DBA’s New Best Friend: Oracle Database 10g and 11g SQL

Performance Analyzer
Prabhaker Gongloor (GP)
Khaled Yagoub
Pete Belknap
Database Manageability Group
Outline

• SQL Performance Analyzer (SPA) – Introduction

• Recommended Testing Methodology
• Usage Scenarios
– Evaluating Changes on Production System
– 10.2
11g DB Upgrade
• SPA Exadata Simulation
• SPA Enhancements in Oracle Database 11g Release 2
• Conclusion

* Please visit us at the OOW Demogrounds Moscone

West – D61/62
 SPA Motivation

• Businesses need to adapt to changes to stay competitive, compliant

and evolve
– DB upgrades, schema, optimizer statistics refresh
– SQL performance regressions: #1 cause of poor system perf.

• Current testing landscape and limitations

– Expensive capture, partial workload, non-production optimizer context,
binds
– Large workloads (100Ks SQL stmts are common)
– Manual and time consuming testing and regression tuning
– No end-to-end testing solution
– Test In Production is not too uncommon

SQL Performance Analyzer (SPA)

 Proactively detects ALL SQL regressions, BEFORE actual change is deployed
 Integrated comprehensive solution for end-to-end SQL workload testing
 SPA Overview

• Helps users predict the impact of

system changes on SQL workload SQL Workload
response time STS

• Low overhead capture of SQL

workload to SQL Tuning Set (STS) SQL plans + stats
SQL plans + stats
on production system
Pre-change Trial Post-change Trial
• Build different SQL trials
(experiments) of SQL statements
performance by test execution Compare
SQL Performance
• Analyzes performance differences

• Offers fine-grained performance Analysis Report

analysis on individual SQL

• Integrated with STS, SQL Plan

Baselines, & SQL Tuning Advisor to
form an end-to-end solution
 SQL Trials
• SQL Trials capture execution performance (plans and statistics) of the
STS under a given environment

• SPA Trials handle the SELECTS and query part of DML, DDL is skipped

• There are 3 methods to build SQL Trials:

– Execute SQL Locally or Remotely
• Test execute statements in actual environment
• For remote execution, database link needs to be specified

– Generate Plans Locally or Remotely

• Generated execution plans have bind visibility, so better than vanilla
“explain”
• Quick way to check if wide-spread changes to SQL plans

– Build from STS

• Convert STS to SQL Trial
• Use for SQL centric analysis with DB Replay or other testing tools
• Use for 9i/10.1 upgrade to higher releases
SPA: Common Usage Scenarios

• Database upgrades and patch-set releases

– 9.2/10.1
10.2 or 11g releases
– 10.2.0.x
10.2.0.y or 11g releases
• Optimizer statistics refresh
• Database parameter changes
• Database schema changes (e.g., add/drop indexes)
• Implementation of tuning recommendations
• I/O subsystem changes (e.g., ASM, Exadata)

SPA can be used for:

 any change that affects SQL execution plan & performance
 in production as well as test environments

Information for use cases on OTN/ML Note: 560977.1

SPA: Enterprise Manager Interface
• Rich GUI through Enterprise Manager – New workflows added!
• DBMS_SQLPA package PL/SQL API

New
Workflows !
Recommended Testing Methodology
Real Application Testing: Recommended Methodology

1. USE SPA FOR SQL RESPONSE TIME /

UNIT TESTING

No
DONE?

Yes

2. USE DB REPLAY FOR LOAD /

CONCURRENCY TESTING

DONE?
No
Yes

DEPLOY CHANGE &

TUNING
 Recommended Testing Methodology with SPA

1. CAPTURE REPRESENTATIVE SQL • Use Production or

WORKLOAD TO STS identical Test System

• Test one change at a

time to understand
2. ESTABLISH BASELINE (SQL TRIAL-1) causality
WITHOUT CHANGE
• Reports show
deviations from
production
3. MAKE CHANGE, ESTABLISH SQL
TRIAL-N • Compare Baseline to
Trial-N in the same
environment
4. COMPARE TRIALS & REVIEW SPA
REPORT, REMEDIATE • For incremental tuning:
Compare Trial N-1 to
5. Deploy Change & Trial-N
Tuning to PROD OR Yes No
further testing thru DB DONE?
Replay
Usage Scenario: Evaluating Changes On
Production
 Using SPA For Changes in Production: Example

Prod +Add
indexes And so on…

Parameter change
was bad in this case
1. Fix Regression
thru SPM
+Parameter +Index

Change Unusable
+New Stats
Change
Fix Regression +Validate
SQL Profile Tuning
+Partitioning
+SQL
Profile
• Bubble following the arrow indicates the
delta change on Production
• SPA is used for testing every change
 How to Minimize Impact on Production?

