the official new features guide to sybase ase 15

52 Chapter 3 Semantic Partitions and Very Large Database VLDB Support.. Of particular interest are details about newfeatures such as semantic partitions, computed columns, functionindexe

Larry EllisonCEO, Oracle Inc.

The Official New

with Mark A Shelton and Jagan Reddy

Wordware Publishing, Inc.

The official new features guide to Sybase ASE 15 / by Brian Taylor [et al.].

© 2006, Wordware Publishing, Inc.

All Rights Reserved

2320 Los Rios Boulevard Plano, Texas 75074

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means

without permission in writing from Wordware Publishing, Inc.

Printed in the United States of America

This book is sold as is, without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, respecting the contents of this book and any disks or programs that may accompany it, including but not limited to implied warranties for the book’s quality, performance, merchantability, or fitness for any particular purpose Neither Wordware Publishing, Inc nor its dealers or distributors shall be liable to the purchaser or any other person or entity with respect to any liability, loss, or damage caused or alleged to have been caused directly or indirectly by this book Portions of this book contain charts, graphs, tables, and other materials that are copyrighted by Sybase, Inc., and are used with permission.

All inquiries for volume purchases of this book should be addressed to Wordware Publishing, Inc.,

at the above address Telephone inquiries may be made by calling:

(972) 423-0090

SYBASE DISCLAIMS ANY LIABILITY FOR INACCURACIES,MISINFORMATION, OR ANY CONTENT CONTAINED IN, ORLEFT OUT OF THIS BOOK.

