In addition to my reading exploits, I also had a trot through the SQL Performance Analyzer last night. It all looks pretty neat.
When I was using Database Replay I didn’t feel like the Enterprise Manager screens were easier to use than the PL/SQL APIs. They didn’t exactly feel like they added any value I guess. Part of that may have been because you still had to jump out to the command line to start the replay clients. Perhaps I was just being a bit fussy…
In contrast, I felt the SQL Performance Analyzer was a little bit easier to use through Enterprise Manager. That’s not to say the APIs are difficult, just that the Enterprise Manager screens add a little value. The basic running is the same, but the Enterprise Manager screen includes a couple of quick tests for optimizer version and parameter changes which are quite handy.
To be fare, the biggest difference in terms of ease of use is the creation and manipulation of the SQL tuning sets, which feels much simpler in Enterprise Manager, although some of functionality was present in 10g also, so I guess it’s a bit unfair to throw it into the mix. 🙂
Cheers
Tim…
Hi Tim,
What do you think of Oracle’s stated application of SPA, specifically, using SPA to adjust init.ora parms and CBO stats?
It seems to do the job. You can certainly see a difference in the before and after views when you run it. I guess the results are going to vary depending on the quality of the SQL tuning set you gather and the “database change” you apply. I’m sure when people start to use it in anger we’ll start to hear more stories about the pros and cons.
Having only played with it a little I think it looks really promising. If I had 11g in a dev, test and production environment I would probably use a tuning set from production and run it against config changes in the other environments just to have a look at any potential problems making their way to production. It’s another tool in the arsenal. 🙂
Cheers
Tim…