• Generate Plan Vs Test Execute

– Use Generate Plan Trial Method to subset SQL with plan changes
– Only test execute SQL with plan changes

• Limit testing scope to private session or schema where possible

– Use alter session set <parameter> = <value>; (Vs system)
– Example usage for SQL Profiles:
• alter session set sqltune_category= ‘TEST’;
– Implement SQL Profiles and test Only sessions with “TEST” sqltune_category
see these Profiles - private scope!!
• alter session set sqltune_category= ‘DEFAULT’; -- Now SQL Profiles
visible globally to all sessions
• Similarly for Invisible Indexes, Pending Stats

• Use SPA time limit to control resource usage

• Test during maintenance window or non-peak activity when spare

resources are available
Using SPA on Production: Evaluating Optimizer
Statistics Refresh and other changes

Scenario:
Can I use SPA to check if any SQL statements
regressed due to optimizer statistics refresh on my
10.2/11g production databases? If so, how?

Goal:
Assess impact of optimizer statistics gathering
on SQL workload performance on production system
using SPA & make sure are no negative effects of the
change
 Evaluating Optimizer Statistics Refresh
• Assumptions
– Statistics refreshed periodically through custom jobs
– No test system available, so evaluation is done on production
– Should impact end-users minimally
– Test using optimizer pending statistics feature

• Use SPA remote trials capability (generate plan and test execute)
to evaluate statistics refresh on 10.2/11g production database

• Analyze SPA report and take appropriate action

– Overall improvement but few SQL regressions
• Solution: Use SQL Profiles or Plan Management
– No improvement and many regressions
• Solution: Revert to old statistics: Use optimizer statistics
retention/history feature. Alternatively, configure optimizer
statistics appropriately*
– For Oracle Database 11g, “publish pending” statistics after evaluation
of statistics

OBE Tutorial on OTN: Gathering and Publishing Stats Independently

Using SPA on Production: Evaluating Optimizer
Statistics Refresh
Production Database (10.2/11g) No Test Database Used!!

11g SPA System

Prod: Before Stats
• No app
Remotely Build schema/data
Evaluate Opt Statistics Refresh necessary
SQL Trials
• Not Mandatory for
Prod: Stats Refreshed 11g db
• Repository for
many tests!

1. Capture SQL workload to STS

2. Import STS
3. Gather Pending Stats
4. Use SPA to detect performance
changes

5. Publish Pending Stats and

Remediate Regressions
 Evaluating Optimizer Statistics Refresh

• Tips!

– On production, first use SPA to generate execution plans only, then

test-execute SQLs with changed plans

– If you’re creating remote trials, you will need a logon trigger to set
optimizer_use_pending_statistics = TRUE private to the second trial
(SPA establishes the connection itself, over db link, so you cannot run
alter session yourself)

– To test-execute only those SQLs with changed plans, subset your STS
after doing trial 2, then do a new SPA experiment on that STS
• Script to subset STS is on Notes slide
 Usage Scenario:
End-to-End Case Study for 10.2
11g
Upgrade
10.2
11g DB Upgrade Using Enterprise Manager
Grid Control (EMGC) 10.2.0.5

Scenario:
I want to upgrade from 10.2 to 11g database release to
benefit from 11g functionality. How can I best accomplish the
upgrade?

Goal:
Assess impact of upgrade on SQL workload performance
using SPA so that there are no surprises after upgrade. Once
migrated to 11g new features can be enabled one at a time. Use
EMGC 10.2.0.5 for this purpose…
 10.2
11g DB Upgrade

Production Database Test Database

Test DB (11g)
Prod DB (10.2) Upgrade
Upgrade

Test DB (10.2)

Send SQL for

Remote
1. Capture SQL Execution
Collect
workload to STS
execution
stats

2. Transport STS
3. Establish 10.2 and 11g Trials
11g SPA System 4. Compare performance and
generate SPA report

5. Deploy Tuning and

Change to Prod
 10.2
11g DB Upgrade
(1) Capture Workload to STS
Steps 1: Capture workload into STS through Incremental Capture
Workload into STS: Preferred method
Other sources for STS also possible: Top SQL in AWR / AWR
Baseline
10.2
11g DB Upgrade
(1) Capture Workload to STS
10.2
11g Upgrade

1. Capture SQL workload to STS

2. Transport STS

3. Establish 10.2 and 11g Trials

4. Compare performance and

Generate SPA report

5. Deploy Tuning and Change to

Prod
 10.2
11g DB Upgrade
(2) Transport STS

Step 2:
• Copy STS to SPA system
• Setup Test DB (Copy of Prod) – 10.2
• Upgrade Test DB from 10.2 to 11g
10.2
11g DB Upgrade

1. Capture SQL workload to STS

2. Transport STS

3. Establish 10.2 and 11g Trials

4. Compare performance and

Generate SPA report

5. Deploy Tuning and Change to

Prod
10.2
11g DB Upgrade
(3) Establish 10.2 and 11g Trials
10.2
11g Upgrade

1. Capture SQL workload to STS

2. Transport STS

3. Establish 10.2 and 11g Trials

4. Compare Performance, Generate

SPA Report

5. Tune Regressions, Deploy

Tuning and Change to Prod
10.2
11g DB Upgrade
(4) Compare Performance and Generate Report