To my family, tons! — BRT

To Karen, Mom, and Dad — NA

To my best friend and wife, Carol — SWB

To my boys — CKT

vii

Foreword xix

Acknowledgments xxi

About the Authors xxv

Introduction xxvii

Part I: New Features Overview Chapter 1 Exploring the Sybase Galaxy 3

Part I — New Features Overview 4

System Maintenance Improvements 4

Partition Management — Semantic Partitions 5

Scrollable Cursors 5

Overview of Changes to Query Processing 6

Detection and Resolution of Performance Issues in Queries 6

Computed Columns 7

Functional Indexes 7

Capturing Query Processing Metrics 8

Plan Viewer 9

Sybase Software Asset Management (SySAM) 2.0 9

Installation of ASE 15 9

Part II — Pre-15 Improvements 10

Multiple tempdb Databases 10

MDA Tables 10

Java and XML 11

The Appendices 11

Sample Certification Exam 11

Use Cases 11

3, 2, 1, Contact! 12

Chapter 2 System Maintenance Improvements 13

Recent Pre-ASE 15 Improvements 13

Multiple tempdb 14

Native Data Encryption/Security Enhancements 14

Automatic Database Expansion 15

The Basics 16

Job Scheduler 18

Basic Components 18

Installation of Job Scheduler 18

ASE 15 Improvements 19

ix

Row Locked System Catalogs 19

Update Statistics 20

Updates to Partition Statistics 20

Automatic Update Statistics 22

Datachange 22

Why Use datachange? 27

Datachange, Semantic Partitions, and Maintenance Schedules 28 Local Indexes 31

Benefits 31

sp_helpindex 32

Partition-level Utilities 33

Partition Configuration Parameters 34

Utility Benefits from Semantic Partitions 35

Partition-specific Database Consistency Checks (dbccs) 35

Reorg Partitions 38

Changes to the bcp Utility 39

Truncate Partitions 43

Very Large Storage System 44

Disk Init 45

Large Identifiers 45

Long Identifiers 46

Short Identifiers 46

Unicode Text Support 47

New Datatypes 47

New Functions 48

Deprecated Functions 50

New Configuration Parameters 51

Eliminated Configuration Parameters 52

New Global Variables 52

Summary 52

Chapter 3 Semantic Partitions and Very Large Database (VLDB) Support 53

Introduction 53

Why Partition Data? 55

Benefits of Partitioning 56

Partition Terminology 57

Semantic Partitions 61

Configuring ASE for Semantic Partitioning 62

Partition Support in ASE 15 63

Partition Types 64

Range Partitioning 65

Hash Partitioning 70

List Partitioning 75

Round-robin Partitioning 78

x

Partitioning Strategies 83

Inserting, Updating, and Deleting Data in Partitions 84

Inserting Data into Semantic Partitions 84

Inserting Data into Range Partitions 84

Inserting Data into Hash Partitions 86

Inserting Data into List Partitions 86

Deleting Data from All Semantic Partitions 86

Updating Data in All Semantic Partitions 86

Built-in Functions 87

Data Partition Implementation and Upgrade Strategies 89

Index Partitioning 93

Local Index 94

Clustered Prefixed Index on Range Partitioned Table 95

Clustered Non-Prefixed Index on Range Partitioned Table 97

Clustered Prefixed Index on List Partitioned Table 99

Clustered Non-Prefixed Index on List Partitioned Table 101

Clustered Prefixed Index on Round-robin Partitioned Table 104

Clustered Non-Prefixed Index on Round-robin Partitioned Table 106

Clustered Non-Prefixed Index on Hash Partitioned Table 108

Clustered Prefixed Index on Hash Partitioned Table 110

Global Index 113

Global Nonclustered Prefixed Index on Range Partitioned Table 114

Global Nonclustered Prefixed Index on List Partitioned Table 116

Global Nonclustered Prefixed Index on Round-robin Partitioned Table 118

Global Nonclustered Prefixed Index on Hash Partitioned Table 120

Query Processor and Partition Support 122

ASE 15 Optimizer 124

Partition Maintenance 124

Altering Data Partitions 124

Unpartition a Table 125

Change the Number of Partitions 126

Add a Partition to a Table 126

Drop Partitions 130

Modifications to the Partition Key 131

Partition Information 134

xi

Influence of Partitioning on DBA Activities 143

Influence of Partitioning on Long-time Archival 143

Summary 144

Chapter 4 Scrollable Cursors 145

Introduction 145

Scrollable Cursor Background 146

Cursor Scrollability 146

Cursor-related Global Variables 148

Changes to the sp_cursorinfo System Procedure 150

Be Aware of Scrollable Cursor Rules! 151

Cursor Sensitivity 152

Demonstration 1: Update to a Row Already Fetched 154

Demonstration 2: Update to a Row Not Yet Fetched 156

Cursor Sensitivity — An Exception 157

Locking Considerations with Cursors 158

Impact on tempdb Usage 159

Worktable Materialization with Scrollable Sensitive Cursors 160

Conclusion of Sensitive vs Insensitive Cursors 163

Sybase Engineer’s Insight 164

Summary 164

Future Direction 165

Chapter 5 Overview of Changes to the Query Processing Engine 167

Introduction 167

Optimization Goals 168

allrows_oltp 168

allrows_mix 169

allrows_dss 169

Determining the Current Optimization Goal 170

Optimization Criteria 170

merge_join 171

merge_union_all 171

merge_union_distinct 171

multi_table_store_ind 171

opportunistic_distinct_view 171

parallel_query 171

hash_join 172

Optimization Timeout Limit 172

Query Processor Improvements 174

Datatype Mismatch 175

Partition Elimination and Directed Joins 177

Tables with Highly Skewed Histogram Values 179

Group By and Order By 181 xii

or Queries 182

Star Queries 182

Summary 185

Chapter 6 Detection and Resolution of Query Performance Issues 187

Introduction 187

An Approach to Poor Query Performance Diagnosis 188

Common Query Performance Factors 190

Eliminating Causes for Sub-Optimal Plan Selection 191

Find Missing or Invalid Statistics 191

Consider Range Cell Density on Non-Unique Indexes 191

Identify Index Needs 192

Identify Poor Index Strategy 192

Fragmentation of Data 192

Resolve Partition Imbalance 193

Reset Server- or Session-level Options 193

Overengineered Forceplan 194

Invalid Use of Index Force 194

Inefficient Query Plan Forced by Abstract Plan 195

Query Processor “set options” — The Basics 195

Query Optimizer Cost Algorithm 198

ASE 15 vs 12.5.x Cost Algorithm 199

Query Processor “set options” — Explored 200

show_missing_stats 200

show_elimination 203

show_abstract_plan 204

Why Use Abstract Plans for ASE 15? 207

Application of Optimization Tools 208

Optimization Goal Performance Analysis 208

Optimization Criteria Performance Analysis 210

Optimization Timeout Analysis 212

Suggested Approach to Fix Optimization Timeout Problems 216

Detection, Resolution, and Prevention of Partition-related Performance Issues 217

