Monitoring and Tuning the Database

Monitoring the performance of a database and ensuring that it performs optimally is an

important task for a database administrator. This chapter discusses the features and
functions included in Oracle Database that make it easy to monitor database health,
identify performance problems, and implement any corrective actions.

Proactive Database Monitoring

Oracle Database makes it easy to monitor the health and performance of your database.
It monitors the vital signs (or metrics) related to database health and performance,
analyzes the workload running against the database, and automatically identifies any
issues that need your attention as an administrator. Any incidents (critical errors in the
database) are reported on the Database Home page in EM Express.

Monitoring General Database State and Workload

The Database Home page enables you to monitor the state and workload of your
database. It provides a central place for general database state information and is
updated periodically.

To monitor the general database state and workload:

1. Go to the Database Home page.

2. (Optional) Click the Refresh icon to the right of the selected refresh interval for the Auto
Refresh list to up date the information displayed.

The time that the Database Home page was last collected from the database appears near the
top right corner of the page.

By default, the Database Home page automatically refreshes every 60 seconds. You can prevent
automatic refresh by selecting Off in the Auto Refresh list at the top right-hand corner of the
page.
You must then click the Refresh icon to View the latest information.

3. Get a quick overview of the database state in the Status section, which includes the
following information:

. Up Time

Information about how long the database has been up

- Type

The database type. The type can be a single instance database (CDB or non—CDB) or an Oracle
RAC database (or cluster database).

If the database type is a CDB, the next line will identify the database as a CDB and specify the
number of PDBs in the CDB. The CDB (n PDBs) line is a link to the Containers page, which shows
a list of containers in the CDB (not including PDB$SEED), as well as status, performance, and
resource information about the containers.

. Version

The database version number

. Database name

The database name

. Instance name

The name of the database instance

. Platform name

The platform on which the database is running

- Host name

The name of the host system on which the database is running

. Thread

The redo log threads for the database

. Archiver

The status of the archiver process

4. View active session information in the Performance section. The Performance section shows
trend information for the past hour.

The Activity Class chart shows the average number of database sessions active for the past
hour. The chart shows the type of activity for each session (on CPU, waiting for I/O, or waiting
for another resource).

The Services chart shows the average number of database sessions active for the past hour for
database services.
For Oracle RAC, the Activity Class chart shows activity aggregated across all instances in the
cluster. Also, an Instances chart appears for Oracle RAC that shows Average Active Sessions per
instance.

5 . View resource utilization for the latest data point (the last minute) in the Resources section.
The Resources section includes the following information:

. Host CPU chart

This chart shows the percentage of CPU time used by the database instance and other
processes during the last minute. Place your cursor over the instance data to see the
percentage of CPU used by foreground and background instance processes.

If other processes are taking up most of your CPU time, then this indicates that some other
application running on the database host computer could be causing performance problems.

. Active Sessions chart

This chart shows the average number of active sessions during the last minute, broken out by
wait, user I/O, and CPU.

- Waits

This is the value for all wait classes combined, excluding user I/ O and idle wait events. Wait
classes are groupings of wait events based on the type of wait.

Go to the Performance Hub and click the Activity tab to view more information about waits.

. User I/O
This is the average number of active sessions waiting for user I/O. User I/ O means that the
workload originating from the user causes the database to read data from disk or write data to
disk.
Go to the Performance Hub and click the Summary tab to view more information about I/O.

- CPU
This is the average active sessions using CPU. Go to the Performance Hub and click the
Summary tab to view more information about CPU usage.

. Memory (GB)

This chart shows the current memory utilization (as of the latest refresh time) broken out by
the database shared pool, java pool, buffer cache, PGA, and other SGA components.

. Data Storage (GB)

This chart shows the current space usage (as of the latest refresh time) broken out by user
data, database log files, undo tablespaces, and temporary, SYSAUX, and SYSTEM tablespaces.

6. View SQL activity in the SQL Monitor section:

The table in this section displays information about monitored SQL statement executions. If
there is a green spinning icon in the Status column, then the monitored statement is still
running. If there is a check mark in the Status column, then the statement has completed its
execution.
SQL statements are monitored only if they have consumed at least 5 seconds of CPU or I/O
time.

For each SQL statement, the table provides information in the Status, Duration, SQL ID, Session
ID, Parallel, Database Time, and SQL Text columns.

Click a SQL ID to display the SQL Details page with more information about that SQL statement.

7. The Incidents — Last 24 Hours section displays a table that provides information about
database incidents that have occurred in the past 24 hours. The table has the Instance, Time,
Incident, Problem, and Error columns.

An incident is an occurrence of a critical error

in the database. Each incident in the Incidents —

Last 24 Hours table is recorded in the Automatic

Diagnostic Repository (ADR), a directory structure

located outside the database, which is available

for problem diagnosis even when the database is

down. You can investigate critical errors using the

ADR Command Interpreter (ADRCI) utility.

