1. Memory – and Changing Data8
Memory – and Changing Data

2. Introduction
Memory Sizing and consideration is a vital area for IQ performance
Get it wrong and your server(s) will run like a three legged dog!
Get it correct and you will achieve all that IQ is capable of
Tied to memory is how IQ loads and alters data – hence the reason that this is in this section
January 14, 2019

3. Catalog Page Size
Back in an earlier section we talked about the ASA page size, and the effect this has on the number of columns in an IQ table
To start a server that allows for a large ASA page size you have the –gp option set in the params.cfg file
So for a 32K ASA (catalog) page size:
-gp needs to be in the start-up line
You can then create a database with a 32K Catalog Page Size
January 14, 2019

4. Memory How Much RAM for IQ As much as possible!
Most systems should have at least 2 GB
Rough rule of thumb is 2 GB per CPU
Don’t forget additional RAM for each load being performed
Shared memory is only needed on 32-bit systems and some 64-bit systems to wire memory into RAM
HP-UX 64-bit should not use –iqsmem
January 14, 2019

5. Processors and Disk Controllers
Optimal CPU configuration
Queries: 1 CPU per active query – more if queries are complex and can be run in parallel
Loads: 1 CPU per HG index plus 1 CPU per 2-5 columns being loaded
Disk Controllers
1 fiber controller per 5 write CPU’s
1 fiber controller per 10 read CPU’s
In mixed mode operation use the 5:1 ratio
Recommend a minimum of 2 controllers
January 14, 2019

6. Memory - 1 Operating System ASIQ Server ASIQ Overhead ASIQ Main Cache
This is the memory picture for an IQ machine:
Allow between 60 and 100 MB for the O/S and ASIQ Server
For a 64-bit system consider up to 10% of the available bRAM for O/S and ASIQ Executable
The bottom three boxes are controlled by the options on the following pages
Do not exceed the virtual (or real) memory limit for the system
Operating System
ASIQ Server
ASIQ Overhead
ASIQ Main Cache
ASIQ Temp cache
January 14, 2019

7. Memory – 2 Main_Cache_Memory_MB Def: 8 Mb
Used to set the size of the main cache
This must be set correctly
Temp_Cache_Memory_MB Def: 4 MB
Used to set the size of the temp. cache
Load_Memory_MB Def: 0
Used to limit the “per user” memory used for loads (not inserts) – default is much too big for most systems
All these require a server re-boot as memory is not dynamically re-addressable in IQ-M
January 14, 2019

8. Memory – 3 Virtual Memory limits for IQ operating systems:
SOLARIS (2.6 & 2.7) 3 GB
SOLARIS bit 32 GB
Tru GB (64 bit !)
AIX (4.2.1, 4.3.1, 4.3.2) 32bit 2.75 GB
AIX 64bit GB
HPUX (11.0) 32bit 2.7 GB
HPUX (11.0) 64bit 64 GB
NT 2 GB (Cache limits)
Windows 2000 (NT5) 4 GB
SGI IRIX G
January 14, 2019

9. Cache Memory Ever since IQ 10 (or before) hit the streets we have said
You probably need more Main Cache than Temp.
WRONG !
Start at 50/50 then move to more Temp. Cache
There are only a very few limited areas where you need more Main than Temp.
January 14, 2019

10. Adding Data to IQ - 1
The fastest way to get data into IQ is to Load from a flat file (10 of thousands of rows per second)
The second fastest is to use the INSERT from LOCATION syntax to load from an existing server (thousands to hundreds of rows per second)
The (almost) slowest method is Replication Server (hundreds of rows per HOUR)
Each has it’s strengths…
January 14, 2019

11. Adding Data to IQ - 2
If a table is very volatile (CDR, CC Trans.) then you should use the LOAD command from flat files to load
If the table changes during the day – but is not highly volatile (products, customers), then use INSERT … LOCATION, this is fast and does not have the complexity of the LOAD
If the table changes very infrequently – but there are a lot of them (decode, dimensions) then use Rep. Server
There is no right answer as to what to use for a load…
January 14, 2019

12. Loading Back a few slides ago we mentioned Load_Memory_MB
I think that it is about time to shed some light on the IQ-M Load process
Even although there is only 1 parameter to affect the load/insert (and delete!) processes, we need to understand it
January 14, 2019

