APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MONITORING USAGE OF COMPONENTS IN A DATABASE INDEX
Database indexes include multiple fields that are used to track how the components of the index are used. An index component monitoring mechanism tracks how the components of the index are used, and updates fields in the index accordingly. Such component-level statistics allow a query optimizer to make more intelligent decisions regarding when to build a new index and when to discard an index, and also provide information regarding which queries are using the index, the maintenance cost of the index, and the selectivity of the index when used to process a query.
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This patent application is a continuation of Ser. No. 11/082,924 filed Mar. 17, 2005, which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Technical Field
This invention generally relates to computer systems, and more specifically relates to database apparatus and methods.
2. Background Art
Database systems have been developed that allow a computer to store a large amount of information in a way that allows a user to search for and retrieve specific information in the database. For example, an insurance company may have a database that includes all of its policy holders and their current account information, including payment history, premium amount, policy number, policy type, exclusions to coverage, etc. A database system allows the insurance company to retrieve the account information for a single policy holder among the thousands and perhaps millions of policy holders in its database.
Retrieval of information from a database is typically done using queries. A query usually specifies conditions that apply to one or more columns of the database, and may specify relatively complex logical operations on multiple columns. The database is searched for records that satisfy the query, and those records are returned as the query result.
One way to improve the performance of a query is to use an index. An index is a data structure that allows more efficiently locating data in a table. A query optimizer may evaluate a query and determine that building an index for a table will help the query run faster. One problem that exists is the proliferation of indexes over time. In large database systems, each table may have dozens of indexes associated with the table that have been generated over time by the query optimizer to run different queries on the table. In the prior art, there is a timestamp in the index that allows determining the last time an index was used. If the index has not been used for some predetermined time threshold, the index may be discarded. Note, however, that an index may provide statistics to the query optimizer that aid in processing a query, without the index being used to process the query. Because the last used timestamp of an index is not updated when an index is used to provide statistics, but is only updated when an index is used to run a query, the last used timestamp does not truly indicate the last time the query optimizer might have used the index to provide statistics. Deleting an index based on the last used timestamp thus may result in deleting an index that the query optimizer uses often to provide statistics in determining how to execute a query.
Another problem with the prior art is the selection of a time threshold for discarding indexes. Is an index too old if it has not been used for a month? Or is three months, or six months a better threshold? The selection of a last used threshold is somewhat arbitrary. In addition, the last used threshold does not indicate how the index was used. For example, an index that includes four columns may be used often in running a query against only one of the four columns. In this case, the index is used often, but is an inefficient index for executing the query. The query optimizer would do better to build a new index for the one column in the query, and discard the old index that includes four columns. However, there is no way to know which portions of an index are used. Without a way to track how components within an index are used, the database industry will continue to suffer from inefficient methods for determining when to build and index and when to discard an index.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTIONAccording to the preferred embodiments, database indexes include multiple fields that are used to track how the components of the index are used. An index component monitoring mechanism tracks how the components of the index are used, and updates fields in the index accordingly. Such component-level statistics allow making more intelligent decisions regarding when to build a new index and when to discard an index, and also provide information regarding which queries are using the index, the maintenance cost of the index, and the selectivity of the index when used to process a query.
The foregoing and other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of preferred embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGSThe preferred embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended drawings, where like designations denote like elements, and:
1.0 Overview
The present invention relates to the analysis of database queries. For those not familiar with databases or queries, this Overview section will provide background information that will help to understand the present invention.
Known Databases, Database Queries, and Indexes
There are many different types of databases known in the art. The most common is known as a relational database (RDB), which organizes data in tables that have rows that represent individual entries or records in the database, and columns that define what is stored in each entry or record.
To be useful, the data stored in databases must be able to be efficiently retrieved. The most common way to retrieve data from a database is to generate a database query. A database query is an expression that is evaluated by a database manager. The expression may contain one or more predicate expressions that are used to retrieve data from a database. For example, let's assume there is a database for a company that includes a table of employees, with columns in the table that represent the employee's name, address, phone number, gender, and salary. With data stored in this format, a query could be formulated that would retrieve the records for all female employees that have a salary greater than $40,000. Similarly, a query could be formulated that would retrieve the records for all employees that have a particular area code or telephone prefix.
One popular way to define a query uses Structured Query Language (SQL). SQL defines a syntax for generating and processing queries that is independent of the actual structure and format of the database. Note that an SQL query is expressed in terms of columns defined on one or more database tables. Information about the internal storage of the data is not required as long as the query is written in terms of expressions that relate to values in columns from tables.
Indexes are often created and used by a query optimizer to speed the processing of a query. In the prior art, an index contains a timestamp indicating when the index was last used to run a query. This allows a database manager to discard indexes that are unused for a predetermined period of time. Note, however, that an index may be used by a query optimizer to gather statistics. Such uses do not update the last used timestamp, which may lead to discarding an index even though it is often used to gather statistics. In addition, there is currently no way for a query optimizer to know whether an index is being efficiently used by a query. As a result, an index may be used often to process queries, even though the index may include components (i.e., columns) that are seldom referenced by the queries.
