Indexing is a critical part of database optimization. Indexing can dramatically increase query speed. However, DBAs still struggle with finding optimal indexes or optimal SQL plans.
DBTA held a webinar with Gary Jerep, solutions consultant, Quest Software, who discussed insights that regarding why query and index performance tuning gets so difficult on relational databases, and what and how a productivity solution called Toad can help.
The practical factors that make tuning complex include a set of physical, configurations, model, and access issues, Jerep explained.
The SQL Language is “declarative,” he said. The database must convert a users’ query to a procedural “plan” in order to produce the result set that is declared. Often there exist many different procedural “plan” candidates that yield the same result set.
The RDBMS optimizer only gets a fraction of a second to prepare a query to execute. Users need to consider how long it takes to:
- Generate enough viable access plans? How many is “enough”?
- Evaluate each plan? What is the “best” grading system?
- Select the least-cost plan? Does “Least-Cost” mean the fastest?
Toad Software is a database management toolset from Quest that database developers, database administrators and data analysts use to manage both relational and non-relational databases using SQL.
Toad solutions enable you to maximize your investment in data technology by empowering data professionals to automate processes, minimize risks and cut project delivery timelines by nearly half, according to Jerep.
Toad simplifies workflows, automates frequent or repetitive processes, and minimizes risks associated with changes– whether a database developer, administrator, or analyst.
An archived on-demand replay of this webinar is available here.