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Log File Parallel Write - ORACLE DBA USEFUL INFORMATION

The document discusses the log file parallel write wait event in Oracle databases. It occurs when the log writer process writes redo logs to online redo files in parallel. The summary describes common causes as poorly placed redo files and provides recommendations like moving files to faster storage.

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89 views

Log File Parallel Write - ORACLE DBA USEFUL INFORMATION

The document discusses the log file parallel write wait event in Oracle databases. It occurs when the log writer process writes redo logs to online redo files in parallel. The summary describes common causes as poorly placed redo files and provides recommendations like moving files to faster storage.

Uploaded by

Osman
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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4/4/24, 3:24 AM log file parallel write | ORACLE DBA USEFUL INFORMATION

20th June 2018 log file parallel write

log file parallel write


As the db file parallel write wait event belongs to the Oracle DBWR process, the log file parallel write
wait event belongs to the Log Writer (LGWR) process. When it is time to write, the LGWR process
writes the redo buffer to the online redo files in parallel and waits on the log file parallel write event
until the last I/O is on disk.

V$SESSION_WAIT Parameters:

P1=The number of online redo files Oracle is writing to. If there are two log members in the
current group, then P1 shows 2.

P2=The number of redo blocks to be written to each log member.

P3=Total number of I/O requests needed to satisfy the write load (i.e. P2).

Common causes and actions

The log file parallel write latency is typically a symptom of poor placement of online redo log files, i.e.
when files are placed on slow disks or LUNs bound in RAID 5. The AVERAGE_WAIT time of this event
is a good indicator of the efficiency of the I/O device. Values less than 1 centisecond are desirable,
although values up to 3 centiseconds are common and acceptable. If the average I/O wait time is an
issue, the DBA needs to move the online redo log files to high speed disks, or disks with little or no I/O
activities from external sources, or LUNs that are striped over many disks and not bound in RAID 5, or
raw devices.

A high commit frequency produces an over active LGWR process, and in a database where the online
redo files are poorly placed, this increases the log file parallel write waits significantly. The application
may be processing a large set of data in a loop and committing each change, which causes the log
buffer to be flushed too frequently. In this case, modify the application code to commit at a lower
frequency. There could also be many short sessions that log in, perform a small DML operation, and
quickly log out. In this case, the application design may need to be reviewed. Hot backup that goes off
during the peak hours generates a large amount of redo entries and may increase the log file parallel
write waits. The DBA should schedule hot backup in off-peak hours and take tablespaces off the hot
backup mode as soon as the backup completes.

Reducing the amount of redo generation can minimize the log file parallel write waits, but the cure is
proper placement of online redo files. One of the ways to reduce the amount of redo generation is to
use the NOLOGGING option whenever possible. All indexes should be created or rebuilt with the
NOLOGGING option. If application permits, CTAS operations should also use this option.

The _LOG_IO_SIZE parameter sets the threshold for the number of used log blocks in the Log Buffer.
If the number of used log blocks is equal to or greater than the _LOG_IO_SIZE, the LGWR process
will be posted to perform a background write if it is not already active. By default the _LOG_IO_SIZE is
1/3 of the LOG_BUFFER expressed in log blocks. Query the X$KCCLE.LEBSZ for the database's log
block size. Typically it is 512 bytes. For example, if the LOG_BUFFER is 1,048,576 bytes (1MB), and
the log block size is 512 bytes, then the default value for _LOG_IO_SIZE is 683 used log blocks. At
this size, the LGWR process normally writes only on transaction terminations (sync writes) or when it
wakes up from its 3-second timeouts. If the _LOG_IO_SIZE is much smaller (by means of a much

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4/4/24, 3:24 AM log file parallel write | ORACLE DBA USEFUL INFORMATION
smaller LOG_BUFFER or INIT.ORA setting), it can increase the number of background writes and
subsequently increase the log file parallel write waits. While a larger _LOG_IO_SIZE reduces the
number of background writes, it can slow down the commit response time because sync writes are
longer. In other words, user processes wait longer on the log file sync event. Therefore the
_LOG_IO_SIZE should not be too small that it creates a hyperactive LGWR or too large that it
increases the log file sync waits. As a rule of thumb, the _LOG_IO_SIZE should be about the
maximum physical I/O size (maxphys) of the platform.

For system-level diagnosis, query the V$SYSTEM_EVENT view to determine if the AVERAGE_WAIT
is an issue. Also look at the log file sync event. Each time a user session performs a commit or
rollback, the LGWR process writes the redo buffer to disks and waits on the log file parallel write event
for the I/O to complete, while the user session waits on the log file sync event for the transaction to
complete. Therefore, reducing the log file parallel write wait time will also reduce the user wait time on
the log file sync event.

Check for high commit rate. As mentioned above, a high commit rate forces the LGWR process to be
overactive. A database has a high commit rate when the average log I/O size is far smaller than
_LOG_IO_SIZE, which defaults to 1/3 of the LOG_BUFFER size, expressed in log blocks. In other
words, there are many small transactions and the LGWR process is forced to write before filling up to
the _LOG_IO_SIZE threshold. The average log I/O size is obtained by dividing the statistics redo
blocks written with redo writes.

If the commit rate is high, the LOG_BUFFER need not be large. A larger LOG_BUFFER and lower
commit rate can help improve the performance of imports, conventional loader, and concurrent inserts,
but the gain may be diminished by the log file parallel write waits that are caused by poor placement of
redo files.

Writing redo records to the redo log files from the log buffer.

Wait Time:

Time it takes for the I/Os to complete. Even though redo records are written in parallel, the parallel
write is not complete until the last I/O is on disk.

Parameter Description
files Number of files to be written
blocks Number of blocks to be written
requests Number of I/O requests

Posted 20th June 2018 by Unknown


Labels: PERFORMANCE

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