Data Skew Due to Incorrect Partition Type or Poor Partition Key Selection 218

Effect of Invalid Statistics on Table Semantically Partitioned 220

Summary 223

Chapter 7 Computed Columns 225

Introduction 225

Key Concepts 226

Materialization 226

xiii

Deterministic Property 228

Relationship between Deterministic Property and Materialization 229

Deterministic and Materialized Computed Columns 229

Deterministic and Nonmaterialized Computed Columns 229

Nondeterministic and Materialized Computed Columns 230

Nondeterministic and Nonmaterialized Computed Columns 230

Benefits of Using Computed Columns 231

Provide Shorthand and Indexing for an Expression 231

Composing and Decomposing Datatypes 231

User-defined Sort Order 232

Rules and Properties of Computed Columns 233

Sybase Enhancements to Support Computed Columns 235

Create Table Syntax Change 235

Alter Table Syntax Change 235

System Table Changes 236

Stored Procedure Changes 237

Summary 239

Chapter 8 Functional Indexes 241

Computed Column Index 242

Purpose 242

Rules and Properties of a Computed Column Index 246

Feature Benefits 246

Feature Limitations 248

Impacts to tempdb 248

Impact to Existing Application Code 249

Determining When to Use a Computed Column Index 250

Optimizer Statistics 251

Function-based Index 251

Purpose 251

Rules and Properties of a Function-based Index 252

Feature Benefits 253

Feature Limitations 256

Impacts to tempdb 256

Impact to Existing Application Code 257

Determining the Use of a Function-based Index 257

Optimizer Statistics 258

Behind the Scenes 258

Getting Index Information 258

Summary 259

xiv

Chapter 9 Capturing Query Processing Metrics 261

Alternatives to Query Processing Metrics 261

Introduction to Query Processing Metrics 262

Contents of sysquerymetrics 263

Contents of the sysquerymetrics View 264

How to Enable QP Metrics Capture 265

Captured Information Explored 266

Stored Procedures 266

Triggers and Views 270

Execute Immediate 270

Accessing Captured Plans 271

How Is the QP Metrics Information Useful? 273

Identification of Performance Regression 276

Comparing Metrics for a Specific Query between Running Groups 277

Comparing Metrics for All Queries between Running Groups 279

Why Separate the QP Metrics Data by gid? 280

Syntax Style Matters; Spacing Does Not 281

Clearing and Saving the Metrics 283

Relationship between Stats I/O and QP Metrics I/O Counts 284

Information for Resource Governor 285

Space Utilization Considerations 285

Limitations 286

Summary 286

Chapter 10 Graphical Plan Viewer 287

Graphical Plan Viewer from Interactive SQL 287

Graphical Query Tree Using Set Options 294

Summary 296

Chapter 11 Sybase Software Asset Management (SySAM) 2.0 297

Introduction 297

Prior to ASE 15 298

With ASE 15 299

Components of Asset Management 299

SySAM Server 299

SySAM Utility Program — lmutil 300

SySAM Reporting Tool 300

System Environment Variables 301

License File 302

Options File 303

Properties File 303

The SySAM Environment 304

Standalone License Server 304

xv

Networked License Server 305

Redundant License Server 305

Acquiring Product Licenses 306

Product Licenses 309

Try and Buy 309

License Activation 309

SySAM Administration 310

sp_lmconfig 310

ASE 15 SySAM Upgrade Process 312

SySAM Reporting 313

Summary Reports 313

Server Usage Reports 319

Raw Data Reports 320

Summary 321

Chapter 12 Installation of ASE Servers 323

Prior to Installation for All Methods 324

Installation with Resource Files 325

Notes for Resource File Installation of ASE 325

Installation of ASE Components with a Resource File 330

GUI Installation Method with srvbuild Executable 332

Installation with the Dataserver Executable 352

Summary 356

Part II: Pre-15 Improvements Chapter 13 Multiple Temporary Databases 359

Introduction 359

Purposes for Multiple Temporary Databases 360

Prior to ASE 15 360

With ASE 15 361

System Catalog Changes 361

directio Support 361

update statistics 363

Insensitive Scrollable Cursors 364

Semi-sensitive Scrollable Cursors 364

Sensitive Scrollable Cursors 364

How to Decide When to Add a Temporary Database 365

Strategies 365

What Are Your Needs? 366

Implementation Steps 367

Determining Available Temporary Databases 368

Sample Setup for Temporary Database for “sa” Use Only 369

Other Issues 371 xvi

Dropping Temporary Databases 371

Altering a Temporary Database 372

@@tempdb 372

Summary 372

Chapter 14 The MDA Tables 373

What Are the MDA Tables? 373

Past Solutions 374

MDA Table Installation 376

MDA Table Server Configuration Options 377

The Parent Switch 379

The MDA Tables 380

Changes from ASE 12.5.3 382

What Is Meant by “stateful” Tables? 383

Stateful MDA Table Data Management 385

SQL Use 391

Useful MDA Table Queries 391

