NULL Values Do Not Count Against Your Vertica License!

Posted May 16, 2019 by James Knicely, Vertica Field Chief Technologist

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I am often asked if NULL values stored in table columns are counted against the raw data size of a Vertica license. The answer is NO.

Example: dbadmin=> SELECT audit_length(123); audit_length -------------- 3 (1 row) dbadmin=> SELECT audit_length(NULL); audit_length -------------- 0 (1 row) dbadmin=> CREATE TABLE test (c1 INT); CREATE TABLE dbadmin=> INSERT INTO test SELECT 123; OUTPUT -------- 1 (1 row) dbadmin=> SELECT audit('test'); audit ------- 3 (1 row) dbadmin=> INSERT INTO test SELECT NULL; OUTPUT -------- 1 (1 row) dbadmin=> SELECT audit('test'); audit ------- 3 (1 row) Helpful Links:

https://www.vertica.com/docs/latest/HTML/Content/Authoring/AdministratorsGuide/Licensing/CalculatingTheDatabaseSize.htm

Have fun!