2.0 Description of the Preferred Embodiments
The preferred embodiments allow more efficiently managing indexes by including multiple fields in an index that track how the various components of the index have been used. By collecting statistics for components of an index, it will be easier to determine how efficiently an index is being used, how often the different components of the index are used, which queries have used the index, the cost for maintaining the index, the run-time performance of the index, etc. This information may be used to create other indexes, to discard indexes, and to analyze the performance of queries that use the indexes.
Referring to
Main memory 120 in accordance with the preferred embodiments contains data 121, an operating system 122, a database 123, one or more database queries 124, a database index 125, and an index component monitoring mechanism 128. Data 121 represents any data that serves as input to or output from any program in computer system 100. Operating system 122 is a multitasking operating system known in the industry as OS/400; however, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the spirit and scope of the present invention is not limited to any one operating system. Database 123 is any suitable database, whether currently known or developed in the future. Database 123 preferably includes one or more tables. Database query 124 is a query in a format compatible with the database 123 that allows retrieval of information stored in the database 123 that satisfies the database query 124. Database index 125 is an index that is built over one or more columns of a table in database 123. Database index 125 preferably includes components 126 and a plurality of fields 127. The components 126 represent columns in a database table for which the index was built. Fields 127 represent statistics that are stored in the index. These statistics include detailed information relating to the components 126.
The index component monitoring mechanism 128 monitors the usage of the database index 125, and writes information to the fields 127 that reflects how the database index 125 is used. Specifically, the index component monitoring mechanism 128 writes information to the fields 127 regarding the usage of the various different components 126 of the database index 125. By monitoring usage of the index components, more intelligent decisions may be made regarding when to discard an index, when to create a new index, and how efficiently an index is being used. Because the monitoring of the index components by the index component monitoring mechanism 128 requires system resources, the index component monitoring mechanism 128 preferably includes the capability of being turned on or turned off.
Computer system 100 utilizes well known virtual addressing mechanisms that allow the programs of computer system 100 to behave as if they only have access to a large, single storage entity instead of access to multiple, smaller storage entities such as main memory 120 and DASD device 155. Therefore, while data 121, operating system 122, database 123, database query 124, database index 125, and index component monitoring mechanism 128 are shown to reside in main memory 120, those skilled in the art will recognize that these items are not necessarily all completely contained in main memory 120 at the same time. It should also be noted that the term “memory” is used herein to generically refer to the entire virtual memory of computer system 100, and may include the virtual memory of other computer systems coupled to computer system 100.
Processor 110 may be constructed from one or more microprocessors and/or integrated circuits. Processor 110 executes program instructions stored in main memory 120. Main memory 120 stores programs and data that processor 110 may access. When computer system 100 starts up, processor 110 initially executes the program instructions that make up operating system 122. Operating system 122 is a sophisticated program that manages the resources of computer system 100. Some of these resources are processor 110, main memory 120, mass storage interface 130, display interface 140, network interface 150, and system bus 160.
Although computer system 100 is shown to contain only a single processor and a single system bus, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention may be practiced using a computer system that has multiple processors and/or multiple buses. In addition, the interfaces that are used in the preferred embodiment each include separate, fully programmed microprocessors that are used to off-load compute-intensive processing from processor 110. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention applies equally to computer systems that simply use I/O adapters to perform similar functions.
Display interface 140 is used to directly connect one or more displays 165 to computer system 100. These displays 165, which may be non-intelligent (i.e., dumb) terminals or fully programmable workstations, are used to allow system administrators and users to communicate with computer system 100. Note, however, that while display interface 140 is provided to support communication with one or more displays 165, computer system 100 does not necessarily require a display 165, because all needed interaction with users and other processes may occur via network interface 150.
Network interface 150 is used to connect other computer systems and/or workstations (e.g., 175 in
At this point, it is important to note that while the present invention has been and will continue to be described in the context of a fully functional computer system, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention is capable of being distributed as a program product in a variety of forms, and that the present invention applies equally regardless of the particular type of computer-readable signal bearing media used to actually carry out the distribution. Examples of suitable computer-readable signal bearing media include: recordable type media such as floppy disks and CD RW (e.g., 195 of
A prior art index 710 is shown in
A method 800 in
The preferred embodiments provides a substantial improvement over the prior art by providing fields within an index that allow storing information regarding the usage of components in the index. Referring to
Index 910 also preferably includes a maintenance statistics table 950. The maintenance statistics table indicates the component involved when the index was modified, the cost for the modification, the query ID of the query that caused the index to be modified, and the user ID. Index 910 also preferably includes a selectivity table 960. The selectivity table 960 performs information that indicates how effectively the index is being used when processing a query. The selectivity table 960 preferably includes a column for the number of rows in the result set, a column for the total rows processed, and columns for the query ID and user ID. If the selectivity of a query is high, the usefulness of using the index is reduced.