MDA Alternatives 393

Summary 393

Chapter 15 Java, XML, and Web Services in ASE 395

Introduction 396

Java in the Database 396

Installing Java Classes 397

Creating Java Classes and JARs 397

Using the installjava Utility 398

Configuring Memory for Java in the Database 398

Java Classes as Datatypes 399

An Example of Table Definition Using a Java Class 400

Performance Considerations 400

An Example of Using a Java Class within a Select 400

Executing Java Methods 400

Class Static Variables 401

Recommendations and Considerations 401

XML in the Database 402

XML Stored in the Database 402

Option 1: Store the XML Document into a Text Datatype 403

Option 2: Store the XML Document into an Image Datatype Using xmlparse 404

Option 3: Store the XML Document into an Image Datatype Using Compression 404

Option 4: Store the XML Document Outside the Database 405

HTML Stored in the Database 406

xvii

Recommendations and Considerations 406

Performance and Sizing 407

SQL Result Sets Converted to Return an XML Document 410

Web Services 411

Web Services Producer 411

Web Services Consumer 413

Recommendations and Considerations 415

Appendix A Sybase ASE 15 Certification Sample Questions and Answers 417

Appendix B Use Cases 447

Index 467

xviii

Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise (ASE) has been a leading

RDBMS for mission-critical applications for almost two decades.With ASE 15, Sybase has continued the tradition of introducingleading edge database technologies to address our customers’ needs.These technologies cover security, unstructured data management,and operational intelligence ASE 15 provides significant improve-ments for DSS and OLTP applications thanks to innovative queryprocessing technology The result is a clear understanding of the opti-mal usage of the features and functionality

The Official New Features Guide to Sybase ASE 15 is the first

book describing ASE 15 Of particular interest are details about newfeatures such as semantic partitions, computed columns, functionindexes, and scrollable cursors The book is valuable also for its guid-ance for diagnosing, resolving, and optimizing the overall systemperformance

The authors collectively have more than 40 years of experiencewith Sybase ASE as DBAs at some of Sybase’s largest and mostdemanding customers Their background has enabled them to create

a book with great practical value

The authors’ material is presented in a way that is useful to

read-ers independent of their experience level with ASE The Official New

Features Guide to Sybase ASE 15 will be an invaluable asset to

DBAs, developers, and consultants working with Sybase ASE

Dr Raj NathanSenior Vice PresidentInformation Technology Solutions GroupSybase, Inc

xix

The authors would like to thank Celeste Noren for starting this wholeprocess Your continual support and upbeat attitude have allowed us

to stay focused on the job at hand We thank Joe Pearl for his tirelessand thorough editing and brilliant input Special thanks to Irfan Khan

at Sybase Engineering for providing us with early access to the newfeatures and documentation for ASE 15 We need to thank

Rob Verschoor, Mark Kusma, and Jeff Tallman of Sybase for theirthorough technical reviews and timely feedback We thank JoanFronske and Tom Traubitz from Sybase Marketing for making allthe arrangements with Sybase We would like to thank Tim McEvoy

at Wordware Publishing for getting this book put together in such atimely manner A special thanks goes to Dean Kent for his legalcounsel during the process and for all the good lunches Mostly,

we would like to thank our families for being understanding andgracious

xxi

I would like to start by recognizing the talented and dedicated group

of authors — Steve Bradley, Naresh Adurty, and Carrie King Taylor

— who accepted my challenge to create this book about the new tures for Sybase ASE 15 With all of the personal challenges andcommitments we each faced during the development of this book,I’m even more pleased with the final product As our careers diverge

fea-in the future, I’m sure each of us will fondly recall the many lenges, good times, and late nights spent on the development of thisbook

chal-Next, I want to personally thank the many Sybase employeeswho helped with this book in many capacities: Celeste Noren, JoePearl, Rob Verschoor, Irfan Khan, Jeff Tallman, Mark Kusma, JoanFronske, and Tom Traubitz

I also need to thank the many friends and family members in mylife: my parents, Art and Nancy, my brother, Grant, Aunt Soozie,Frank, Carol, and my grandfather Robert Taylor, who left this worldduring the writing of this book I also want to thank some of myfriends who have made life very interesting and with whom I haveshared many of life’s milestones: Steve, Daryl, Dave, Chris, andMike

