Oracle 8i and UNIX Performance Tuning

Ahmed Alomari, Senior Performance Engineer at Oracle Corporation, has extensive hands-on experience in tuning large-scale UNIX database systems. Alomari has written and spoken extensively on Oracle and UNIX optimization. He resides in Redwood City, CA. Alomari is the author of Prentice Hall PTR's Oracle and UNIX Performance Tuning and Oracle 8 and UNIX Performance Tuning.

1. Inside the UNIX Kernel.


UNIX Internals. UNIX Architecture.



2. Memory and Processor Tuning.


UNIX Memory Model. Process Memory Model. Monitoring Paging and Swapping. Tuning Paging. Swapping. Memory Shortages. Memory Surplus. Monitoring Application Memory. Kernel Memory Allocator. Large Memory Model. Large Page Sizes. Shared Memory Parameters. Tuning Shared Memory. Semaphore Parameters. Processor Architecture. Solaris and 64-Bit Computing. Threads Model. Processor Tuning.



3. Configuring and Tuning I/O.


UNIX I/O Model. Logical Volume Manager. Partitioning the Disks. Setting the Stripe Width. Mirroring. RAID Levels. Hardware Volume Management. New Storage Array Technologies. Asynchronous I/O. I/O Slaves in Oracle8. Direct I/O (DIO). Kernelized Asynchronous I/O (KAIO). List I/O (LIO). readv(). Oracle Multiblock Reads. File Systems Versus Raw Devices. Separate Sequential and Random I/O. Tablespace Optimization. Setting the Database Block Size. Monitoring I/O Activity. Tuning I/O. Tuning NFS. NFS and Database. Using the Automounter. Configuring and Sizing the Disk I/O Subsystems.



4. Application Tuning.


Application Architecture. Development Environment. Tuning PRO*C Applications. The Make File. SQL Processing. The Optimizer. Cursor Sharing. Tuning SQL. Using PL/SQL. National Language Support. Application Locking. Using the System Packages. Profiling and Optimization. Progress Meter. The Data Model.



5. Tuning an OLTP System.


Performance Monitoring Tools. Monitoring Event Waits. Latches and Locks. Monitoring the Redo Buffer. Monitoring DBWR and LGWR. Monitoring Latching. Tuning Rollback Segments. The Shared Pool. Sizing the SGA. Tuning Archiving. The Post-Wait Driver. Tuning TCP/IP. Tuning the Oracle Networking Layer. Recursive SQL. Tuning Storage Clauses. The Free List. Monitoring Locking. Referential Integrity. Discrete Transactions. Hash Cluster. Oracle Parallel Server (OPS). Indexing Enhancements. Temporary Tables.



6. Tuning the Data Warehouse.


The Data Warehouse. Requirements for a Data Warehouse. The Data Warehouse Data Model. Tuning I/O. Sorting. The Temporary Tablespace. Bitmap Indexes. Tuning Queries. Partitioning. Materialized Views and Query Rewrite. Function-Based Indexes. Loading Data. Building Indexes. Building Tables. Parallel Storage. Degree of Parallelism. Parallel Query and the 9/13 rule. Maximizing Parallel Query Performance. Parallel DML. Index Only Tables. Reverse Key Indexes. Inter-Node Parallel Query. Oracle8i Analytical Functions.



7. Media Recovery.


The System Is Down. System Architecture. Hardware Requirements. Selecting the Backup and Recover Tools. Configuring and Sizing the Media Devices. Export and the Buffer Option. The Direct Export Option. Import and the Buffer Option. Exporting and Importing by Partition. Export/Import and the 2 GB File Limit. Exporting Data Using the Query Option. Oracle7 Enterprise Backup Utility (EBU). Recovery Manager. Parallel Recovery. Standby Database. Tablespace Point-in-Time Recovery. Transportable Tablespaces.



8. Internet Computing Model and Objects.


The Internet Computing Model. Oracle Objects. JDBC Performance. Oracle8i Cache.



Appendix A: Installing and Configuring UNIX for Optimal Performance.


A Corporate Architecture. Determining the Type of System. Sizing the File System. Mirroring the Operating System. Installing the UNIX Operating System. Naming Service. Post-Installation Procedures.



Appendix B: Installing Oracle for Optimal Performance.


A Corporate Architecture. Determining the Type of System. Sizing the File Systems. Directories and File Locations. Installing the Oracle DBMS. Configuring the SQL *NET/Net8. Password Management. Post-Installation Procedures.



References.


Index.