13. Loading – The Big Picture
Main Cache
ASCII Flat File
Load Memory
Building Simple Index Pages
Single Thread
Per HNG, LF and FP
Single
Thread
Pass 2
Multi
Thread
Temp. Cache 1
Sorting Groups
Building B-Trees
Single Thread
Per HG (maybe 2)
Row Delimited!
Or it is Single Thread
Raw IO Buffers
Intermediate Buffers 2
Pass 1 1 3
IO Operations to Temp Store indicate Not Enough Temp. Cache
Write of Completed HG B-tree G-Arrays and Bitmaps to Main Cache 2
Write of completed HNG, LF and FP Pages to Main IQ Store 3
Main IQ Store
Write of completed HG B-trees, G-Arrays and Bitmaps to Main IQ Store
Temp. IQ Store
January 14, 2019

14. LOAD_MEMORY_MB
If this is set to zero the system can, if required use an UNLIMITED amount of heap memory.
The 500 MB limit for Load_Memory_MB is just a limit for this option. If you have set the option to 0 the system can use whatever it wants…
So if you have limited memory, and fairly wide tables, it is probably a really good idea to set Load_Memory_MB to a number (maybe even 500) to prevent a possible Operating System Out_of_Memory error.
January 14, 2019

15. Load Clause Row Delimited By Always, Always use this sub-clause
During the data read from disk, before the index creator threads are started the conversion process can be either parallel or serial
Without Row Delimited By the process will always be serial
This will triple the Load Pass1 times
January 14, 2019

16. Append Load
By default the system will always attempt to fill “deleted slots” in the table structure
This can dramatically increase the load times as the system has to “search” for the “holes” in the columns (rowids with row_existence off)
By setting the following option the server will “append” to the rowids – and ignore spaces in the table
Append_Load Def OFF
January 14, 2019

17. Low Fast Load - 1 LF_Bitmap_Cache_kb Def 4
By default, during a load, each distinct value for each LF index in a load has a heap that is 4 Kbytes in size
If the distinct count for all LF indexes that are being loaded is greater than 20,000 (the manual says 10,000 – this is too low) then reduce this option as the system will start to use too much memory
Memory usage can be checked using the IQ Monitor
Memory = (LF_Bitmap_Cache_kb * 1024) * column_distinct_count
January 14, 2019

18. Low Fast Load - 2 Remember this is in HEAP memory, not in the caches
So the heap can grow very large
For a Writer Node, this is not too much of a problem, but Simplex units may suffer from this
January 14, 2019

19. 12.6 Changes – DML 1 Implicit Conversion for Binary to Bit Data
Non-zero binary values are converted to 1, zero to 0
ISDATE() and ISNUMERIC() functions
But they are ASA functions – so slow again…
Load Table
Column Delimiters May be Multi-byte (up to 255 bytes)
Load Table can be used for Temporary Tables and Global Temp Tables
January 14, 2019

20. 12.6 Changes – DML 2 IQ Message File Logging
Load and Delete details are no longer sent to the IQ Message File
Set DDL_Option2 if you want this data
0 – no messages
1 – insert only
2 – delete only
3 – insert and delete messages
January 14, 2019

21. Performance Delete Performance Improved
At least 25% faster
Under certain circumstances up to 200% faster
Sybase IQ Replication Performance
From 3000 rows per hour (around 1 row per second) to
300,000 rows per hour (90 rows per second)
January 14, 2019

22. Prefetch - 1 Prefetch_Sort_Percent Def. 20
Prefetch_Garray_Percent Def. 60
Garray Percent is the percentage of buffers (allocated to a client) that are used for read-ahead during HG searches (and loads)
Sort Percent is the percentage of user buffers that can be used for sort buckets (over the whole system) This is a temp cache variable
These are the only prefetch options that will/may speed up loading, as the HG is the only index that has a large READ component when loading, and also an HG has a large sort component in Pass 2
January 14, 2019

23. Wash Day (?) Remember the LRU MRU ?
The wash area and sweeper thread numbers can be controlled by
Sweeper_Threads_Percent Def 10
Wash_Area_Buffers_Percent Def 20
The threads is the percentage of currently used threads on the server (so this is variable)
The buffer percentage is the percentage of the WHOLE cache that is inside the wash area
Use IQ Monitor to see when these need to changed
January 14, 2019

24. Multiplex - Writer Configuration
Everything we have talked about in the course to date, regarding configuration, has been about balancing the servers for read and writer performance
With IQ-M that need has been removed, we can tune each instance of IQ-M for a specific task
The next few slides discuss what we would want to do to generate a write only server
January 14, 2019

25. Multiplex - Writer Memory
Three things are important here
The size of the Load Memory
The size of the Main Cache
The size of the Temp Cache
Basically we are only concerned with having enough Main Cache to hold the FP, LF and HNG active pages
We need s much Temp Cache as we can for the HG load
The Load Memory should be pegged as high as we can make it
January 14, 2019

