Extremely basic cluster questions

I posted this in the Qmaster section, but it's been 24 hours with no response, so I thought I'd try at this more heavily-trafficked board.
I have a Dual 2.5 G5 and a dual 1.25 G4. I moved all my Final Cut/Adobe licenses from the G4 to the G5 when I bought it.
1) Do I have to buy a fully working copy of Final Cut Studio (i.e. spend $1300) to create a cluster that will render Compressor and After Effects? (And now that I think about it, will I have to buy another seat of After Effects too?)
2) Do I need to pay to upgrade the OS on the G4 (currently 10.3.x)?
3) Will clustering a G4 to my G5 significantly impact my render times?
Thanks in advance.

Qmaster won't help you with After Effects renders. AFAIK. You need the AE engine, which ships free with AE, or GridIron's Nitro products.
Networked rendering has workflow issues that you must research carefully before you attempt to engage. For instance, AE's distributed rendering creates only image sequences, not QT movies. Converting them to a useful format can cancel any gains from the render.
The traffic on the Qmaster forum represents its utility. I don't know anyone who can make it work well enough to actually use it and, if there are successful users, they don't post. If I remember the past discussions, G4s are not recommended. You need at least 4 machines to gain any appreciable render improvements and you need to be doing a huge volume of work to justify the management overhead.
But just scrolling down the Qmaster list of posts turned up several threads that might help you out. Did you look?
bogiesan

Similar Messages

Basic cluster question related to switches.

Hi all,
Id like to speak with someone
where could be problem.
We have configured switches 2950 and 3560 to make cluster..command cluster member and cluster commander ...
Our 3560 is commander. Problem is that commander rewrote hostnames of members.
But we dont know why?
Pls, any suggestions!!
BR
jl

Hello,
the only way I know of this could happen is when the switch has previously been a member of a cluster...check the info below. Which IOS version are you running on the 3560 ? This could be a bug, I will check that, can yo post the output of ´show version´?
Hostnames
You do not need to assign a host name to either a cluster command switch or an eligible cluster member. However, a hostname assigned to the cluster command switch can help to identify the switch cluster. The default hostname for the switch is Switch.
If a switch joins a cluster and it does not have a hostname, the cluster command switch appends a unique member number to its own hostname and assigns it sequentially as each switch joins the cluster. The number means the order in which the switch was added to the cluster. For example, a cluster command switch named eng-cluster could name the fifth cluster member eng-cluster-5.
If a switch has a hostname, it retains that name when it joins a cluster and when it leaves the cluster.
If a switch received its hostname from the cluster command switch, was removed from a cluster, was then added to a new cluster, and kept the same member number (such as 5), the switch overwrites the old hostname (such as eng-cluster-5) with the hostname of the cluster command switch in the new cluster (such as mkg-cluster-5). If the switch member number changes in the new cluster (such as 3), the switch retains the previous name (eng-cluster-5).
Regards,
GP

JMS/Queue cluster question

 Hi
 I have some very basic cluster questions on JMS Queues. Lets say Q1>I have 3 WLS
 in cluster. I create the queue in only WLS#1 - then all the other WLS (#2 and #3)
 should have a stub in their JNDI tree for the Queue which points to the Queue in
 #1 - right? Basically what I am trying to acheive is to have the queue in one server
 and all the other servers have a pointer to it - I beleive this is possible in WLS
 cluster - right??
 Q2> Is there any way a client to the queue running on a WLS can tell whether the
 Queue handle its using is local (ie in the same server) or remote. Is the API createQueue(./queuename)
 going to help here??
 Q3>Is there any way to create a Queue dynamically - I guess JMX is the answer -right?
 But I will take this question a bit further - lets say Q1 answer is yes. In this
 case if server #1 crashes - then #2 and #3 have no Queues. So if they try to create
 a replica of the Queue (as on server#1) - pointing to the same filestore - can they
 do it?? - I want only one of them to succed in creating the Queue and also the Queue
 should have all the data of the #1 Queue (1 to 1 replica).
 All I want is the concept of primary and secondary queue in a cluster. Go on using
 the primary queue - but if it fails use the 2ndry queue. Kind of HttpSession replication
 concept in clusters. My cluster purpose is more for failover rather than loadbalancing.
 TIA
 Anamitra


