Virtual Indexes in Oracle : Oracle's
Virtual Indexes have a specific purpose and do not behave like normal indexes.
Learn how to create and use these pseudo-indexes. Inserting Custom Messages in Oracle Alert/Trace files :
Learn how to insert your own customized message into alert log and/or trace
files. Bulk Binds and Collects in PL/SQL - Part 2 :
Part 2 of this series continues a discussion of how to work with collections.
This installment covers avoiding performance issues when retreiving immense
amounts of data in PL/SQL collections. Bulk Binds and Collects in PL/SQL - Part - 1 :
This article begins a discussion of how to work with collections. Previous
versions of Oracle had limitations for collection usage in regards to SQL
statement processing. Bulk Bind and Collect features were introduced to reduce
the SQL processing overhead by efficient use of collections in PL/SQL code. Oracle Performance Tuning - (Otherwise Known as Drowning
in a Pool of Confusion) : Steve Callan offers recommendations on
two excellent books that plainly and effectively tell you what to look for, and
more importantly, how to fix a poorly performing system. Creating NOT NULL Columns in Huge Oracle Tables :
Databases are often taxed by applying SQL statements to enormous tables. One
such activity is when we add a new NOT NULL column with default value to a huge
transaction table. Amar Padhi shares several methods to add a new column with
default value, comparing the advantages and disadvantages of each. A Practical Guide to Data Warehousing in Oracle, Part 6 :
Materialized Views are continually enhanced by Oracle to leverage data
warehouse performance and maintainability. This is the first in a mini-series
of articles that will introduce the concept, identify some of their uses and
describe some potential problems with them. A Practical Guide to Data Warehousing in Oracle, Part 5 :
Why can a data warehouse be operated successfully and safely without integrity
being enforced at the database level? Learn about creating lightweight
declarative integrity constraints that avoid much of the unwelcome overhead of
maintaining enforced constraints. Practical Data Warehousing in Oracle, Part 4 :
On a regular OLTP system, one of the perennial sources for doubt and debate is
the number, type and configuration of indexes. Dave Aldridge shares some simple
principles that can be applied to the business of indexing a data warehouse. A Practical Guide to Data Warehousing in Oracle - Part 3 :
There are three major advantages of partitioning. Learn what they are in part 3
of A Practical Guide to Data Warehousing in Oracle. Oracle A Practical Guide to Data Warehousing in Oracle,
Part 2 : Part 2 of 'A Practical Guide to Data Warehousing'
examines the various possible attributes of tables, and seeing what use can
made of them in the different table types of a data warehouse. Practical Data Warehousing in Oracle, Part I :
Enemy Number One--the disk subsystem. Nothing will cripple a data warehouse
more effectively than a failure to manage your i/o requirement vs. your i/o
capacity. Take a different look at disk capacity. Parsing in Oracle : Amar Kumar Padhi discusses
the process of parsing, the difference between soft and hard processing, how
Oracle deals with identical statements and various methods to reduce hard
parsing. Use Oracle's DBMS_APPLICATION_INFO to Prevent Routines
from Running Simultaneously : Learn how to use Oracle's
DBMS_APPLICATION_INFO to prevent two routines or business processes from
running at the same time. DBA Call to Action: Zeroing in on Performance Problems :
Have you ever been asked to help with the evaluation of a database that is not
performing optimally? Here is a quick guide to help you if you just do not know
where to start. Oracle9iR2 Segment Level Statistics :
Oracle's Segment Level Statistics gives you the power to make decisions on the
configuration of structures within Oracle as well as to application code. Learn
how to fine tune memory structures and access methodologies using Oracle's
Segment Level Statistics. Tracking Data Access Patterns in Oracle :
Performance in Oracle is directly related to the SQL workload that is
submitted. Often it is not the change in the SQL that degrades performance but
instead is the access path to that data. This article will help you understand
when new access paths have been introduced in your environment. Oracle PL/SQL Built For Speed : Everyone
is looking for an edge. With PL/SQL that edge is compiling the PL/SQL code into
native code. James Koopmann shows you how to setup and compile your PL/SQL
procedures and packages. Oracle Safety Blankets: Insulating Your Applications
Against Database Changes : Changes to Oracle database objects can
wreak unexpected havoc on the applications that depend on them, especially when
the database objects are invalidated even for a brief period.This
article discusses some techniques that any DBA can put into practice to limit
the impact of database object changes on dependent applications. Using Oracle Locks to Manage Data Concurrency and Consistency
: Ever wonder what prevents the same data from being modified by
two or more users at the same time? Learn how Oracle manages data concurrency
and consistency by using Locks. Disk Sorts - A Subtle Threat to Database Performance :
Disk sorts are a near-silent performance vampire that can rob a database of
good response times. Intelligently diagnosing the presence of disk sorts and
then doing what you can to reduce or eliminate them altogether, you can remove
this subtle threat to your database's performance. Manually Refreshing Materialized Views and Creating
Refresh Groups in Oracle : Learn how to manually refresh
materialized views and create refresh groups using Oracle supplied packages. Materialized Views in Oracle : Learn how
to make local copies of remotely located data & specify automatic
refreshes. EXECUTE IMMEDIATE option for Dynamic SQL and PL/SQL
: Amar Kumar Padhi shares usage tips and examples of EXECUTE IMMEDIATE, which
replaced DBMS_SQL package in Oracle 8i and above. How Grid Computing Can Improve Database Performance
: Nathan Segal interviews Benny Souder, Vice President of Distributed Database
Development for Oracle, and Jeff Jones of IBM.
Oracle9i's Auto Segment Space Management Option
: Follow along with James Koopmann and learn what you, the DBA, no
longer have to manage thanks to a little feature from Oracle. Database Performance and some Christmas Cheer
: James Koopmann demystifies some of the definitions surrounding the topic of
database performance in his latest article. Whether a seasoned veteran or a
beginner, the arena of database performance should not be confusing. Join Koopmann
as he puts a framework around what database performance truly is. Oracle 8i Row Chaining and Migration :
Though a number of factors can contribute to performance degradation in your
databases, many performance issues can be prevented by properly designing
and/or diagnosing the databases. As Gaurav Sharan Gupta discusses in his first
article for DBAsupport, proper diagnosis of Row Migration (RM) and Row Chaining
(RC) can eliminate one of these issues and improve database performance.