I owe the biggest thanks to my family, especially my wife andco-author, Carrie I appreciate how you are able to keep me moti-vated, and still find time for our boys and your contributions to thisbook You are the reason and motivation for my success I sure loveyou! I also owe many great big hugs and kisses to my two big boys,Elliot and Jonah, for giving up their daddy for many weekends andnights Each of you did your best to remind me of how important it is

to spend quality time with family, despite the many demands ofauthorship

— BRT

First, I would like to thank Brian for considering me talented enough

to be a contributing author and my poor judgment that made meagree to his request When Brian approached me with this idea, I hadjust been married for a month to my wonderful and nạve wife,Karen, and was about to start my Executive MBA from Duke, forwhich I had to fly from Florida to Raleigh every other weekend Mymind envisioned mansions and big boats following the success of thisxxii

book After talking to the publisher, I realized that we will not beanywhere close to buying a boat We will be lucky to be able to buy alife jacket with the new riches By that time, it was too late to say no.

I would like to thank Karen for supporting me, at least outwardly,throughout this madness; my parents, for giving me the freedom andcourage to make insane decisions and for constantly reminding methat I am the cutest kid in the world and thus stroking my fragile ego;and my failed stand-up comedy career, which forced me to continue

my career as a Sybase DBA for the past decade

— NA

First, I would like to thank Brian for taking on this initiative and sidering me to be an author in developing this work Second, I wouldlike to thank the other authors for the time and patience that each ofyou have shown during this process As difficult as it is for one per-son to produce such a work, four people can make it even morestrenuous Thank you, guys, for keeping the process lighthearted andfun It was a pleasure working with you I would like to thank myparents, Charlie and Betty, for instilling in me the desire and pride to

con-do the best I can in whatever I attempt And most importantly, Iwould like to thank my best friend for all of her support during thistime — my wife and my love, Carol

— SWB

I would like to recognize my co-authors Brian, Naresh, and Steve.You guys rock Special thanks go to Carol and Karen for sacrificingyour family time so we could complete this book I’d like to

acknowledge my dad (posthumously), my mom, and my siblings(“The Chills”…eyes loaf) for making me the person I am today.Without them, I might have turned out ordinary A special thanks to

my friends Linda, Katrina, Colleen, Gina, Heather, Chris, Daryl,Terri, Allie, and September for providing so much fun and inspirationduring this process Most importantly, I’d like to thank my husband,Brian, and wonderful sons, Elliot and Jonah You are the lights of mylife I love you more, more, more, more, more!

— CKT

xxiii

Brian Taylor is a Sybase Certified Professional DBA

with over 11 years of experience in the Information nology (IT) industry Brian has been a presenter at theSybase TechWave conference He has also presented anASE 15 case study through a live web seminar, as well asdelivered web seminars based on his beta testing effortswith ASE 15 He is a contributing author to Wordware’s

Tech-Administrator’s Guide to Sybase ASE 12.5 Brian has a

BS in management information systems and finance fromFlorida State University and is currently pursuing hisMBA from Florida State University

Naresh Adurty has been working with Sybase for the

past 12 years He has an MS in mechanical engineeringfrom Oklahoma State University and is currently pursuinghis MBA from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business He isalso a professional stand-up comedian with radio and TVcredits including HBO

Steve Bradley is a Brainbench Certified Sybase DBA

with over 25 years of experience in the IT field in theareas of data center operations, application develop-ment, MVS administration, database administration,and vendor technical sales support Steve has workedwith Sybase products for over 12 years and has been apresenter at the 2004 and 2005 Sybase TechWave con-ferences Steve has a BS in computer science from theUniversity of South Carolina and an MBA from Uni-versity of Phoenix, Tampa

xxv

Carrie King Taylor has been working with Sybase as a

DBA for 8 years with over 15 years of experience in the

IT industry Carrie has a diverse IT background as she hasserved as a Unix systems administrator, software qualityanalyst, and software developer, and has worked in soft-ware configuration and implementation She has a BS inbusiness information systems from Indiana WesleyanUniversity

About the Contributing Authors

Mark A Shelton is an enterprise architect with Nielsen Media

Research He has more than 25 years of experience in the IT industryand has been working with Sybase technologies since 1993 His workpositions have included a DBA, developer, business analyst, projectmanager, and architect Mark holds a BS in computer science and a

BS in electrical engineering from the University of Dayton, and anMBA from the University of South Florida

Jagan Reddy is a certified professional senior DBA at America

Online, Inc (AOL) He has more than 15 years of database tration experience, and has been a presenter at the Sybase TechWaveconference He started using Sybase technologies in 1989 as a SybaseDBA He has spent most of his career as a DBA, project lead, andsystem administrator He holds a master’s degree in plant geneticsand plant breeding from Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University inIndia, and a master’s degree in computer science from Bowie StateUniversity in Maryland

adminis-xxvi

We’ve read the newsgroups We’ve seen the blogs We know you’reout there The talented Sybase database administrators, developers,managers, and users are out there This book is for you.