 Anamitra wrote:
 > Hi Tom
 > 7.0 is definitely an option for me. So lets take the scenarion on case of JMS cluster
 > and 7.0.
 >
 > I do not understand what u mean by HA framework?
 An HA framework is a third party product that can be used to automatically restart a failed server
 (perhaps on a new machine), and that will guarantee that the same server isn't started in two
 different places (that would be bad). There are few of these HA products, "Veritas" is one of
 them. Note that if you are using JMS file stores or transactions, both of which depend on the disk,
 you must make sure that the files are available on the new machine. One approach to this is to use
 what is known as a "dual-ported" disk.
 > If I am using a cluster of 3 WLS
 > 7.0 servers - as u have said I can create a distrubuted Queue with a fwd delay attribute
 > set to 0 if I have the consumer only in one server say server #1.
 > But still if the server #1 goes down u say that the Queues in server #2 and server
 > #3 will not have access to the messages which were stuck in the server #1 Queue when
 > it went down -right?
 Right, but is there a point in forwarding the messages to your consumer's destination if your
 application is down?
 If your application can tolerate it, you may wish to consider allowing multiple instances of it (one
 per physical destination). That way if something goes down, only those messages are out-of-business
 until the application comes back up...
 >
 >
 > Why cant the other servers see them - they all point to the same store right??
 > thanks
 > Anamitra
 >
 Again, multiple JMS servers can not share a store. Nor can multiple stores share a file. That will
 cause corruption. Multiple stores CAN share a database, but can't use the same tables in the
 database.
 Tom
 >
 > Tom Barnes <[email protected]> wrote:
 > >
 > >
 > >Anamitra wrote:
 > >
 > >> Hi
 > >> I have some very basic cluster questions on JMS Queues. Lets say Q1>I
 > >have 3 WLS
 > >> in cluster. I create the queue in only WLS#1 - then all the other WLS
 > >(#2 and #3)
 > >> should have a stub in their JNDI tree for the Queue which points to the
 > >Queue in
 > >> #1 - right?
 > >
 > >Its not a stub. But essentially right.
 > >
 > >> Basically what I am trying to acheive is to have the queue in one server
 > >> and all the other servers have a pointer to it - I beleive this is possible
 > >in WLS
 > >> cluster - right??
 > >
 > >Certainly.
 > >
 > >>
 > >> Q2> Is there any way a client to the queue running on a WLS can tell whether
 > >the
 > >> Queue handle its using is local (ie in the same server) or remote. Is
 > >the API createQueue(./queuename)
 > >> going to help here??
 > >
 > >That would do it. This returns the queue on the CF side of the established
 > >Connection.
 > >
 > >>
 > >> Q3>Is there any way to create a Queue dynamically - I guess JMX is the
 > >answer -right?
 > >> But I will take this question a bit further - lets say Q1 answer is yes.
 > >In this
 > >> case if server #1 crashes - then #2 and #3 have no Queues. So if they
 > >try to create
 > >> a replica of the Queue (as on server#1) - pointing to the same filestore
 > >- can they
 > >> do it??
 > >> - I want only one of them to succed in creating the Queue and also the
 > >Queue
 > >> should have all the data of the #1 Queue (1 to 1 replica).
 > >
 > >No. Not possible. Corruption city.
 > >Only one server may safely access a store at a time.
 > >If you have an HA framework that can ensure this atomicity fine, or are
 > >willing
 > >to ensure this manually then fine.
 > >
 > >>
 > >>
 > >> All I want is the concept of primary and secondary queue in a cluster.
 > >Go on using
 > >> the primary queue - but if it fails use the 2ndry queue. Kind of HttpSession
 > >replication
 > >> concept in clusters. My cluster purpose is more for failover rather than
 > >loadbalancing.
 > >
 > >If you use 7.0 you could use a distributed destination, with a high weight
 > >on the destination
 > >you want used most. Optionally, 7.0 will automatically forward messages
 > >from distr. dest
 > >members that have no consumers to those that do.
 > >
