A database performance monitoring and management tools can be used to mitigate problems and help organizations to be more proactive so that they can avoid performance problems and interruptions.
Even the best-designed database experiences degradation of performance. No matter how well the database structures are defined or the SQL code gets written, things can and will go wrong. And if the performance problems are not corrected quickly, that can be detrimental to the profitability of a company.
Performance of a Database
When the performance of the database suffers, business processes within organizations slow down and end users complain. But that is not the worst of all. If the performance of the systems they see abroad is bad enough, companies can lose business, as customers who are tired of waiting for the applications to respond will go elsewhere.
Because the performance of database systems and applications can be affected by a variety of factors, the tools that can find and correct the causes of database performance problems are vital for organizations that rely on them in database management systems (DBMS) to run your mission-critical systems. And in today’s IT world, focused on databases, that applies to most companies.
Types of performance problems you should look for
Many types of database performance problems can make it difficult to locate the cause of individual problems. It is possible, for example, that the database structures or the application code are flawed from the beginning. Bad database design decisions and incorrectly encoded SQL statements can result in poor performance.
It may be that a system was well designed initially, but over time the changes caused the performance to begin to degrade. More data, more users or different patterns of data access can slow down even the best database applications. Even the maintenance of a DBMS – or the lack of regular maintenance of databases – can cause performance to plummet.
The following are three important indicators that could indicate database performance issues in your IT department:
1. Applications that go slower. The most important indication of potential performance problems in the database is when things that used to run fast start running at a slower pace. Including online transaction processing systems that are used by employees or customers, or batch jobs that process data in large quantities for tasks such as payroll processing and end-of-month reports.
Monitoring a processing workload without database performance management tools can become difficult. In that case, database administrators (DBAs) and performance analysts have to resort to other methods to detect problems, in particular, complaints from end users about issues such as application screens taking too much time to upload or nothing to happen for a long time after the information is entered into an application.
2. System interruptions. When a system is turned off, the performance of the database is obviously at its worst. Interruptions can be caused by database problems, such as running out of storage space due to increased volumes of data or by a resource that is not available, such as a data set, partition or package.
3. The need for frequent hardware updates. The constantly upgrading of servers to larger models with more memory and storage are often candidates for database performance optimization. Optimizing database parameters, tuning SQL statements and reorganizing database objects can be much less expensive than frequently updating expensive hardware and equipment.
On the other hand, sometimes hardware updates are needed to solve database performance problems. However, with the proper tools for monitoring and managing databases, it is possible to mitigate the costs of updating by locating the cause of the problem and identifying the appropriate measures to remedy it. For example, it may be cost-effective to add more memory or implement faster storage devices to resolve I / O bottlenecks that affect the performance of a database. And doing so will probably be cheaper than replacing an entire server.
Problems that tools can help you manage
When the performance problems of the database arise, it is unlikely that its exact cause will be immediately evident. A DBA should translate vague complaints about end-user issues into specific issues, related to performance, that can cause the problems described. It can be a difficult and error-prone process, especially without automated tools to guide the DBA.
The ability to collect the metrics on database usage and identify the specific problems of the database – how and when they occur – is perhaps the most compelling capability of the database performance tools. When faced with a performance complaint, the DBA can use a tool to highlight current and past critical conditions. Instead of having to look for the root cause of the problem manually, the software can quickly examine the database and diagnose possible problems.
Some, database performance tools can be used to set performance that, once triggered, alert the DBA of a problem or trigger an indicator on the screen. Also, DBAs can schedule reports on database performance to be executed at regular intervals, in an effort to identify the problems that need to be addressed. Advanced tools can both identify, and help solve any situations.
There are multiple variations of performance issues, and advanced performance management tools require a set of functionalities.
The critical capabilities provided by the database performance tools include
- Performance review and SQL optimization.
- Analysis of the effectiveness of existing indexes for SQL.
- Display of storage space and disk defragmentation when necessary.
- Observation and administration of the use of system resources.
- Simulation of production in a test environment.
- Analysis of the root cause of the performance problems of the databases.
The tools that monitor and manage the performance of databases are crucial components of an infrastructure that allows organizations to effectively deliver the service to their customers and end users.
