Determining when to perform a dump and load is a constant struggle. If you set up your database correctly, your records should not get fragmented, and only your indexes should need reorganizing. Index reorganization is the primary benefit of a dump and load. Usually, about 80 to 90 percent of the benefit of a dump and load can be achieved with index maintenance using the index rebuild and compact utilities. However, you might need to dump and load to reorganize your database into different areas or extents due to changes in application requirements.
A fast dump and load process is important, since the system is not available to users during the process. Before performing a dump and load, it is important to have a good backup of your existing database. This backup provides you with a fallback position should something go wrong.