 > >In 6.1 you can emulate a distributed destination this way (from an upcoming
 > >white-paper):
 > >Approximating Distributed Queues in 6.1
 > >
 > >If you wish to distribute the destination across several servers in a cluster,
 > >use the distributed
 > >destination features built into WL 7.0. If 7.0 is not an option, you can
 > >still approximate a simple
 > >distributed destination when running JMS servers in a “single-tier”
 > configuration.
 > > Single-tier indicates
 > >that there is a local JMS server on each server that a connection factory
 > >is targeted at. Here is a
 > >typical scenario, where producers randomly pick which server and consequently
 > >which part of the
 > >distributed destination to produce to, while consumers in the form of MDBs
 > >are pinned to a particular
 > >destination and are replicated homogenously to all destinations:
 > >
 > >· Create JMS servers on multiple servers in the cluster. The servers will
 > >collectively host the
 > >distributed queue “A”. Remember, the JMS servers (and WL servers) must
 > >be named differently.
 > >
 > >· Configure a queue on each JMS server. These become the physical destinations
 > >that collectively become
 > >the distributed destination. Each destination should have the same name
 > >"A".
 > >
 > >· Configure each queue to have the same JNDI name “JNDI_A”, and also
 > take
 > >care to set the destination’s
 > >“JNDINameReplicated” parameter to false. The “JNDINameReplicated”
 > parameter
 > >is available in 7.0, 6.1SP3
 > >or later, or 6.1SP2 with patch CR061106.
 > >
 > >· Create a connection factory, and target it at all servers that have a
 > >JMS server with “A”.
 > >
 > >· Target the same MDB pool at each server that has a JMS server with destination
 > >“A”, configure its
 > >destination to be “JNDI_A”. Do not specify a connection factory URL
 > when
 > >configuring the MDB, as it can
 > >use the server’s default JNDI context that already contains the destination.
 > >
 > >· Producers look up the connection factory, create a connection, then a
 > >session as usual. Then producers
 > >look up the destination by calling javax.jms.QueueSession.createQueue(String).
 > > The parameter to
 > >createQueue requires a special syntax, the syntax is “./<queue name>”,
 > so
 > >“./A” works in this example.
 > >This will return a physical destination of the distributed destination that
 > >is local to the producer’s
 > >connection. This syntax is available on 7.0, 6.1SP3 or later, and 6.1SP2
 > >with patch CR072612.
 > >
 > >This design pattern allows for high availability, as if one server goes
 > >down, the distributed destination
 > >is still available and only the messages on that one server become unavailable.
 > > It also allows for high
 > >scalability as speedup is directly proportional to the number of servers
 > >on which the distributed
 > >destination is deployed.
 > >
 > >
 > >
 > >>
 > >> TIA
 > >> Anamitra
 > >
 > >
 > ><!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en">
 > ><html>
 > >Anamitra wrote:
 > ><blockquote TYPE=CITE>Hi
 > > I have some very basic cluster questions on JMS Queues. Lets say Q1>I
 > >have 3 WLS
 > > in cluster. I create the queue in only WLS#1 - then all the other WLS
 > >(#2 and #3)
 > > should have a stub in their JNDI tree for the Queue which points to
 > >the Queue in
 > > #1 - right?</blockquote>
 > >Its not a stub. But essentially right.
 > ><blockquote TYPE=CITE>Basically what I am trying to acheive is to have
 > >the queue in one server
 > > and all the other servers have a pointer to it - I beleive this is
 > >possible in WLS
 > > cluster - right??</blockquote>
 > >Certainly.
 > ><blockquote TYPE=CITE>
 > > Q2> Is there any way a client to the queue running on a WLS can tell
 > >whether the
 > > Queue handle its using is local (ie in the same server) or remote.
 > >Is the API createQueue(./queuename)
 > > going to help here??</blockquote>
 > >That would do it. This returns the queue on the
 > >CF side of the established Connection.
 > ><blockquote TYPE=CITE>
 > > Q3>Is there any way to create a Queue dynamically - I guess JMX is
 > >the answer -right?
