path: root/doc/TODO.detail/performance

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From: dg@illustra.com (David Gould)
Message-Id: <9806142235.AA07922@hawk.illustra.com>
Subject: [HACKERS] performance tests, initial results
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I have been playing a little with the performance tests found in
pgsql/src/tests/performance and have a few observations that might be of
minor interest.

The tests themselves are simple enough although the result parsing in the
driver did not work on Linux. I am enclosing a patch below to fix this. I
think it will also work better on the other systems.

A summary of results from my testing are below. Details are at the bottom
of this message.

My test system is 'leslie':

 linux 2.0.32, gcc version 2.7.2.3
 P133, HX chipset, 512K L2, 32MB mem
 NCR810 fast scsi, Quantum Atlas 2GB drive (7200 rpm).


                     Results Summary (times in seconds)

                    Single txn 8K txn    Create 8K idx 8K random Simple
Case Description    8K insert  8K insert Index  Insert Scans     Orderby
=================== ========== ========= ====== ====== ========= =======
1 From Distribution
  P90 FreeBsd -B256      39.56   1190.98   3.69  46.65     65.49    2.27
  IDE

2 Running on leslie
  P133 Linux 2.0.32      15.48    326.75   2.99  20.69     35.81    1.68
  SCSI 32M

3 leslie, -o -F
  no forced writes       15.90     24.98   2.63  20.46     36.43    1.69

4 leslie, -o -F
  no ASSERTS             14.92     23.23   1.38  18.67     33.79    1.58

5 leslie, -o -F -B2048
  more buffers           21.31     42.28   2.65  25.74     42.26    1.72

6 leslie, -o -F -B2048
  more bufs, no ASSERT   20.52     39.79   1.40  24.77     39.51    1.55




                 Case to Case Difference Factors (+ is faster)

                    Single txn 8K txn    Create 8K idx 8K random Simple
Case Description    8K insert  8K insert Index  Insert Scans     Orderby
=================== ========== ========= ====== ====== ========= =======

leslie vs BSD P90.        2.56      3.65   1.23   2.25      1.83    1.35

(noflush -F) vs no -F    -1.03     13.08   1.14   1.01     -1.02    1.00

No Assert vs Assert       1.05      1.07   1.90   1.06      1.07    1.09

-B256 vs -B2048           1.34      1.69   1.01   1.26      1.16    1.02


Observations:

 - leslie (P133 linux) appears to be about 1.8 times faster than the
   P90 BSD system used for the test result distributed with the source, not
   counting the 8K txn insert case which was completely disk bound.

 - SCSI disks make a big (factor of 3.6) difference. During this test the
   disk was hammering and cpu utilization was < 10%.

 - Assertion checking seems to cost about 7% except for create index where
   it costs 90%

 - the -F option to avoid flushing buffers has tremendous effect if there are
   many very small transactions. Or, another way, flushing at the end of the
   transaction is a major disaster for performance.

 - Something is very wrong with our buffer cache implementation. Going from
   256 buffers to 2048 buffers costs an average of 25%. In the 8K txn case
   it costs about 70%. I see looking at the code and profiling that in the 8K
   txn case this is in BufferSync() which examines all the buffers at commit
   time. I don't quite understand why it is so costly for the single 8K row
   txn (35%) though.

It would be nice to have some more tests. Maybe the Wisconsin stuff will
be useful.



----------------- patch to test harness. apply from pgsql ------------
*** src/test/performance/runtests.pl.orig	Sun Jun 14 11:34:04 1998

Differences %


----------------- patch to test harness. apply from pgsql ------------
*** src/test/performance/runtests.pl.orig	Sun Jun 14 11:34:04 1998
--- src/test/performance/runtests.pl	Sun Jun 14 12:07:30 1998
***************
*** 84,123 ****
  open (STDERR, ">$TmpFile") or die;
  select (STDERR); $| = 1;
  
