A poorly performing database application not only costs users time, but also has an impact on other applications running on the same computer or the same network. SQL Tuning provides an essential next step for SQL developers and database administrators who want to extend their SQL tuning expertise and get the most from their database applications.There are two basic issues to focus on when tuning SQL: how to find and interpret the execution plan of an SQL statement and how to change SQL to get a specific alternate execution plan. SQL Tuning provides answers to these questions and addresses a third issue that's even more important: how to find the optimal execution plan for the query to use.Author Dan Tow outlines a timesaving method he's developed for finding the optimum execution plan--rapidly and systematically--regardless of the complexity of the SQL or the database platform being used. You'll learn how to understand and control SQL execution plans and how to diagram SQL queries to deduce the best execution plan for a query. Key chapters in the book include exercises to reinforce the concepts you've learned. SQL Tuning concludes by addressing special concerns and unique solutions to "unsolvable problems."Whether you are a programmer who develops SQL-based applications or a database administrator or other who troubleshoots poorly tuned applications, SQL Tuning will arm you with a reliable and deterministic method for tuning your SQL queries to gain optimal performance.

Written by a Senior Database Administrator who has worked with the Oracle RDBMS for thirty years, this is a book which teaches the skill of SQL Tuning for the Oracle Database. Not a list of one-off tricks or tips, nor a glossing over of topics; this book offers an in-depth process covering discovery, analysis, and problem resolution. Learn the science behind SQL Tuning. Learn and apply the FILTERED ROWS PERCENTAGE Cardinality based method of tuning Determine a query's Driving Table and Join Order Construct Query Diagrams, Data Models, and Join Trees Build and use Count / Filter / and Reconstruction Queries Identify Waste in a Query Execution Plan Zero in on Cardinality Divergence using Estimated vs. Actuals Use the ACCESS / FILTER / COVERAGE strategy to build indexes for Problem Queries Exploit THE 2% RULE in analyzing Access method and Join method Classify queries as Precision Style or Warehouse Style Understand Hash Join mechanics and make Hash Joins go faster Make HINTS work as Detection Tools rather than clubs Avoid early Database Design flaws Manage Statistics and deal with common Statistics problems (NDV, Uniform Distribution, Independence, Dynamic Sampling) (Staleness, Skew, Dependence, Defaulting, Out-Of-Bounds, Transiency, Bloat) Perfect your Question Based Analyis Technique and more Included are: a special chapter for EXADATA, a LAB which demonstrates the cardinality based process of SQL Tuning, and twenty three magical SQL scripts that make the process of SQL Tuning easy to do. Learn the skill of SQL Tuning as taught by an expert who does it for a living, and become the go-to specialist in your company. Chapter 1: DRIVING TABLE and JOIN ORDER Chapter 2: Ways to Use a Query Execution Plan Chapter 3: The Best Indexes for a Query Chapter 4: JOINS Chapter 5: HINTS Chapter 6: BASICS Chapter 7: ROW COUNTS and RUN TIMES Chapter 8: EXADATA LAB: Reverse Engineering the QEP Appendix: Know Your Scripts Scripts for analyzing queries and plans Scripts for examining an active database Scripts for looking at metadata showplan showplanshort showplanconstraints showplancountqueries showplandatamodel showplandrivingtable showplanfilterqueries showplanfrpspreadsheetcode showplanindexes showplannumrows showplanquerydiagram showplantables showplantablesunique loadplanfromcache loadplanfromhist showtopcpu showowner showindexes showconstraints showcolstats showhistograms showallscanrates showallworkareas It's all about the Cardinalities

A comprehensive guide to performance design planning for cleint-network-server systems using Oracle, this book contains some dynamite applications design tips that can reduce network and server traffic dramatically. The CD-ROM contains various tuning and performance measurement utilities provided by the author and third-party developers.

Oracle system performance inefficiencies often go undetected for months or even years--even under intense scrutiny--because traditional Oracle performance analysis methods and tools are fundamentally flawed. They're unreliable and inefficient.Oracle DBAs and developers are all too familiar with the outlay of time and resources, blown budgets, missed deadlines, and marginally effective performance fiddling that is commonplace with traditional methods of Oracle performance tuning. In this crucial book, Cary Millsap, former VP of Oracle's System Performance Group, clearly and concisely explains how to use Oracle's response time statistics to diagnose and repair performance problems. Cary also shows how "queueing theory" can be applied to response time statistics to predict the impact of upgrades and other system changes.Optimizing Oracle Performance eliminates the time-consuming, trial-and-error guesswork inherent in most conventional approaches to tuning. You can determine exactly where a system's performance problem is, and with equal importance, where it is not, in just a few minutes--even if the problem is several years old.Optimizing Oracle Performance cuts a path through the complexity of current tuning methods, and streamlines an approach that focuses on optimization techniques that any DBA can use quickly and successfully to make noticeable--even dramatic--improvements.For example, the one thing database users care most about is response time. Naturally, DBAs focus much of their time and effort towards improving response time. But it is entirely too easy to spend hundreds of hours to improve important system metrics such as hit ratios, average latencies, and wait times, only to find users are unable to perceive the difference. And an expensive hardware upgrade may not help either.It doesn't have to be that way. Technological advances have added impact, efficiency, measurability, predictive capacity, reliability, speed, and practicality to the science of Oracle performance optimization. Optimizing Oracle Performance shows you how to slash the frustration and expense associated with unraveling the true root cause of any type of performance problem, and reliably predict future performance.The price of this essential book will be paid back in hours saved the first time its methods are used.

A very practical guide to making databases run faster and better. A poorly performing database application can cost each user time, and have an impact on other applications running on the same computer or the same network. This book will help DBAUs and programmers improve the performance of their databases.

Expert Oracle SQL: Optimization, Deployment, and Statistics is about optimizing individual SQL statements, especially on production database systems. This Oracle-specific book begins by assuming you have already identified a particular SQL statement and are considering taking steps to improve its performance. The book describes a systematic process by which to diagnose a problem statement, identify a fix, and to implement that fix safely in a production system. You'll learn not only to improve performance when it is too slow, but also to stabilize performance when it is too variable. You'll learn about system statistics and how the Cost-Based Optimizer uses them to determine a suitable execution plan for a given statement. That knowledge provides the foundation from which to identify the root cause, and to stabilize and improve performance. Next after identifying a problem and the underlying root cause is to put in place a solution. Expert Oracle SQL: Optimization, Deployment, and Statistics explains how to apply various remedies such as changing the SQL statement, adding hints, changing the physical design, and more, and how they can be brought to bear on fixing a problem once and for all. Rolling a change out smoothly is an important topic when dealing with tuning and optimization. Expert Oracle SQL: Optimization, Deployment, and Statistics does not let you down in this critical area. The book contains two chapters of good information from an experienced professional on how to safely deploy changes into production so that your systems remaining running and available throughout the deployment process. Describes a systematic approach to tuning Oracle SQL Explains how things are supposed to work, what can go wrong, and how to fix it Takes you through the steps needed to stabilize performance in your production systems