 > > But I will take this question a bit further - lets say Q1 answer is
 > >yes. In this
 > > case if server #1 crashes - then #2 and #3 have no Queues. So if they
 > >try to create
 > > a replica of the Queue (as on server#1) - pointing to the same filestore
 > >- can they
 > > do it?? 
 > >- I want only one of them to succed in creating the Queue and also the
 > >Queue
 > > should have all the data of the #1 Queue (1 to 1 replica).</blockquote>
 > >No. Not possible. Corruption city.
 > > Only one server may safely access a store at a time.
 > > If you have an HA framework that can ensure this atomicity fine, or
 > >are willing
 > > to ensure this manually then fine.
 > ><blockquote TYPE=CITE>
 > >All I want is the concept of primary and secondary queue in a cluster.
 > >Go on using
 > > the primary queue - but if it fails use the 2ndry queue. Kind of HttpSession
 > >replication
 > > concept in clusters. My cluster purpose is more for failover rather
 > >than loadbalancing.</blockquote>
 > >If you use 7.0 you could use a distributed destination, with a high weight
 > >on the destination
 > > you want used most. Optionally, 7.0 will automatically
 > >forward messages from distr. dest
 > > members that have no consumers to those that do.
 > >In 6.1 you can emulate a distributed destination this way (from an
 > >upcoming white-paper):
 > > Approximating Distributed Queues in 6.1
 > >If you wish to distribute the destination across several servers
 > >in a cluster, use the distributed destination features built into WL 7.0.
 > >If 7.0 is not an option, you can still approximate a simple distributed
 > >destination when running JMS servers in a “single-tier” configuration.
 > >Single-tier indicates that there is a local JMS server on each server that
 > >a connection factory is targeted at. Here is a typical scenario,
 > >where producers randomly pick which server and consequently which part
 > >of the distributed destination to produce to, while consumers in the form
 > >of MDBs are pinned to a particular destination and are replicated homogenously
 > >to all destinations:
 > >· Create JMS servers on multiple servers in the cluster.
 > >The servers will collectively host the distributed queue “A”. Remember,
 > >the JMS servers (and WL servers) must be named differently.
 > >· Configure a queue on each JMS server. These become
 > >the physical destinations that collectively become the distributed destination.
 > >Each destination should have the same name "A".
 > >· Configure each queue to have the same JNDI name “JNDI_A”,
 > >and also take care to set the destination’s “JNDINameReplicated”
 > parameter
 > >to false. The “JNDINameReplicated” parameter is available in
 > >7.0, 6.1SP3 or later, or 6.1SP2 with patch CR061106.
 > >· Create a connection factory, and target it at all servers
 > >that have a JMS server with “A”.
 > >· Target the same MDB pool at each server that has a JMS server
 > >with destination “A”, configure its destination to be “JNDI_A”.
 > >Do not specify a connection factory URL when configuring the MDB, as it
 > >can use the server’s default JNDI context that already contains the destination.
 > >· Producers look up the connection factory, create a connection,
 > >then a session as usual. Then producers look up the destination by
 > >calling javax.jms.QueueSession.createQueue(String). The parameter
 > >to createQueue requires a special syntax, the syntax is “./<queue name>”,
 > >so “./A” works in this example. This will return a physical
 > >destination of the distributed destination that is local to the producer’s
 > >connection. This syntax is available on 7.0, 6.1SP3 or later,
 > >and 6.1SP2 with patch CR072612.
 > >This design pattern allows for high availability, as if one server
 > >goes down, the distributed destination is still available and only the
 > >messages on that one server become unavailable. It also allows
 > >for high scalability as speedup is directly proportional to the number
 > >of servers on which the distributed destination is deployed.
 > > 
 > > 
 > ><blockquote TYPE=CITE>
 > > TIA
 > > Anamitra</blockquote>
 > ></html>
 > >
 > >

