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Multi-block disk reads for index range scans? [message #473822] Tue, 31 August 2010 21:28 Go to next message
rleishman
Messages: 3728
Registered: October 2005
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Senior Member
My understanding of DB_FILE_MULTIBLOCK_READ_COUNT parameter is that it affects only Full Table Scans and Fast Full Index Scans - all other disk retrieval is single block.

If so, then maybe I'm reading this trace incorrectly:
select /*+ first_rows */ pk
from test_join_tgt
where pk >= 0
and rownum > 1

call     count       cpu    elapsed       disk      query    current        rows
------- ------  -------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------  ----------
Parse        1      0.01       0.00          0          0          0           0
Execute      1      0.00       0.00          0          0          0           0
Fetch        1     21.48      27.77      22368      22134          0           0
------- ------  -------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------  ----------
total        3     21.49      27.78      22368      22134          0           0

Misses in library cache during parse: 1
Optimizer mode: FIRST_ROWS
Parsing user id: 140

Rows     Row Source Operation
-------  ---------------------------------------------------
      0  COUNT  (cr=22134 pr=22368 pw=0 time=27778270 us)
      0   FILTER  (cr=22134 pr=22368 pw=0 time=27778261 us)
10000000    INDEX RANGE SCAN TEST_JOIN_TGT_PK (cr=22134 pr=22368 pw=0 time=20175517 us)(object id 142723)


Elapsed times include waiting on following events:
  Event waited on                             Times   Max. Wait  Total Waited
  ----------------------------------------   Waited  ----------  ------------
  SQL*Net message to client                       1        0.00          0.00
  db file scattered read                        699        0.63          7.96
  SQL*Net message from client                     1       21.96         21.96


We can see that:
  • The only data read is via an index range scan (single block reads)
  • 22368 blocks were read from disk.
  • There were only 699 round-trips to disk to retrieve those 22368.

Divide 22368 by 699 and you get EXACTLY 32. ie. My Range Scan is returning 32 blocks per visit to disk.

Not that it should matter, my DB_FILE_MULTIBLOCK_READ_COUNT is 16, not 32.


Here's a alternate example. I've changed the query to use a Fast Full Scan so that it WILL use the DB_FILE_MULTIBLOCK_READ_COUNT.
select pk
from test_join_tgt
where pk >= 0
and rownum > 1

call     count       cpu    elapsed       disk      query    current        rows
------- ------  -------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------  ----------
Parse        1      0.00       0.00          0          0          0           0
Execute      1      0.00       0.00          0          0          0           0
Fetch        1     21.27      29.04      22167      22204          0           0
------- ------  -------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------  ----------
total        3     21.27      29.04      22167      22204          0           0

Misses in library cache during parse: 1
Optimizer mode: ALL_ROWS
Parsing user id: 140

Rows     Row Source Operation
-------  ---------------------------------------------------
      0  COUNT  (cr=22204 pr=22167 pw=0 time=29041877 us)
      0   FILTER  (cr=22204 pr=22167 pw=0 time=29041869 us)
10000000    INDEX FAST FULL SCAN TEST_JOIN_TGT_PK (cr=22204 pr=22167 pw=0 time=20043860 us)(object id 142723)


Elapsed times include waiting on following events:
  Event waited on                             Times   Max. Wait  Total Waited
  ----------------------------------------   Waited  ----------  ------------
  SQL*Net message to client                       1        0.00          0.00
  db file sequential read                         1        0.01          0.01
  db file scattered read                       1397        0.39          9.09
  SQL*Net message from client                     1       14.03         14.03

1397 visits to disk to retrieve 22167 blocks, which is pretty close to 16 blocks per round-trip. i.e. Exactly what I would expect from a full scan.

What the heck is going on with the Multi-block reads in the Range Scan?

Ross Leishman
Re: Multi-block disk reads for index range scans? [message #473832 is a reply to message #473822] Wed, 01 September 2010 01:00 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Yasir Hashmi
Messages: 304
Registered: April 2006
Senior Member
Hi,
This might answer
Re: Multi-block disk reads for index range scans? [message #473844 is a reply to message #473822] Wed, 01 September 2010 01:56 Go to previous messageGo to next message
rleishman
Messages: 3728
Registered: October 2005
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Senior Member
Yep, that looks like it.

This after a different SQL exhibiting similar results:

select name,value
from v$sesstat s, v$statname n
where s.statistic# = n.statistic#
and s.sid = userenv('sid')
and n.name like '%prefetch%'
order by name;

index crx upgrade (prefetch)	0
physical reads cache prefetch	28202
physical reads prefetch warmup	28172
prefetch clients - 16k	        0
...


Looks like that physical reads prefetch warmup is the key.

I hadn't noticed that my blocks were showing up as SCATTERED reads instead of SEQUENTIAL - as would be normal for an index scan.

It seems that there is some internal Oracle cleverness that identifies that the Buffer Cache is empty (I flushed it) and that my SQL will use a large proportion of the index, and pre-fetches the entire index into the Buffer Cache.

I wonder if there are any undocumented hints that allow you to control this caching manually...

Ross Leishman
Re: Multi-block disk reads for index range scans? [message #473881 is a reply to message #473844] Wed, 01 September 2010 06:51 Go to previous message
Mahesh Rajendran
Messages: 10707
Registered: March 2002
Location: oracleDocoVille
Senior Member
Account Moderator
There seems to be an undocumented parameter
_db_cache_pre_warm
that can be set to false.
Metalink suggests that this change in setting does no harm. But I would consult the support.
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