migrating data stored therein: providing the user request to the first partition; monitoring the data stored in the first partition for updates that have occurred during the migration; and while the first partition is in process of migrating data, receiving a response to the user request from the first partition that includes the data in the entity, and when the data in the entity has been updated during the migration, data in the response includes the updated data; in response to determining that the process of migrating is complete: determining whether the first partition remains configured to manage the entity or whether the new partition is configured to manage the entity; in response to determining that the first partition remains configured to manage the entity: providing the user request to the first partition; and receiving a response to the user request from the first partition that includes the data in the entity; in response to determining that the new partition is configured to manage the entity: providing the user request to the new partition; and receiving a response to the user request from the new partition that includes the data in the entity; and transmitting, by the service provider, the data in the entity in response to the user request.