Windows 2008 Cluster question on using a new cluster drive source from shrinking existing disk

I have a two node Windows 2008 R2 enterprise SP1 cluster. It has a basic cluster setup of one (Q:)quorum disk and data disk (E:) which is 2.7tb is size. This cluster is connected to a shared Dell Disk array.
My question is can I safely shrink the 2.7tb drive down and carve out a disk size of 500gb from the same disk and use for a new cluster disk resource. We want to install Globalscape SFTP software on this new disk for use as a cluster resource.
Will this work without crashing the cluster.
Thanks,
Gonzolean

Hi ,
Thank you for posting your issue in the forum.
I am trying to involve someone familiar with this topic to further look at this issue. There might be some time delay. Appreciate your patience.
Thank you for your understanding and support.
Best Regards,
Andy Qi
Andy Qi
TechNet Community Support

Basic iPhoto questions:

I have some Basic iPhoto questions before I start using the program:
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Thanks!!!!

kat.
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Object class deployment - Basic form question

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Adding Date/Time Field + X Number of Days - Basic Calculation Question

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Text
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Monday
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this should calculate DateTimeField1 + 1
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this should calculate DateTimeField1 + 2
Thursday
this should calculate DateTimeField1 + 3
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this should calculate DateTimeField1 + 4
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Sunday
this should calculate DateTimeField1 + 6
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Here an addition for you date field.
This FormCalc script in the exit:Event will check it the selected date is on a monday.
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var NewDate
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elseif (WeekDay eq 4) then
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elseif (WeekDay eq 6) then
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elseif (WeekDay eq 7) then
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else
          NewDate = Selection
endif
$ = Num2Date(NewDate, "EEE DD.MM.YYYY")
Hope this helps, too.

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I just replaced an older AirPort hub with a Time Capsule, and I'm puzzled about the status of 802.11n networking.
I only connect wirelessly to the Time Capsule with two core2duo machines (a MacBook and a MacBook Pro). The one older machine in the house with a pre-extreme AirPort card, a G5 iMac, is connected directly via ethernet. I had been under the impression that the MacBooks needed to be enabled for 802.11n use, but the Time Capsule disk does not appear to contain the 802.11n enabler (although this IS referenced in the opening ReadMe). Is there an enabler somewhere that I need to apply to these two machines? Is this automatically part of Leopard (as some things I've read have implied) or of something else? How can I determine that the machines really are enabled for 802.11n use?
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James A. Weston wrote:
I don't know how to test the so-called "speed" of a wireless network other than to use a stopwatch, but my understanding is that a mixed n/g/b network is only slowed down when a b or g client is actually using the network.
And one g client using the network would slow down n-client users but not all the way down to g speeds. In other words, the n network does not revert to a g network.
Assuming your understanding is correct, that answers the basic question I was asking. It also suggests that there's no reason for me to carefully turn off wireless networking on my iPhone whenever I'm home: it won't slow down network backups to Time Capsule unless I'm actually doing something significant on it.
Thanks.

Extremely Basic Questions

So basic, theY wouldn't return in the search. I'm assuming the two slots on top of my 8330 near the mute button are the speaker openingss...and the small hole on the bottom, kinda off-center is the microphone opening. Please lemme know if I'm wrong!
On the back of the phone below the camera lens...what is the silver square?

I believe the silver square is a tiny mirror for taking self portraits...sounds weird but its true.....

Extremely basic question

i'm not clear what apple tv is. how is it different than having a tv that can access netflix and the internet? or is it different than that?

think of the ATV as an extension of your iTunes library. it brings your media (movies, tv shows, music etc.) to your HDTV.
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JGG

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Hi, I'm new to this. I have some xmas and bday money and i need a laptop. I have two desktop PC's (one XP and one Vista) and have had PC's all my life. I feel like switching it up and giving macs a try, it would make my purchase more fun. I've done some research and i think i want the black macbook with 2 gigs of ram. Here are some questions i need answered before going much further.
1.) I notice that every 6 months new macbook models come out. I also noticed that the last three (at least) have been very similar in hardware. Is it common that the new macbook probably coming out in the summer will be unvieled at macworld? If there is a big difference i might wait, i don't want to get the last model in a product line. Id the difference is another slight processor speed increase i won't bother waiting. As far as i know this isn't available information yet, so i'm just looking for a 'usually they do/don't' type of response.
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3.) Are the Apple stores in the Best Buys independent from Best Buy, or are they the same? I would like to put the 900 or so dollars i can down on this and put the rest of my best buy card to pay off over the next few months.
4.) If they're the same, does anyone know if the apple computers fall under best buy's "no interest for blank months of purchases over black?"
thanks!