! for ($i = 0; $i <= $#perftests; $i++)
! {
  	$test = $perftests[$i];
  	($test, $XACTBLOCK) = split (/ /, $test);
  	$runtest = $test;
! 	if ( $test =~ /\.ntm/ )
! 	{
! 		# 
  		# No timing for this queries
- 		# 
  		close (STDERR);		# close $TmpFile
  		open (STDERR, ">/dev/null") or die;
  		$runtest =~ s/\.ntm//;
  	}
! 	else
! 	{
  		close (STDOUT);
  		open(STDOUT, ">&SAVEOUT");
  		print STDOUT "\nRunning: $perftests[$i+1] ...";
  		close (STDOUT);
  		open (STDOUT, ">/dev/null") or die;
  		select (STDERR); $| = 1;
! 		printf "$perftests[$i+1]: ";
  	}
  
  	do "sqls/$runtest";
  
  	# Restore STDERR to $TmpFile
! 	if ( $test =~ /\.ntm/ )
! 	{
  		close (STDERR);
  		open (STDERR, ">>$TmpFile") or die;
  	}
- 
  	select (STDERR); $| = 1;
  	$i++;
  }
--- 84,116 ----
  open (STDERR, ">$TmpFile") or die;
  select (STDERR); $| = 1;
  
! for ($i = 0; $i <= $#perftests; $i++) {
  	$test = $perftests[$i];
  	($test, $XACTBLOCK) = split (/ /, $test);
  	$runtest = $test;
! 	if ( $test =~ /\.ntm/ ) {
  		# No timing for this queries
  		close (STDERR);		# close $TmpFile
  		open (STDERR, ">/dev/null") or die;
  		$runtest =~ s/\.ntm//;
  	}
! 	else {
  		close (STDOUT);
  		open(STDOUT, ">&SAVEOUT");
  		print STDOUT "\nRunning: $perftests[$i+1] ...";
  		close (STDOUT);
  		open (STDOUT, ">/dev/null") or die;
  		select (STDERR); $| = 1;
! 		print "$perftests[$i+1]: ";
  	}
  
  	do "sqls/$runtest";
  
  	# Restore STDERR to $TmpFile
! 	if ( $test =~ /\.ntm/ ) {
  		close (STDERR);
  		open (STDERR, ">>$TmpFile") or die;
  	}
  	select (STDERR); $| = 1;
  	$i++;
  }
***************
*** 128,138 ****
  open (TMPF, "<$TmpFile") or die;
  open (RESF, ">$ResFile") or die;
  
! while (<TMPF>)
! {
! 	$str = $_;
! 	($test, $rtime) = split (/:/, $str);
! 	($tmp, $rtime, $rest) = split (/[ 	]+/, $rtime);
! 	print RESF "$test: $rtime\n";
  }
  
--- 121,130 ----
  open (TMPF, "<$TmpFile") or die;
  open (RESF, ">$ResFile") or die;
  
! while (<TMPF>) {
!         if (m/^(.*: ).* ([0-9:.]+) *elapsed/) {
! 	    ($test, $rtime) = ($1, $2);
! 	     print RESF $test, $rtime, "\n";
!         }
  }

------------------------------------------------------------------------

  
------------------------- testcase detail --------------------------
   
1. from distribution
   DBMS:		PostgreSQL 6.2b10
   OS:		FreeBSD 2.1.5-RELEASE
   HardWare:	i586/90, 24M RAM, IDE
   StartUp:	postmaster -B 256 '-o -S 2048' -S
   Compiler:	gcc 2.6.3
   Compiled:	-O, without CASSERT checking, with
   		-DTBL_FREE_CMD_MEMORY (to free memory
   		if BEGIN/END after each query execution)
   DB connection startup: 0.20
   8192 INSERTs INTO SIMPLE (1 xact): 39.58
   8192 INSERTs INTO SIMPLE (8192 xacts): 1190.98
   Create INDEX on SIMPLE: 3.69
   8192 INSERTs INTO SIMPLE with INDEX (1 xact): 46.65
   8192 random INDEX scans on SIMPLE (1 xact): 65.49
   ORDER BY SIMPLE: 2.27
   
   
2. run on leslie with asserts
   DBMS:		PostgreSQL 6.3.2 (plus changes to 98/06/01)
   OS:		Linux 2.0.32 leslie
   HardWare:	i586/133 HX 512, 32M RAM, fast SCSI, 7200rpm
   StartUp:	postmaster -B 256 '-o -S 2048' -S
   Compiler:	gcc 2.7.2.3
   Compiled:	-O, WITH CASSERT checking, with
   		-DTBL_FREE_CMD_MEMORY (to free memory
   		if BEGIN/END after each query execution)
   DB connection startup: 0.10
   8192 INSERTs INTO SIMPLE (1 xact): 15.48
   8192 INSERTs INTO SIMPLE (8192 xacts): 326.75
   Create INDEX on SIMPLE: 2.99
   8192 INSERTs INTO SIMPLE with INDEX (1 xact): 20.69
   8192 random INDEX scans on SIMPLE (1 xact): 35.81
   ORDER BY SIMPLE: 1.68
   
   
3. with -F to avoid forced i/o
   DBMS:		PostgreSQL 6.3.2 (plus changes to 98/06/01)
   OS:		Linux 2.0.32 leslie
   HardWare:	i586/133 HX 512, 32M RAM, fast SCSI, 7200rpm
   StartUp:	postmaster -B 256 '-o -S 2048 -F' -S
   Compiler:	gcc 2.7.2.3
   Compiled:	-O, WITH CASSERT checking, with
   		-DTBL_FREE_CMD_MEMORY (to free memory
   		if BEGIN/END after each query execution)
   DB connection startup: 0.10
   8192 INSERTs INTO SIMPLE (1 xact): 15.90
   8192 INSERTs INTO SIMPLE (8192 xacts): 24.98
   Create INDEX on SIMPLE: 2.63
   8192 INSERTs INTO SIMPLE with INDEX (1 xact): 20.46
   8192 random INDEX scans on SIMPLE (1 xact): 36.43
   ORDER BY SIMPLE: 1.69
   
   
4. no asserts, -F to avoid forced I/O
   DBMS:		PostgreSQL 6.3.2 (plus changes to 98/06/01)
   OS:		Linux 2.0.32 leslie
   HardWare:	i586/133 HX 512, 32M RAM, fast SCSI, 7200rpm
   StartUp:	postmaster -B 256 '-o -S 2048' -S
   Compiler:	gcc 2.7.2.3
   Compiled:	-O, No CASSERT checking, with
   		-DTBL_FREE_CMD_MEMORY (to free memory
   		if BEGIN/END after each query execution)
   DB connection startup: 0.10
   8192 INSERTs INTO SIMPLE (1 xact): 14.92
   8192 INSERTs INTO SIMPLE (8192 xacts): 23.23
   Create INDEX on SIMPLE: 1.38
   8192 INSERTs INTO SIMPLE with INDEX (1 xact): 18.67
   8192 random INDEX scans on SIMPLE (1 xact): 33.79
   ORDER BY SIMPLE: 1.58
   
   
5. with more buffers (2048 vs 256) and -F to avoid forced i/o
   DBMS:		PostgreSQL 6.3.2 (plus changes to 98/06/01)
   OS:		Linux 2.0.32 leslie
   HardWare:	i586/133 HX 512, 32M RAM, fast SCSI, 7200rpm
   StartUp:	postmaster -B 2048 '-o -S 2048 -F' -S
   Compiler:	gcc 2.7.2.3
   Compiled:	-O, WITH CASSERT checking, with
   		-DTBL_FREE_CMD_MEMORY (to free memory
   		if BEGIN/END after each query execution)
   DB connection startup: 0.11
   8192 INSERTs INTO SIMPLE (1 xact): 21.31
   8192 INSERTs INTO SIMPLE (8192 xacts): 42.28
   Create INDEX on SIMPLE: 2.65
   8192 INSERTs INTO SIMPLE with INDEX (1 xact): 25.74
   8192 random INDEX scans on SIMPLE (1 xact): 42.26
   ORDER BY SIMPLE: 1.72
   
   
6. No Asserts, more buffers (2048 vs 256) and -F to avoid forced i/o
   DBMS:		PostgreSQL 6.3.2 (plus changes to 98/06/01)
   OS:		Linux 2.0.32 leslie
   HardWare:	i586/133 HX 512, 32M RAM, fast SCSI, 7200rpm
   StartUp:	postmaster -B 2048 '-o -S 2048 -F' -S
   Compiler:	gcc 2.7.2.3
   Compiled:	-O, No CASSERT checking, with
   		-DTBL_FREE_CMD_MEMORY (to free memory
   		if BEGIN/END after each query execution)
   DB connection startup: 0.11
   8192 INSERTs INTO SIMPLE (1 xact): 20.52
   8192 INSERTs INTO SIMPLE (8192 xacts): 39.79
   Create INDEX on SIMPLE: 1.40
   8192 INSERTs INTO SIMPLE with INDEX (1 xact): 24.77
   8192 random INDEX scans on SIMPLE (1 xact): 39.51
   ORDER BY SIMPLE: 1.55
---------------------------------------------------------------------

-dg

David Gould            dg@illustra.com           510.628.3783 or 510.305.9468 
Informix Software  (No, really)         300 Lakeside Drive  Oakland, CA 94612
"Don't worry about people stealing your ideas.  If your ideas are any
 good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats." -- Howard Aiken


From owner-pgsql-hackers@hub.org Tue Oct 19 10:31:10 1999
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To: "Hiroshi Inoue" <Inoue@tpf.co.jp>
cc: "Vadim Mikheev" <vadim@krs.ru>, pgsql-hackers@postgreSQL.org
Subject: Re: [HACKERS] mdnblocks is an amazing time sink in huge relations 
In-reply-to: Your message of Tue, 19 Oct 1999 19:03:22 +0900 
             <000801bf1a19$2d88ae20$2801007e@cadzone.tpf.co.jp> 
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 1999 10:09:15 -0400
Message-ID: <9036.940342155@sss.pgh.pa.us>
From: Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>
Sender: owner-pgsql-hackers@postgreSQL.org
Status: OR

"Hiroshi Inoue" <Inoue@tpf.co.jp> writes:
> 1. shared cache holds committed system tuples.
> 2. private cache holds uncommitted system tuples.
> 3. relpages of shared cache are updated immediately by
>     phisical change and corresponding buffer pages are
>     marked dirty.
> 4. on commit, the contents of uncommitted tuples except
>    relpages,reltuples,... are copied to correponding tuples
>    in shared cache and the combined contents are
>    committed.
> If so,catalog cache invalidation would be no longer needed.
> But synchronization of the step 4. may be difficult.

I think the main problem is that relpages and reltuples shouldn't
be kept in pg_class columns at all, because they need to have
very different update behavior from the other pg_class columns.

The rest of pg_class is update-on-commit, and we can lock down any one
row in the normal MVCC way (if transaction A has modified a row and
transaction B also wants to modify it, B waits for A to commit or abort,
so it can know which version of the row to start from).  Furthermore,
there can legitimately be several different values of a row in use in
different places: the latest committed, an uncommitted modification, and
one or more old values that are still being used by active transactions
because they were current when those transactions started.  (BTW, the
present relcache is pretty bad about maintaining pure MVCC transaction
semantics like this, but it seems clear to me that that's the direction
we want to go in.)

relpages cannot operate this way.  To be useful for avoiding lseeks,
relpages *must* change exactly when the physical file changes.  It
matters not at all whether the particular transaction that extended the
file ultimately commits or not.  Moreover there can be only one correct
value (per relation) across the whole system, because there is only one
length of the relation file.

If we want to take reltuples seriously and try to maintain it
on-the-fly, then I think it needs still a third behavior.  Clearly
it cannot be updated using MVCC rules, or we lose all writer
concurrency (if A has added tuples to a rel, B would have to wait
for A to commit before it could update reltuples...).  Furthermore
"updating" isn't a simple matter of storing what you think the new
value is; otherwise two transactions adding tuples in parallel would
leave the wrong answer after B commits and overwrites A's value.
I think it would work for each transaction to keep track of a net delta
in reltuples for each table it's changed (total tuples added less total
tuples deleted), and then atomically add that value to the table's
shared reltuples counter during commit.  But that still leaves the
problem of how you use the counter during a transaction to get an
accurate answer to the question "If I scan this table now, how many tuples
will I see?"  At the time the question is asked, the current shared
counter value might include the effects of transactions that have
committed since your transaction started, and therefore are not visible
under MVCC rules.  I think getting the correct answer would involve
making an instantaneous copy of the current counter at the start of
your xact, and then adding your own private net-uncommitted-delta to
the saved shared counter value when asked the question.  This doesn't
look real practical --- you'd have to save the reltuples counts of
*all* tables in the database at the start of each xact, on the off
chance that you might need them.  Ugh.  Perhaps someone has a better
idea.  In any case, reltuples clearly needs different mechanisms than
the ordinary fields in pg_class do, because updating it will be a
performance bottleneck otherwise.

If we allow reltuples to be updated only by vacuum-like events, as
it is now, then I think keeping it in pg_class is still OK.

In short, it seems clear to me that relpages should be removed from
pg_class and kept somewhere else if we want to make it more reliable
than it is now, and the same for reltuples (but reltuples doesn't
behave the same as relpages, and probably ought to be handled
differently).

			regards, tom lane

************

From owner-pgsql-hackers@hub.org Tue Oct 19 21:25:30 1999
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From: "Hiroshi Inoue" <Inoue@tpf.co.jp>
To: "Tom Lane" <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>
Cc: <pgsql-hackers@postgreSQL.org>
Subject: RE: [HACKERS] mdnblocks is an amazing time sink in huge relations 
Date: Wed, 20 Oct 1999 10:09:13 +0900
Message-ID: <000501bf1a97$b925a860$2801007e@cadzone.tpf.co.jp>
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Status: ORr

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Hiroshi Inoue [mailto:Inoue@tpf.co.jp]
> Sent: Tuesday, October 19, 1999 6:45 PM
> To: Tom Lane
> Cc: pgsql-hackers@postgreSQL.org
> Subject: RE: [HACKERS] mdnblocks is an amazing time sink in huge
> relations 
> 
> 
> > 
> > "Hiroshi Inoue" <Inoue@tpf.co.jp> writes:
> 
> [snip]
>  
> > 
> > > Deletion is necessary only not to consume disk space.
> > >
> > > For example vacuum could remove not deleted files.
> > 
> > Hmm ... interesting idea ... but I can hear the complaints
> > from users already...
> >
> 
> My idea is only an analogy of PostgreSQL's simple recovery
> mechanism of tuples.
> 
> And my main point is
> 	"delete fails after commit" doesn't harm the database
> 	except that not deleted files consume disk space.
> 
> Of cource,it's preferable to delete relation files immediately
> after(or just when) commit.
> Useless files are visible though useless tuples are invisible.
>

Anyway I don't need "DROP TABLE inside transactions" now
and my idea is originally for that issue.

After a thought,I propose the following solution.

1. mdcreate() couldn't create existent relation files.
    If the existent file is of length zero,we would overwrite
    the file.(seems the comment in md.c says so but the
    code doesn't do so). 
    If the file is an Index relation file,we would overwrite
    the file.

2. mdunlink() couldn't unlink non-existent relation files.
    mdunlink() doesn't call elog(ERROR) even if the file
    doesn't exist,though I couldn't find where to change
    now.
    mdopen() doesn't call elog(ERROR) even if the file
    doesn't exist and leaves the relation as CLOSED. 

Comments ?

Regards. 

Hiroshi Inoue
Inoue@tpf.co.jp

************