Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 6
Tools and Utilities
Performance tuning is a very wide subject; it can be approached artistically like someone trying to write music or
paint a picture, which involves many discarded versions of the canvas or notes and bars by making changes
to the system in an effort to improve the look or sound by trial and error. While ideally a more scientific approach to
performance optimization is preferred, performance engineers start out with intuition before using scientific data.
The performance engineer or DBA collects data or statistics from the following places:
•
From areas of the application that are performing slowly
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During various times of the day when more users are using the system
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From heavily used functional areas of the application, etc.
When the appropriate statistics are collected, the database performance engineer can take a more methodical
approach to tuning the system. A methodical approach based on data and evidence is a complete forensic approach
for problem solving. In the information technology arena, the analysis is accomplished by understanding the
reasons behind the slowness or poor performance, which again is based on statistics generated from tools and
instrumentation provided by Oracle.
Performance analysis is an activity that must take multiple variables/circumstances into account; the causes
for performance problems are complex so a thorough approach based on scientific principles must be adopted. All
hypotheses and conclusions must be supported by data and need to be transparent. Performance analysis is not,
as many people believe, an art form; it requires years of experience and intuition, but as an activity it can be likened
to forensic reasoning. It requires rigorous data collection and the powers of deduction and inference. To aid in this
method of data collection, Oracle provides several tools, utilities, and instrumentation that provide opportunities in
statistics collection, analysis, and application of performance optimization to the Oracle environment.
Oracle Enterprise Manager
In this chapter, we will look at optimization features for the RAC database. The grid control supports all tiers of the
application, which consist of the following:
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Database tier
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Web tier
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Application tier
At the database tier, apart from the traditional functionalities provided by Database Express, Cloud Control
provides a holistic view of the RAC cluster.
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