Hi Thomes08!
Welcome to Apple Discussions.
It sounds like you're in the process of making an excellent decision to go with a 2.2GHz "BlackBook" and up your RAM to 2.0GB. I think you'll be extremely pleased with your purchase.
1.) Unfortunately, these forums are not designed to be used as a means of product speculation. Matter of fact, it's against the Terms of Use (of these discussion pages) to speculate on upcoming product releases. We'll have to wait the 2-weeks for Mac World to see what comes out, there's no way to have any insight into the excitement that Steve's Keynote brings to technology.
2.) I'm a big fan of AppleCare, mostly because it ensures peace of mind over the reliability of my product for the 3-years that it'll serve as my primary machine. While, I've had multiple Macs last beyond 3-years, I also typically swap it out for the "latest and greatest." Especially with a portable and your student discount. The cost of APP for a MacBook is a relatively "no brainer" especially if you consider the cost (for parts & labor) of even the most basic repairs if the machine falls out of warranty.
3. I'm not entirely familiar with the logistics of the agreement that Apple has with Best Buy, so I'd rather not speculate. I do know that Apple also offers financing options through BML (Bill Me Later) and Juniper Bank, but I'm unfamiliar with the specifics of a split payment. Buying an Apple product through Best Buy still entitles you to all the same "benefits" of ownership, so there's no advantage (or disadvantage) to shop @ Best Buy.

Conventional Cluster questions (client reconect & sizing)

hi *,
i have studied the documentation of MQ 4.2 and i have a few particular questions about conventional cluster mode:
when i setup a cluster like this:
datacenter1                                           datacenter2
host1                                                    host2
broker1(master)                                     broker2(slave)
appserver1                                            appserver 2
consumer+producer for q1(persistent)     consumer & prod q1
consumer and producers are configured to take the local broker (nearest) as home broker (mq://localhost:7676,mq://otherdatacanterhost:7676) 1) what exactly is the impact if broker 1 (master) (and only broker 1 ) fails ,besides the data that was in transit on this broker) is not available ? what will i not be able to?
2) when point one takes place (broker 1 fails) consumer & producers of appserver 1 will switch to broker 2 right? when broker 1 comes up again will the clients on appserver1 somewhen try to switch to their homebroker again ? somewhen?
3) since datacenter 1 + 2 are seperated geographically what delay is acceptable for JMQ to be between brokers? or how do they communicate in particular?
4) sizing: on our current STCMS JMS implementation we do have a traffic of
~ 1 500 000 messages / day
ranging from 0k -- 100 000 k payload
distributed over 1000 JMS queues distributed over
8 STCMS JMS Servers (2 servers for every business domain ( 1 warehouse, 2 finance...))
would it be feasible to just create one cluster including 1 master broker with 8 cluster broker members (servers)
setup like this?
host1                                                              host2
appserver warehouse1                                        appserver warehouse2
appserver finance1                                             appserver finance2
appserver otherbusiness1                                   appserver otherbusiness2
appserver otherotherbusiness1                            appserver otherotherbusiness2
master broker (does basically nothing but mastering is this needed to be standalone doing nothg but admin tasks?)
broker warehouse1                                             broker warehouse2
broker finance1                                                  broker finance2
broker otherbusniess1                                        broker otherbusiness2
broker otherotherbusiness1                                 broker otherotherbusniess2
e.g.
broker warehouse 1 basicallly speaks to appserver warehouse 1 maybe to appserver warehouse 2 in failover cases seldomly interroutes messages to other brokers e.g. finance 1 or finance 2 or otherbusniess 1
broker finance basicallly speaks to appserver finance1 (failover appsrv finnance2) seldomly interroutes messages to other brokers e.g. warehouse1 or warehouse2