8. The Running jobs section displays a table

that shows database jobs that are currently

running. The table has the Instance, Owner,

Name, Elapsed, and Started columns.

Monitoring Performance Using the Performance Hub

The Performance Hub allows you to view all the perfor-

mance data available for a specified time period. Once a

time period is selected, the performance information is

collected and presented based on performance subject

areas.

When real-time data is selected, more granular data

is presented (because data points are available every

minute).

When historical data is selected, more detailed data

(broken down by different metrics) is presented, but

the data points are averaged out to the Automatic

Workload Repository (AWR) interval (usually an hour).

Different tabs are available in the Performance Hub,

depending on whether real-time or historical data is se-

lected for the time period.

The following table describes the Performance Hub

tabs, and indicates whether the tab is available when

real—time data is selected or historical data is selected,

or both.

Perfor-

mance Hub Available

Tab Name Description When

Summary The Summary tab pro- Real-time

vides an overall view of data or his—

the performance of the torical data

system for the specified is selected

time period. in the Select

When real-time data Time Period

for the last hour is Held for ª

displayed in the Perfor— non-CDB,

mance Hub page, this CDB' or PDB

tab shows a summary

of running processes,

memory allocation, databaseact1v1tyby

category, and I/O data

during the last hour.

When historical data is

displayed in the Perfor-

mance Hub page, this

tab shows a summary

of average active ses-

sion waits by category,

load profile per second,

active session activity,

host CPU usage by the

database instance and

other processes, I/O

read and write requests

per second, and mem—oryusagedurmgthe

selected time period.

RAC The RAC tab appears Real-time

only when EM Express data or his-

is being used with an torical data

Oracle RAC database is selected

(or cluster database). in the Select

When real-time data Time Period

is selected, this tab Hºld

shows global cache

activity information

and a breakdown of

activity (average active

sessions) and resource

usage (CPU, I/O, mem-

ory) per instance. When historical data

is selected, this tab

shows global cache

activity information

and a breakdown of

activity (average active

sessions) and resource

usage (CPU, I/O, mem-

ory) per instance dur—

ing the selected time

period.

Activity The Activity tab shows Real-time

Active Session History data or his-

(ASH) analytics. It al- torical data

lows detailed drilldown is selected

into average active ses— in the Select

SionsforASHoverthe___-_T-iiri-e-Pe-r-ib-dnm.

selected time period. field for a

This tab enables you to non-CDB,
select an average active CDB! or PDB
sessions dimension
and view the top activ-
ity for that dimension
for a selected time
period. For example,
you can View the SQL
statements and user
sessions that had the
top average active ses—
sions activity for the
selected time period.

Workload The workload proíile Real-time

chartsshowthe521?""""'ââããíiiíêlww
tern of user calls, parse torical data

calls, Redo Size and is selected

SQLªªNet over the last in the Select

60 minutes in real—time Time Period

mode. The Sessions íield for a

chart show the logon non—CDB,

rate, current logons CDB, or PDB

and open cursors.

Clicking a SQL_ID dis—

plays the SQL Details

page with more infor-

mation about that SQL

statement.

Monitored This tab enables you Real—time

SQL to view information data or his—"""""""'"""""""Zíáãiít"33535221"Ea?""íál'í'c'ã'i'ã'ããã"""'

statements that were is selected

executing or that com- in the Select

pleted during the se- Time Period

lected time period. field for a

The table displays in— non-CDB,

formation about mon- CDB: or PDB

itored SQL statement

executions. If there is

a green spinning icon

in the Status column,

then the monitored

statement did not

complete during the

selected time period.

A red cross indicates

that the SQL did not

completeeitherdue
to an error or due to
the session getting
terminated. If there is a
check mark in the Sta—
tus column, then the
statement completed
its execution during
the selected time
period.
SQL statements are
monitored only if they
have consumed at least
5 seconds of CPU or I/O
time.
You can view informa—
tion such as the status

of a statement, its dura-

tion, its type (SQL, PL/

SQL, or DBOP), its SQL

ID, its SQL plan hash,

the user who issued it,

whether it executed

as a serial or parallel

statement, the time

the database spent per—

forming CPU activity, I/

0, or other activity for

the statement, the read

and write requests and

bytes associated with

the statement, and the

start and end time for

the statement.

Click a SQL ID to

display the SQL Details

page with more infor—

mation about that SQL

statement.