3 Note tuning/regression
2 fix is done on remote test
system that is being
upgraded
5*
1

4
SPA Report
Regressed SQL Statements
10.2
11g Upgrade

1. Capture SQL workload to STS

2. Transport STS

3. Establish 10.2 and 11g Trials

4. Compare performance and

Generate SPA report

5. Tune Regressions, Deploy

Tuning and Change to Prod
 10.2
11g DB Upgrade
(5) Regression Remediation

• If SPA system has application data/schema, tuning can be done

locally on the same DB

• If a separate SPA system is used, manually* subset SQL into a

separate STS and then use EM to transport it to remote DB

• Create SQL Plan Baselines: Helps revert to previously known,

stable plans

• SQL Tuning Advisor: Helps explore better execution plans

• All regressed SQL are targeted automatically for remediation

* Code snippet in Real Application Testing Users Guide (11.2), Chapter 11 Page 23
10.2
11g DB Upgrade
(5) Regression Remediation
10.2
11g DB Upgrade
(5) Deploy Tuning and Change in Production
10.2
11g Upgrade

1. Capture SQL workload to STS

2. Transport STS

3. Establish 10.2 and 11g Trials

4. Compare performance and

Generate SPA report

5. Tune Regressions, Deploy

Tuning and Change to Prod
SPA Exadata Simulation: Estimating
Exadata Server Performance Gains
 Predicting performance gains with SPA

• Existing SPA and Database Replay functionality can be used to

compare non-Exadata to Exadata configurations
– SPA: Unit test to find SQL response time gains
– DB Replay: Stress test with concurrency to find throughput gains
– Measure improvements for your workload
– This approach requires you to provision Exadata HW

• Oracle Database Release 11.1.0.7: Adds SPA functionality to

simulate Exadata on existing hardware to predict gains

• Oracle Database Release 11.2: Adds SPA GUI support

• Simulation measures reduction in I/O interconnect usage that

will in turn, reduce IO and CPU consumed on the DB server
 SPA Exadata Simulation
Workflow

• SPA Exadata Simulation builds two SQL Trials:

• Trial 1: Current configuration with No Exadata
• Trial 2: Current configuration with Exadata simulation

• Comparison metric – I/O Interconnect Bytes

– Trial 1 value = I/O Interconnect (disk) bytes
– Trial 2 value is reduced depending on SQL operation
eligibility (for full table scans, index full scans, etc.)
– Plans will not change between trials
SPA Exadata Simulation Workflow
SPA Exadata Simulation: Report
SPA Report: SQL Details
SPA Enhancements in Oracle
Database 11g Release 2
SPA Enhancements: Oracle Database 11g Release 2

• Multiple test executes for better trial accuracy – first execution

ignored, averaged stats

• Alternate Plans: New recommendation added for regression

remediation
– If a better execution plan was noticed in AWR or baseline SQL Trial
then a SQL Plan Baseline can be created from it

• Active Reports
– New interactive, offline reports based on Adobe Flash Player UI
– Customers can share reports internally or with Oracle Support
• Save, email, View Reports
• Support can diagnose problems more efficiently
• Get EM UI without installing EM – useful for packaged apps and
internal development teams
– SPA Active Report Example
 SPA Enhancements: Oracle Database 11g Release 2
Using SPA With Other Testing Tools – Build Trials from STS

• Allows comparing two different STS and generate SPA report

– Eliminates re-executing SQL for trial data
– Performance statistics picked up from the STS
– Multiple plans even those with different binds/env picked up for comparison

• Use cases: Perform SQL-centric analysis

– Database Replay
• SQL workload capture into STS-1 during Database Replay - Workload
Capture
• STS-2 during Database Replay – Workload Replay
• Use SPA to build trials from STS-1 and STS-2 and generate report
– Similarly with Oracle Application Testing Suite or home-grown scripts

• Reporting: SPA Report + Additional information

– Common SQL, Missing/New SQL, Plan Changes
– Overall Workload and Individual SQL Statistics
– Available in 11.2 database release, API only
Conclusion

• SPA provides comprehensive and easy-to-use

solution for SQL workload testing

• SPA can be used for many changes both test and

production environments

• Helps adopt technology faster by significantly cutting

down testing costs and production deployment risk

• With SPA and Real Application Testing businesses

can be stay competitive and improve profitability
10.2
11g DB Upgrade
(1) Capture Workload to STS
10.2
11g DB Upgrade
(1) Capture Workload to STS

No EM in your environment, use API:

EXEC DBMS_SQLTUNE.CAPTURE_CURSOR_CACHE_SQLSET(
sqlset_name => 'my_sts', time_limit => 24*60,
repeat_interval => 5);
10.2
11g DB Upgrade
(2) Transport STS

Make
Make sure
sure directory
directory
object
object exists on
exists on Prod
Prod
and
andTest
TestDBDB

Make
Make sure
sure all
all the
the sub-steps
sub-steps
succeed
succeed