Archive for the ‘DB360’ Category
Meet “edb360”: a free tool that provides a 360-degree view of an Oracle database
Simply put: edb360 is a new free tool that provides a 360-degree view of an Oracle database.
What is “edb360“?
This “edb360” tool is the product of a collaborative effort of some very smart guys, and me. Special thanks to Frits Hoogland, Karl Arao, Randy Johnson, Martin Bach, Kyle Hailey, Tanel Poder, Alex Fatkulin, Mauro Pagano, Abel Macias, Jon Adams and Jack Agustin. These guys helped me to envision edb360, some directly and some indirectly, but their help and shared knowledge motivated me to develop edb360 and make it available today.
The edb360 tool started as a quick and dirty “script” to gather basic information about a database without knowing anything about it before hand. The first rule for edb360 was: it has to install nothing in the database. The second rule became: it has to provide some insight about a database.
The output is presented for the most part into 3 formats: HTML, Text and Comma-separated Values (CSV). Why? HTML and Text can be easily used to consolidate important findings into a Word report. Sometimes HTML is more useful and sometimes Text is better. Then CSV is used to produce charts out of Performance Trends. Some people can visualize trends easier with a graph (me included).
What about other tools?
Of course there are wonderful tools that can help in this arena, like Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM) or Oracle’s Automatic Workload Repository (AWR). So why not using those tools? Well, if I had access to OEM or I knew before hand which time intervals I want to analyze with AWR, then I would not have a strong need to use edb360. The reality that we consultants face when we are getting acquainted of a system, is that we are not given any access to the database of interest (usually production). And asking for a server account feels like asking for coke’s secret formula: then we simply cannot poke the database at our own will, and that is understandable. So, what is our second best?: please run this script that installs nothing and generates a zip file with some metadata from your system. The script is plain text and its output is also plain text (html, text and csv files). So, any DBA or System Administration can validate that no customer confidential data is extracted or exposed. A win-win!
If the system we want to understand is an Exadata system, we can also request for an Exacheck output, if not an Exadata system but a RAC cluster, there is Raccheck. These two tools, available though My Oracle Support (MOS) make a good companion for the edb360. In other words, edb360 is not a replacement for the other two but more of an add-on or companion.
Why is edb360 free?
Why not? Often I get asked: why do you give away the tools and scripts you develop? The answer is simple: tools, scripts, white papers, blog entries like this, in my mind they all represent the same: sharing knowledge with our Oracle community. I wish for a community where knowledge (and tools) flows for all to benefit. Let’s say my personal time I invest building tools and scripts kinds of make it up for my lame blog postings. 😉
What is the catch?
No catch. Just be aware that edb360 makes use of some DBA_HIST views and ASH data, and those are part of the Oracle Diagnostics Pack. So when executing the tool it will ask to indicate if your site has those licenses. Your answer determines the scope of the output. So if you specify you have a license for the Oracle Diagnostics Pack then your edb360 output includes pieces from AWR and ASH, else AWR and ASH are not accessed.
About versions, feedback and support
For the most part, I am committed to maintain this tool as my personal time permits. That means I can only work on it during odd hours and not every day. Nothing different than SQLTXPLAIN during the first few years of its existence, so I am not scared. Keep also in mind this edb360 is work in progress, and version v1405 is the first one I feel comfortable sharing with the community. In other words, it is far from perfect and I foresee it growing in multiple directions.
If you like this tool, and want to enhance its output, get SQLHC from MOS 1366133.1, and place the sqlhc.sql script into the same db360/sql directory. By doing so, you will also get 3 SQL health-checks. In other words, edb360 is SQLHC aware.
Conclusion
If you like free tools and have a use for this edb360 tool, you might as well download it and give it a shot. Nothing to lose (besides a few minutes of your spare time). A sample output is also available under same link above.
Life is Good!
About AWR, SQLT and DB360
This blog posting is about answering this first question below, which I often get asked:
Can I use SQLTXPLAIN (SQLT) instead of AWR?
The answer is: it depends. If you are doing SQL Tuning and you already know the SQL_ID, then you may want to use SQLT XTRACT (MOS 215187.1) directly on the SQL_ID of concern. But even in that case, keep in mind that SQLT accesses AWR data, so your environment must have a valid license to use the Oracle Diagnostics Pack. In fact, when you install SQLT, it asks if you have the Oracle Tuning Pack, the Oracle Diagnostics Pack or none. Depending how you respond, SQLT access or not the set of views and APIs included on those Oracle Packs. That means you can configure SQLT to access or not AWR data.
What is the difference between AWR and SQLT?
In short, the difference between these two is the scope. You use AWR to diagnose database performance, while you use SQLT to diagnose one SQL. Sometimes I explain this difference by saying: “AWR is to an entire database to what SQLT is to one SQL”. One is for system-wide performance, the other is very centric to one SQL at a time.
Why SQLT exists?
I envisioned SQLT on the late 90’s when I was a road-warrior fighting fires in the area of performance, and in particular SQL performance. I found back then that Oracle-provided tools like TKPROF were excellent, but I always needed something more, like knowing the state of the CBO Statistics, Tables and Indexes, etc.
These days, my good friend Mauro Pagano from Oracle, is keeping the ball rolling. He is keeping SQLT in constant motion, making it a better tool on every new version. So, I would say this: SQLT is filling up some gaps that me, and many others, consider important in order to be diligent on root cause analysis for cases were a SQL performs poorly.
What is DB360?
As SQLT brings to the table several pieces of information that we need for SQL Tuning, and which are not available using out-of-the-box tools like TKPROF or SQL Monitoring, the new DB360 tool is doing something similar for the entire database: It complements what AWR provides by producing a report with meaningful information about an entire database. This DB360 is a tool that installs nothing on the database, and produces an HTML report with sections such as Configuration, Sizing, CBO Statistics, Performance Trends, etc.
Is DB360 a licensed product?
No. This DB360 tool belongs to Enkitec. It is not yet available to the Oracle community, but it will be soon. Same as SQLT, if you have an Oracle Tuning or Diagnostics Pack, then when you execute DB360 you would get to see in your DB360 report some pieces of information generated out of views and APIs covered by those Oracle Packs, else you get only the pieces which require no Oracle Pack license. Besides the restriction to limit your use of DB360 as per your Oracle Pack license, DB360 itself will be available to the Oracle community for free, and with no strings attached, same as SQLT.
Why are SQLT and DB360 free to download and use?
These tools are simply a contribution to the Oracle community. “Sharing tools is like sharing knowledge: it makes our IT experience more pleasurable”. The only payback comes when you share back with the Oracle community some of your knowledge, or some of your tools and scripts. If you have been a speaker in an Oracle Users Groups, then you may relate to this gratifying experience to share with others what you know. At RMOUG these past 3 days, I have had the opportunity to experience once again this special sense of community, that is always eager to share and to learn from each other.
Conclusion
SQLT complements TKPROF and SQL Monitor. DB360 complements AWR. When it comes to diagnostics, either for one SQL or for an entire Database, having to our disposal additional diagnostics in the context of our analysis, improves our chances to do a diligent job, while reducing the time that it would take to assembly those pieces manually; all with the extra benefit of having these extra diagnostics pieces consistent to a point in time. So, I hope you continue enjoying SQLT and in the near future DB360!
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