Tag: statistics

Explain the Explain Plan – Part 3 of Optimizer Workshop

Examines the different aspects of an execution plan, from cardinality estimates to parallel execution and explains what information you should be gleaming from the plan.

Part 3 of the workshop examines the different aspects of an execution plan, from cardinality estimates to parallel execution and explains what information you should be gleaming from the plan and how it affects the execution. It offers insight into what caused the Optimizer to make the decision it did as well as a set of corrective measures that can be used to improve each aspect of the plan.

More information on displaying and reading execution plans can be found in my previous blog posts on DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY_CURSOR and using SQL Monitor. Or in the white paper Explain the Explain Plan.

Best Practices for Managing Optimizer Statistics – Part 2 of the Oracle Optimizer Workshop

This session focuses on Optimizer statistics and the best practices for managing them!

Part 2 of the workshop focuses on Optimizer Statistics and the best practices for managing them, including when and how to gather statistics, including fixed object statistics.

SQL Tuning Workshop

Last week I had the pleasure of delivering a five-part SQL Tuning Workshop for my local Oracle User Group –  Northern California Oracle User Group. The workshop explains the fundamentals of the cost-based Optimizer, the statistics that feed it, the hints that influence it, and the key tools you need to examine execution plans.

The workshop also provides a methodology for diagnosing and resolving the most common SQL execution performance problems. Given the volume of interest in this content, I want to share all of the material from the workshop here and give you links to additional material on each of the five topics.

Part 1 Understanding the Oracle Optimizer

The first part of the workshop covers the history of the Oracle Optimizer and explains the first thing the Optimizer does when it begins to optimize a query – query transformation.

Query transformations or the rewriting of the SQL statement into a semantically equivalent statement allows the Optimizer to consider alternative methods of processing or executing that query, which are often more efficient than the original SQL statement would allow. Most of Oracle’s query transactions are now cost-based, which means the Optimizer will cost the plan with and with the query transformation and pick the plan with the lowest cost. With the help of the Optimizer development team, I’ve already blogged about a number of these transformations, including:

You can also download the slides here.

Part 2 Best Practices for Managing Optimizer Statistics

Part 2 of the workshop focuses on Optimizer Statistics and the best practices for managing them, including when and how to gather statistics, including fixed object statistics.
Continue reading “SQL Tuning Workshop”

Automatic Collection of Fixed Objects Statistics in 12c

In my previous life as the Optimizer Lady, I wrote a blog on the importance of gathering fixed object statistics since they were not collected initially as part of the automatic statistics gathering task.

Starting with Oracle Database 12c Release 1, Oracle will automatically gather fixed object statistics as part of the automated statistics gathering task if they have not been previously collected. Does that mean we are off the hook then?

The answer (as always) is it depends!

Let me begin by explaining what we mean by I the term “fixed objects”.

Continue reading “Automatic Collection of Fixed Objects Statistics in 12c”

Should you gather System Statistics?

While at the HotSOS Symposium, last month, I caused quite a stir when I recommended that folks should never gather system statistics.

Why such a stir?

It turns out this goes against what we recommend in the Oracle SQL Tuning Guide, which says “Oracle recommends that you gather system statistics when a physical change occurs in the environment”.

So, who right?

Well in order to figure that out, I spoke with Mohamed Zait, the head of the optimizer development team and Nigel Bayliss, the product manager for the optimizer, upon my return to the office.

After our discussions, Nigel very kindly agreed to write a detailed blog post that explains exactly what system statistics are, how they influence the Optimizer, and provides clear guidance on when, if ever, you should gather system statistics!

What did I learn from all this?

Don’t gather system statistics unless you are in a pure data warehouse environment, with a good IO subsystem (e.g. Exadata) and you want to encourage the Optimizer to pick more full table scans and never says never!

Optimizer Histograms

At the recent OUG Ireland conference I had the privilege of participating in a panel discussion on the Oracle Database. During the course of the session the topic of Optimizer histograms came up. As always, a heated discussion ensued among the members of the panel, as we each had very different views on the subject.

Why so many different opinions when it comes to histograms?

The problem arises from the fact that some folks have been burnt by histograms in the past. In Oracle Database 9i and 10g, histograms in combination with bind-peeking lead to some unpredictable performance problems, which is explained in detail in this post on the  Optimizer blog.  This has resulted in a number of folks becoming histogram shy. In fact, I reckon if you were to put 3 Oracle experts on a panel, you would get at least 5 different opinions on when and how you should gather histograms!

So I thought it would be a good idea to explain some of the common misconceptions that surround histograms and the impact of adopting them.

This is a long post, so you might want to grab a coffee before you get into it!

Continue reading “Optimizer Histograms”

Histogram sample size and Online Statistics Gathering

I got a great follow up question to my earlier blog on Online Statistics Gathering; that I thought might be of interest to other and worthy of a short post of its own.

The question related to sample size used to gather histograms on a table that originally had its statistics gathered via a direct path load operation.

Let’s look at any example:

I got a great follow up question to my earlier blog on Online Statistics Gathering; that I thought might be of interest to other and worthy of a short post of its own.

The question related to sample size used to gather histograms on a table that originally had its statistics gathered via a direct path load operation.

Let’s look at any example:

Continue reading “Histogram sample size and Online Statistics Gathering”

Locking Table Statistics Provides Plan Stability True or False?

I was recently asked if I would ever recommend locking table statistics as a way of preventing execution plans from changing. As, with a lot questions’ regarding the Optimizer and statistics the answer was “it depends”.

There are definitely some edge cases where locking the statistics is the best approach but I wouldn’t generally recommend it to achieve plan stability. Before I share the edge cases where I believe locking statistics would help, lets first look at exactly what locking table statistics does and why it’s not a good approach to plan stability.

From Oracle Database 10g onwards you have had the ability to lock the optimizer statistics for a table or schema, via the DBMS_STATS package.

BEGIN
DBMS_STATS.LOCK_TABLE_STATS(‘SH’,’SALES’);
END;
/
The LOCK_STATS procedure locks all of the statistics related to a table, including the table statistics (number of rows, number of blocks etc.), column statistics (min and max values, number of distinct values etc.), histograms and the statistics on all dependent indexes. Once statistics are locked, no modifications can be made to those statistics until the statistics have been unlocked or if the FORCE option is used in the GATHER_*_STATS procedures.

I was recently asked if I would ever recommend locking table statistics as a way of preventing execution plans from changing. As, with a lot questions’ regarding the Optimizer and statistics the answer was “it depends”.

There are definitely some edge cases where locking the statistics is the best approach but I wouldn’t generally recommend it to achieve plan stability. Before I share the edge cases where I believe locking statistics would help, lets first look at exactly what locking table statistics does and why it’s not a good approach to plan stability.

Continue reading “Locking Table Statistics Provides Plan Stability True or False?”

Online Statistics Gathering

Although there have been a number of significant changes to the Oracle Database in 12c, some of my favorite new features are actually the small enhancements, designed to make your life a little easier. So, I decided to spend some time this year sharing the details on these small but extremely useful features.

One such enhancement is Online Statistics Gathering.

Whenever an index is created, Oracle automatically gathers optimizer statistics for that index. The database piggybacks the statistics gather on the full data scan and sort operation necessary for the index creation. This approach has worked so well since it was introduced in 9i, few people even realize it’s happening.

Although there have been a number of significant changes to the Oracle Database in 12c, some of my favorite new features are actually the small enhancements, designed to make your life a little easier. So, I decided to spend some time this year sharing the details on these small but extremely useful features.

One such enhancement is Online Statistics Gathering.

Continue reading “Online Statistics Gathering”