ADDM The ADDM tab enables Real—time

you to view perfor— data or his—

mance findings and torical data

recommendations that is selected

have been found by in the Select

Automatic Database Time Period

Diagnostics Monitor field for a

(ADDM) for tasks per— non—CDB or

formed in the database CDB.

during the selected This tab is

time periºd. available for a PDB only

when a CDB

administra—Time enables you to view data is se-

wait events by category lected in the

for various metrics, Select Time

and to View time statis- Period field

tics for various metrics for a non-

for the selected time CDB, CDB, or

period. PDB.

Resources The Resources tab Historical

enables you to view data is se—

operating system re— lected in the

source usage statistics, Select Time

I/O resource usage Period field

statistics, and memory for a non-

usage statistics for the CDB, CDB, or

selected time period. PDB.

tor logs into System The System Statistics Historical

Statistics tab enables you to view data is se—

database statistics by lected in the

value, per transaction, Select Time

or per second for the se- Period field

lected time period. for a non-

CDB, CDB, or

PDB.

Containers The Containers tab Real-time

enables you to view data or his—

open time, active ses— torical data

sions, memory used, is selected

I/O requests, and I/O in the Select

throughput informa- Time Period

a CDB and

tion for the PDBs in the field for a

CDB. CDB.

The following figure shows the Performance Hub when

Real Time - Last Hour data is selected.

navigates

(drills down)

to the PDB.

The tab is

not available

when a PDB
administra-

tor is logged

directly into

the PDB.

Database The Database Time tab Historical

The following figure shows the Performance Hub when

historical data is selected.

To view Performance Hub data:

1. At the top of the Database Home page, from
the Performance menu, select Performance
Hub.

The Performance Hub page appears, with the

Summary tab displayed. By default, real time data

for the last hour appears in the Performance Hub.

You can select a different time period in the Select

Time Period field if you would like to view histor—

ical data in the Performance Hub instead of real-

time data.

In the figure above, Historical - All is selected in

the Select Time Period field.

2. The time picker appears below the Select

Time Period fleld.

The Shaded block area in the time picker identifles

the period of time for which performance statistics

are currently being displayed in the Performance

Hub. This is a subset of the period of time you se-

lected in the Select Time Period field.

When historical data is displayed in the Perfor-

mance Hub, you can increase or decrease the size of

the Shaded block area by clicking and dragging the

user control on either end of the Shaded block area.

The Shaded block area is the time period for which

statistics are displayed on all of the Performance

Hub tabs, not just on the currently selected tab.

3. Click any of the tabs that appear in the Perfor-

mance Hub to view the performance data on

the tab.

4. Click the Peerub Report button to generate

a Performance Hub active report, which will

include the contents of the Performance Hub

tabs in an HTML file. After you click Peerub

Report, you are prompted to choose one of

these report types for the Performance Hub

active report:

. Basic: The basic information for all the

tabs is saved in the report.

- Typical: All the information for the

basic report is saved. Also, the SQL

Monitor information for the top SQL

in the Monitored SQL tab is saved, and

ADDM reports are saved.

- All: All the information for the basic

report is saved. Also, the SQL Monitor

information for all of the SQL in the

Monitored SQL tab is saved (not just

for the top SQL), and all the detailed

reports in all the tabs are saved.

You are then prompted for a location and file name

for the active report, and the report is generated

in that file and location. You use a web browser to

view the report and navigate the Performance Hub

tabs in the report.

5. When historical data is selected in the

Performance Hub, you can click the AWR Re-

port button to generate an AWR report for the

selected time period.

You are prompted for a location and file name for

the AWR report, and the report is generated in that

file and location. You use a web browser to view the

report.

Specifying the Time Period for Which

to Display Statistics

In the Real-Time: Last Hour mode, the data in the Per—

formance Hub is sourced from Active Session History

(ASH). The ASH data is written to disk when the ASH

buffer is filled up or after 1 hour, and is stored as part of

the AWR framework.

By default, AWR has a retention period of 8 days. When

you view historical data in the Performance Hub, you

are viewing statistics collected as part of the hourly

snapshots in AWR.

You use the Select Time Period field in the Performance

Hub to determine the time periods for which statistics

are available for viewing. Because Oracle Database

statistics are stored in memory for one hour, the Real

Time — Last Hour option always appears in the Select

Time Period list.

The historical data options that are available in the

Select Time Period list change, depending on the time

period for which data is available in AWR, as shown in

the following table:

Time Period for

Which AWR Data is Historical Options in the

Available Select Time Period List

Less than 24 hours Historical — All

More than 24 hours, Historical — Day

but less than 7 days Historical _ All

Historical — Custom

7 days Historical — Day

Historical — Week

Historical – Custom

8 days or more Historical - Day

Historical — Week

Historical — Custom

After you choose a historical option from the Select

Time Period field, you use the time picker to specify the
time period for which data is displayed in the Perfor-

mance Hub tabs.

The following table describes the data displayed and

available for selection in the time picker when different

values are selected in the Select Time Period field for

the Performance Hub: