I am a new admin and new to oracle but I have been charged with finding
out the rate of change of the database. I have been told I can probably
use the logs to do this but looking at the logs is not getting me
anywhere. I beg the oracles (pun intended) to lead me down the right
path. What can I do t measure the rate of change of the database?

akabazzi@bgchurch.org wrote:
> I am a new admin and new to oracle but I have been charged with
finding
> out the rate of change of the database. I have been told I can
probably
> use the logs to do this but looking at the logs is not getting me
> anywhere. I beg the oracles (pun intended) to lead me down the right
> path. What can I do t measure the rate of change of the database?

The first issue I see with this is how 'rate of change of the database'
defined. Is this rate of change of the data (DML)? Rate of change of
the schema objects (DDL)? Each is different, and I would get this
defined before you go any further.

The second issue I see relates to the first, in that you do not have a
baseline established with which to compare. You can only measure a
rate of change relative to a baseline measurement; once you get the
definition of 'rate of change of the database' defined you can set a
baseline measurement and proceed with your analysis.

If the desired information references the data and size of the database
DBMS_STATS can help you. Using the GATHER_SCHEMA_STATS or
GATHER_DATABASE_STATS procedures can generate data-related information
about your database or schema; querying the views DBA_TABLES,
DBA_INDEXES and DBA_TAB_COLUMNS after either of these procedures have
been run should provide a report for the current state of the data;
preserving these reports can produce your 'rate of change' monitoring
your superiors desire.

As you state you're a beginner in this it might be best to visit:

tahiti.oracle.com

and peruse the documentation, especially on the DBMS_STATS package.
Please feel free to return for any questions or concerns you may have
regarding use of this package, or for any queries you may need to write
to extract relevant information.

Good luck.


David Fitzjarrell

akabazzi@bgchurch.org wrote:

> I am a new admin and new to oracle but I have been charged with finding
> out the rate of change of the database. I have been told I can probably
> use the logs to do this but looking at the logs is not getting me
> anywhere. I beg the oracles (pun intended) to lead me down the right
> path. What can I do t measure the rate of change of the database?

Define the metric rate of change and both I and many others can help
you.

Are we talking about the percentage of rows in all tables that change?
A measure of the number of objects?
Your meaning is far from clear.

And without version information don't expect an adequate response.
--
Daniel A. Morgan
University of Washington
damorgan@x.washington.edu
(replace 'x' with 'u' to respond)

If you are new to Oracle then my suggestion is that the one statistic
that you should first pay the most attention to is the decline in
freespace available in each of your tablespaces. This will allow you
to identify if your database needs any immediate attention to prevent
an error from running out of space.

If no tablespace needs another file or to have an object relocated to
prevent a space related error in the near future then grab the Concepts
manual and start reading. Follow the Concepts manual with the DBA
Administration manual. Most of what a DBA needs to know on a daily
basis is in these two manuals.

Only after reading these two manuals, looking at the layout of the
database, and picking up some knowledge about how the application works
will you be able to determine what really needs to be monitored.

IMHO -- Mark D Powell --

On Tue, 15 Mar 2005 05:53:38 -0800, akabazzi wrote:

> I am a new admin and new to oracle but I have been charged with finding
> out the rate of change of the database. I have been told I can probably
> use the logs to do this but looking at the logs is not getting me
> anywhere. I beg the oracles (pun intended) to lead me down the right
> path. What can I do t measure the rate of change of the database?

As the others have said - you need to read the Oracle Concepts manual to
get a feeling of what is going on here. Before that, you might want to
read the O'Reilly "Oracle Essentials" book to get comfortable enough me
terminology to be able to understand the Concepts manual

You will also need to define 'rate of chane'.

However, since your colleagues have you barking up this tree, you can
start by looking at the frequency that the log files are switching and the
size of the log files. Log file switches are identified in the alert.log
file, which you might as well get used to reading on a daily basis if
you want to be a good DBA.

/FGB