We will attempt to guide you, the reader, through the ments of ASE 15 In addition to the enhancements, we will alsodiscuss how these enhancements can be applied to a “real-life” situa-tion We have polled many fellow database administrators about theirthoughts on Sybase ASE regarding the new features We have tried toincorporate as many of these ideas as possible

enhance-Audience

The audience for this book is wider than just database administrators.This book can be used by managers to foresee possible project direc-tion for more than just the next release of a product or application Itcan assist the system architect in determining the best solution forenterprise applications It can be used to educate the developer aboutfeatures that are now available that will make the development pro-

cess easier and more manageable But most importantly, this book is

for the database administrator This book will guide you through thepractical use of the new features in Sybase ASE 15

Scope

This book is an overview of the new features available in ASE 15

We also touch on some existing features that were implemented sincethe last series of administration guides was released These preexist-ing features were deemed worthy of reference based on the overallASE road map for future releases and the direction of Sybase toward

a flexible product geared toward service-oriented architecture (SOA)

We will demonstrate and clarify the new features and how they grate into existing systems

inte-xxvii

This book follows certain typographic conventions, as outlinedbelow:

Arial font is used for commands, options, utility names, and

other keywords within the text

Italics is used to show generic variables and options; these

should be replaced when actually writing code

Constant width is used to show syntax, the contents of files, and

the output from commands

%, $ are used in some examples as the operating system

prompt[ ] surround optional elements in a description of syntax

(the brackets themselves should never be typed){ } indicates you must choose at least one of the

enclosed options( ) are part of the command

| is used in syntax descriptions to separate items for

which only one alternative may be chosen at a time, indicates as many of the options shown can be

selected but must be separated by commas

… indicates the previous option is repeatable

An example of these conventions is:

update statistics table_name

[[partition data_partition_name] [(column_list)] |

index_name [partition index_partition_name]]

[using step values]

[with consumers = consumers] [,sampling=N percent]

xxviii

A final word about syntax: No capitalization of objects, databases, orlogins/user were used where syntax would be incorrect and wouldcause errors Sentences starting with keywords may start with

lowercase letters Code and output are presented separately from theregular paragraph

Disclaimer

Some of this material is based upon a prereleased version of ASE 15.Some of the details, syntax, and output of some of the commands andprocedures may differ slightly from the General Availability (GA)release of ASE 15

While the authors have attempted to ensure the screen shots,syntax, and output reflect the GA release of ASE 15, it is possible thebook may contain some information from the prereleased version ofASE 15, which may or may not be materially different from the GArelease of ASE 15

xxix

New Features Overview

1

Chapter 1

Exploring the Sybase Galaxy

The times, they are a-changin’ This observation applies to relationaldatabase management systems as well Historically, databases haverevolved around structured data and how it is managed The databaseadministrator must now look beyond managing structured data andmust now consider managing information

Sybase rightly code-named the latest release of Sybase AdaptiveServer Enterprise (ASE) “Galaxy.” We are moving beyond the world

of data management as we know it and rocketing into the new galaxy

of information management

What is the difference between data and information? Data issimply the atomic component of information, whereas information istaking the data and making it mean something As we begin to openour silos and release the data within, that data can then become usefulinformation to everyone in our individual galaxies

What does this mean to the database administrator? It means porting more complex queries for greater flexibility and operationalscalability It also means looking beyond our previous ideals of datastorage and broadening our concepts to the possibilities of largeramounts of data and faster access

sup-Let’s take a look at the new features available in ASE 15 as webegin to explore the galaxy of information management Addi-tionally, our journey will cover a few of the recent pre-ASE 15enhancements and explore how they enhance and expand the ASEproduct

Part I — New Features Overview

Unlike previous releases, the release of ASE 15 incorporates ing changes to the ASE product Many of these changes are designed

sweep-to increase the database server’s ability sweep-to handle a high volume andwide variety of data while responding with greater velocity

Today’s database servers must have the ability to handle anincreasing load of information Database administrators are given theresponsibility of balancing the responsiveness of systems and theavailability of data ASE 15 concurrently assists the database admin-istrator with both of these often conflicting objectives

ASE 15 arrives with internal enhancements to keep data moving

at the highest possible velocity while minimizing the server’s needfor performance tweaks, thus lowering the total cost of ownership(TCO) Features such as automatically logged execution metricsassist the database administrator in lowering the cost of developmentwhile increasing the ability to address more complex data This chap-ter gives a brief overview of all of the new features of ASE 15

System Maintenance Improvements

To achieve the goals of simplifying the maintenance of ASE as well

as enhancing the performance of query processing, several systemmaintenance enhancements are introduced in the ASE 15 release.Included in these changes is the ability to automatically update statis-tics using thedatachangefunction in conjunction with Job

Scheduler, the expansion of row-level locking to system tables, andthe introduction of partition-based utilities and maintenance tools.The system administration enhancements in ASE 15 are designed

to lower the maintenance requirements of ASE, enabling the databaseadministrator to target maintenance efforts on areas of ASE that trulyneed attention Several of the changes allow the database administra-tor to reduce or altogether close the regularly scheduled maintenancewindows where full system maintenance is performed

Leading up to the ASE 15 release, many new features wereadded to the ASE 12.5.x versions of ASE that work hand in handwith the enhancements included in ASE 15 In Chapter 2, we discussthe following pre-ASE 15 topics: multiple tempdb, automatic data-base expansion, and the Job Scheduler, and how these features work

in conjunction with enhancements in ASE 15 to lower TCO

Partition Management — Semantic Partitions

Sybase ASE semantic partitions address two main issues with today’sstorage systems: data velocity and data explosion Today, systemsdemand access to more data, and with increasing velocity Thesegoals are often contradictory The introduction of Sybase ASE 15semantic partitions simultaneously assists with each of these goalsthrough the physical separation of data into partitions

The storage of current and historic data in the same databaseadds to the data management complexities already inherent in mostenvironments Semantic partitions can decrease the difficulty of man-aging these complexities Semantic partitions provide a mechanismfor allowing access to this data through the same interface, with noextraneous processing modifications to retrieve archived or historicaldata Semantic partitions also introduce partition elimination Withsemantic partitions, the optimizer is able to choose which partitionsare necessary to resolve the query and therefore eliminate unneces-sary data access

The concept of data partitions is not new to Sybase ASE; ever, the concept of semantic partitions is new Semantic partitionsallow the database administrator to maintain control over the place-ment of partitioned data and indexes within the database This abilitywas not present in prior releases of Sybase ASE

how-Chapter 3 elaborates on the advantages provided by semanticpartitions Additionally, the chapter presents an approach to bestmatch the appropriate semantic partition type with a system’s dataand usage requirements The chapter specifies the differences

between partition types as well as the new terminology introduced insupport of this new functionality

Scrollable Cursors

Scrollable cursors are in line with Sybase’s goal to increasingly lowerthe TCO of Sybase ASE Scrollable cursors can also ease or speedthe development process by replacing supplemental middleware orclient tools used to manipulate a cached result set

Chapter 4 describes how to create a scrollable cursor, explainshow to manipulate a scrollable cursor, and discusses the global vari-ables associated with a scrollable cursor

Additionally, Sybase ASE 15 introduces cursor sensitivity sor sensitivity relates to the ability of ASE to allow changes to dataunderlying a cursor to be represented in the cursor’s result set Cursorsensitivity also allows for a cursor performance benefit, which isexplained within this chapter.

Cur-Overview of Changes to Query Processing

In ASE 15, the Query Optimizer has undergone numerous internalchanges These changes are intended to accomplish the followingobjectives:

t Improve query performance

t Limit the need for manual intervention to achieve optimal queryplans

t Ease the monitoring and diagnostic efforts needed to maintainquery performance

Chapter 5 discusses the “out-of-the-box” improvements to the ASE

15 Query Optimizer These Query Optimizer changes will lowerTCO by requiring less tuning By simply running existing queriesthrough the new Query Optimizer, the performance can be improved.Additionally, new optimization goals are explored in conjunctionwith the optimization time limitations These time limitations willprovide the database administrator the ability to specify the percent-age of time the Query Optimizer is allowed to spend on query

in little or no manual intervention for the query processor to arrive atthe most efficient query plan

To accomplish these goals in ASE 15, the Query Optimizer andoptimizer toolset have undergone numerous changes to accommodatethe demand for simplified detection and resolution of problems A

new set of optimizer diagnostic tools for the database administrator isincluded in this release of ASE Chapter 6 discusses how to enablethese new diagnostics This chapter also defines the diagnostics andoffers insight into how the database administrator can use the newdiagnostics to detect query-level problems A specific problem reso-lution slant involving diagnostic examples with use of the new ASE