Once we've defined the new index 910 in accordance with the preferred embodiments, we can store information in the index that helps determine how the index has been used. The index component monitoring mechanism 128 (
The index component monitoring mechanism 128 may also write information to an index relating to the maintenance of the index. Referring to
The index component monitoring mechanism 128 may also write information to the index relating to the run-time performance of the index when used to execute a query. Referring to
The preferred embodiments herein relate to an index that includes statistics regarding usage of its components, and a mechanism for monitoring the use of the index and storing information regarding the usage in the index. Once this information resides in the index, it may be used in a number of different ways. For example, this information could be used to determine whether an index should be discarded and whether a new, more efficient index should be built. In addition, this information could also be used to measure the cost of maintaining the index. The information stored in the index could be displayed to a system administrator via a graphical user interface. In the alternative, the information stored in the index could be used by a query optimizer or other software tool to autonomically create and discard indexes according to the information stored in the index regarding the usage of its components. The preferred embodiments expressly extend to any and all ways of using data corresponding to the usage of components that is stored in the index.
The preferred embodiments provide an enhanced index that includes fields for storing usage data for the components of the index. Usage of the index is monitored, and information regarding the usage is stored in the fields in the index. This detailed information in the index regarding its components allows more intelligently determining when to discard an index, when to create a new index, and how effective an index is being used in processing queries.
One skilled in the art will appreciate that many variations are possible within the scope of the present invention. Thus, while the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that these and other changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
Claims
1) An apparatus comprising:
- at least one processor;
- a memory coupled to the at least one processor;
- a database index residing in the memory that references a database table, the database index comprising: a plurality of components that each correspond to a column in the database table; and a plurality of fields that contain information regarding usage of the plurality of components; and
- an index component monitoring mechanism that monitors usage of the plurality of components in the database index and writes information regarding the usage to the plurality of fields in the database index.
2) The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the index component monitoring mechanism includes the capability of being turned on and off.
3) The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the plurality of fields include a correlation of the plurality of components to a corresponding plurality of query identifiers to indicate each query that used a corresponding one of the plurality of components in the database index.
4) The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the plurality of fields include a plurality of last used timestamps correlated to a corresponding plurality of query identifiers to indicate a timestamp for each query that used the database index.
5) The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the plurality of fields include maintenance statistics that indicate which components in the database index were modified when the database index was modified.
6) The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the plurality of fields include selectivity information that is determined when the database index is used to run a query.
7) A computer-implemented method for monitoring usage of a plurality of components within a database index, each of the plurality of components corresponding to a column in a database table, the method comprising the steps of:
- (A) providing a plurality of fields in the database index;
- (B) monitoring usage of the plurality of components in the database index; and
- (C) writing to the plurality of fields information regarding the usage of the plurality of components in the database index.
8) The method of claim 7 wherein the plurality of fields include a correlation of the plurality of components to a corresponding plurality of query identifiers to indicate each query that used a corresponding one of the plurality of components in the database index.
9) The method of claim 7 wherein the plurality of fields include a plurality of last used timestamps correlated to a corresponding plurality of query identifiers to indicate a timestamp for each query that used the database index.
10) The method of claim 7 wherein the plurality of fields include maintenance statistics that indicate which components in the database index were modified when the database index was modified.
11) The method of claim 7 wherein the plurality of fields include selectivity information that is determined when the database index is used to run a query.
12) The method of claim 7 further comprising the step of using the information in the database index regarding the usage of the plurality of components in the database index to determine when to discard the database index.
13) The method of claim 7 further comprising the step of using the information in the database index regarding the usage of the plurality of components in the database index to determine when to create a new database index.
14) An article of manufacture comprising:
- (A) an index component monitoring mechanism that monitors usage of a plurality of components in a database index that each correspond to a column in a database table, the index component monitoring mechanism writing information regarding the usage to a plurality of fields in the database index; and
- (B) recordable bearing media bearing the index component monitoring mechanism.
15) The article of manufacture of claim 14 wherein the index component monitoring mechanism includes the capability of being turned on and off.
16) The article of manufacture of claim 14 wherein the plurality of fields include a correlation of the plurality of components to a corresponding plurality of query identifiers to indicate each query that used a corresponding one of the plurality of components in the database index.
17) The article of manufacture of claim 14 wherein the plurality of fields include a plurality of last used timestamps correlated to a corresponding plurality of query identifiers to indicate a timestamp for each query that used the database index.
18) The article of manufacture of claim 14 wherein the plurality of fields include maintenance statistics that indicate which components in the database index were modified when the database index was modified.
19) The article of manufacture of claim 14 wherein the plurality of fields include selectivity information that is determined when the database index is used to run a query.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 31, 2007
Publication Date: Dec 20, 2007
Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION (Armonk, NY)
Inventors: Eric Barsness (Pine Island, MN), John Santosuosso (Rochester, MN)
Application Number: 11/848,474
International Classification: G21C 17/00 (20060101);