26. IO Operations to Temp Store indicate Not Enough Temp. Cache
Loading
small as we need
Set to Max 500MB
Main Cache
ASCII Flat File
Load Memory
Building Simple Index Pages
Single Thread
Per HNG, LF and FP
Single
Thread
Pass 2
Multi
Thread
Temp. Cache 1
Sorting Groups
Building B-Trees
Single Thread
Per HG (maybe 2)
large as possible
Row Delimited!
Or it is Single Thread
Raw IO Buffers
Intermediate Buffers 2
Pass 1 1 3
IO Operations to Temp Store indicate Not Enough Temp. Cache
Write of Completed HG B-tree G-Arrays and Bitmaps to Main Cache 2
Write of completed HNG, LF and FP Pages to Main IQ Store 3
Main IQ Store
Write of completed HG B-trees, G-Arrays and Bitmaps to Main IQ Store
Temp. IQ Store
January 14, 2019

27. Multiplex - Writer Main Cache - 1
The main cache for the writer should be as small as we can get away with
We need space for the following pages/buffers
FP Block Maps, Identity Pages, last pages
LF Block Maps, Identity Pages, Bitmap Headers and last page of each bit map
HNG Block Maps, Identity Pages, Bitmap Headers and last page of each bit map
January 14, 2019

28. Multiplex - Writer Main Cache - 2
Notice there is no space allocated for the HG indexes
The majority of the space requirements for the HG indexes is in Temp Cache
However we will need to read in the B-trees and the G-Arrays for the HG index so don’t be slavish as to the smallness of the Main Cache
January 14, 2019

29. Multiplex - Load and User Memory
Do not constrain this – unless you have a small amount of memory let IQ have as much Load Memory as it desires
User Overhead will also be minimal, generally you will be only running one writer task at a time
If you are running multiple table loads simultaneously, then remember each load could take over 500MB of Load Memory
January 14, 2019

30. Multiplex - Writer Temp Cache
Whatever is left…
And then check with IQ Monitor to confirm minimal disk activity into the Temp Store
January 14, 2019

31. Multiplex - Reader Configuration
There are three areas to consider here
What is the hardware configuration of the writer nodes
Are they the same or different
What is each reader going to run
How are you partitioning the readers
By User ID
By Query Type
Do you have Network Spoofing or Open Switch above the reader nodes?
January 14, 2019

32. Load Errors - 1
When an error is detected in the incoming data stream during a load the default operation of the engine is to roll-back the entire load process.
This is the ANSI standard.
In 12.5 certain data issues during the load phase can be ignored and reported on.
The data errors that can be trapped are:
Uniqueness failures (duplicate rows)
Data Conversion Errors (like alphabetic where only numeric will do!)
Null errors (incoming NULL in a non-Null column)
Foreign Key errors (Referential Integrity Errors)
January 14, 2019

33. Load Errors - 2
For each of these errors a clause in the load process can detail how many errors will be processed before the load is aborted and rolled back (up to an infinite number), and what to do with the row in error.
January 14, 2019

34. Load Errors - 3 LOAD [INTO] TABLE [ owner ].table-name
.. <stuff omitted>
[IGNORE CONSTRAINT constrainttype [, ...]]
[MESSAGE LOG ‘string’ ROW LOG ‘string’ [ONLY LOG logwhat, [...]]
[LOG DELIMITED BY ‘string’]
logwhat: { ALL | NULL | UNIQUE | DATA VALUE | FOREIGN KEY }
constrainttype: { UNIQUE integer | NULL integer |FOREIGN KEY integer |
DATA VALUE integer |ALL integer }
January 14, 2019

35. Extracting Data - 1
In there are a series of options that can be used to direct the results of a select clause to a file
The following can be set:
The output filename
The type of output (binary [swapped] or ASCII)
Delimiter strings (column and row)
Null handling
January 14, 2019

36. Extraction Options - 1 Temp_Extract_Name (1 thru 8) default blank
Temp_Extract_Size (1 thru 8) default 0 (128GB)
Temp_Extract_Binary default OFF
Temp_Extract_Swap default OFF
Temp_Extract_Column_Delimiter default ‘,’
Temp_Extract_Row_Delimiter default ‘\n’
Temp_Extract_Null_As_Zero default OFF
Temp_Extract_Quote default ‘’
Temp_Extract_Quotes default OFF
Temp_Extract_Quotes_all default OFF
Note: A second select statement will overwrite the first output
January 14, 2019

37. Extraction Options - 2
In 12.5 there is an APPEND option to allow for appending data to existing files
For the append option in the extract options the file must exist.
The append is a by product the primary reason for this is security – to allow the user to set up the file so it is only readable by Sybase and a specific user id.
Fully qualified pathnames can be specified for the location of this file – it does not need to be in the java directory(!)
January 14, 2019