15 features, most specifically semantic partitions, is representedthrough example

It is also important to note that the name of the optimizer is nowoften referred to as the “query processor” and equally as often as the

“Query Optimizer.” This is a departure from the normal reference tothe “Optimizer” as represented in prior versions of ASE

Computed Columns

In accordance with the Sybase road map to provide operational lence within the database, ASE 15 introduces computed columns.The implementation of computed columns affords the databaseadministrator the opportunity to ease development costs and provide

excel-a foundexcel-ation to offer increexcel-ased dexcel-atexcel-a velocity

The utilization of computed columns can reduce TCO by fying the application development effort The simplification isaccomplished by the placement of the computational burden on theserver as opposed to within the client layer This enhancement isespecially applicable to the handling of unstructured data, such asXML documents

simpli-Chapter 7 provides the technical details on the implementation ofcomputed columns The chapter outlines the syntax to implementcomputed columns and includes several examples Materializationand the deterministic properties of computed columns are alsoexplained

Functional Indexes

Sybase offers computed column indexes and function-based indexes

to maximize the scalability and performance capabilities of SybaseASE These new index types allow Sybase ASE to maintain indexesbased on derived data This enhancement further emphasizes the datavelocity initiatives incorporated into the release of ASE 15

Function-based indexes provide the database administrator anadditional tool to improve the performance of application logic whilereducing TCO As a DBA, when faced with optimization scenariosfor queries issued from the application, previous solutions were tomodify the application code or upgrade the underlying hardware.ASE 15 provides the ability to optimize application code with theaddition of function-based indexes to the database These perfor-mance-enhancing indexes can be applied without the impact ofapplication maintenance or hardware upgrades.

The underlying benefit of function-based indexes and computedcolumn indexes is the reduction of physical and logical I/O necessary

to satisfy queries A reduction in physical and logical I/O allows ASE

to maintain performance as the storage requirements of databasesincrease This provides greater flexibility to the database administra-tor for managing data explosion

Chapter 8 provides details on how to implement functionalindexes The chapter provides guidelines on when to implement thesenew features as well as provides an analysis of the impact andlimitations

Capturing Query Processing Metrics

As database administrators, we are often asked to scrutinize the formance of queries As an initial diagnostic step, many databaseadministrators examine the statistics I/O or statistics time outputassociated with a query While the statistics I/O and time outputprovide initial information on a track to take to diagnose query per-formance, basic information is often lacking (for example, baselineperformance for the specific query) The Query Processing Metricscapture process provides a mechanism to maintain a query baselinewith minimal setup or maintenance effort

per-In Chapter 9 we demonstrate the setup and value of the QueryProcessing Metrics capture process as well as specifically identifywhat and where information is maintained by the metrics captureprocess

This feature is in line with the Sybase goal to increasingly lowerthe TCO of Sybase ASE The Query Processing Metrics can supple-ment or replace third-party tools designed to capture the SQL

executed against ASE installations

Plan Viewer

The introduction of the Plan Viewer in ASE 15 is aligned withSybase’s goal to ease the overall management needs of ASE ThePlan Viewer is a graphical user interface (GUI) utility wrapped in theinteractive ISQL tool included with the ASE 15 open client product.This new feature provides database administrators and developers atool to help visualize query plans for the purpose of quick and easyidentification of performance issues

Chapter 10 provides instructions on how to set up and launch thePlan Viewer The chapter continues with a demonstration on how toextract useful information from the Plan Viewer, and discusses theinformation and concepts contained in the Plan Viewer’s output

Sybase Software Asset Management

(SySAM) 2.0

In conjunction with the release of ASE 15, Sybase provides a newversion of the Sybase Software Asset Management (SySAM).SySAM 2.0 provides a mechanism for Sybase to ensure customercompliance with license agreements For most customers, the ques-

tion is not “Should we monitor for compliance?” but “How do we

monitor for compliance?” SySAM 2.0 provides the capability ofmonitoring and reporting license compliance, which is required forASE 15

In Chapter 11, SySAM 2.0 is explored in detail The components

of the Sybase Software Asset Management are explained, as well asthe various setup options, evaluation licenses, and grace periods

Installation of ASE 15

The focus in Chapter 12 is the installation of ASE 15 This chapterprovides an overview of the server installation process, using threedistinctly different installation methods With each method, serverinstallation is covered in an easy-to-follow step-by-step manner