Basic airport question

I have very basic question: I connect to my home network wirelessly with a linksys router and cable modem. But the speed is very slow. If I turn off airport and connect to the router, the connection is about twice as fast as using airport. I've had my mac about two years, and maybe I need to update the software or hard ware, but don't know what I need.
When I looked online at the support page, it showed actual hardware (looked like white routers, I guess), which I don't have. I presume I have the airport card, but I don't have a separate apple hardware thing like was shown on the apple site. so I don't really know WHAT I have. When I looked at the version on my airport menu, it showed airport version 427.1.1, firmware 429.6.0, extreme driver 405.1.0, admin util 420.31.0, setup 420.17.0
Can anybody help me?
Thanks, pat

miamigrad wrote:
I have very basic question: I connect to my home network wirelessly with a linksys router and cable modem. But the speed is very slow. If I turn off airport and connect to the router, the connection is about twice as fast as using airport. I've had my mac about two years, and maybe I need to update the software or hard ware, but don't know what I need.
With wireless, is it's hard to troubleshoot air. If your wireless connection is slower than your wired connection, I'd suggest starting with the router. How old is it? Is it possible that it is only 802.11b compliant? If so, you can get a new one that is 802.11g or even 11.n. now as the prices are dropping on those. I would log into it anyway and check the settings. If 802.11g is available and not selected, change it.
Are you in close range of the router when you are using wireless? Are other wireless devices connecting simultaneously? I guess it could be possible that wired takes priority over wireless in terms of how routers work, but I really don't have any idea. Maybe someone else knows about that. But as always with anything that isn't acting up to par, I would repair permissions, repair hard drive, (I don't even bother to verify, just repair) and if that doesn't fix it, then create a new user account, log in to it and compare with your regular user account.
Also the white hardware you saw on the support site, is either the airport extreme base station or express base station, which essentially is a router with print sharing and music sharing. To my knowledge, it has no firewall built in and costs way more than a plain wireless router which is easier to set up. In other words, you don't need one for your wireless connection.

SELECT query sometimes runs extremely slowly - UNDO question

Hi,
The Background
We have a subpartitioned table:
CREATE TABLE TAB_A
RUN_ID           NUMBER                       NOT NULL,
COB_DATE         DATE                         NOT NULL,
PARTITION_KEY    NUMBER                       NOT NULL,
DATA_TYPE        VARCHAR2(10),
START_DATE       DATE,
END_DATE         DATE,
VALUE            NUMBER,
HOLDING_DATE     DATE,
VALUE_CURRENCY   VARCHAR2(3),
NAME             VARCHAR2(60),
PARTITION BY RANGE (COB_DATE)
SUBPARTITION BY LIST (PARTITION_KEY)
SUBPARTITION TEMPLATE
(SUBPARTITION GROUP1 VALUES (1) TABLESPACE BROIL_LARGE_DATA,
   SUBPARTITION GROUP2 VALUES (2) TABLESPACE BROIL_LARGE_DATA,
   SUBPARTITION GROUP3 VALUES (3) TABLESPACE BROIL_LARGE_DATA,
   SUBPARTITION GROUP4 VALUES (4) TABLESPACE BROIL_LARGE_DATA,
   SUBPARTITION GROUP5 VALUES (DEFAULT) TABLESPACE BROIL_LARGE_DATA
PARTITION PARTNO_03 VALUES LESS THAN
(TO_DATE(' 2008-07-22 00:00:00', 'SYYYY-MM-DD HH24:MI:SS', 'NLS_CALENDAR=GREGORIAN'))
( SUBPARTITION PARTNO_03_GROUP1 VALUES (1),
    SUBPARTITION PARTNO_03_GROUP2 VALUES (2),
    SUBPARTITION PARTNO_03_GROUP3 VALUES (3),
    SUBPARTITION PARTNO_03_GROUP4 VALUES (4),
    SUBPARTITION PARTNO_03_GROUP5 VALUES (DEFAULT) ),
PARTITION PARTNO_01 VALUES LESS THAN
(TO_DATE(' 2008-07-23 00:00:00', 'SYYYY-MM-DD HH24:MI:SS', 'NLS_CALENDAR=GREGORIAN'))
( SUBPARTITION PARTNO_01_GROUP1 VALUES (1),
    SUBPARTITION PARTNO_01_GROUP2 VALUES (2),
    SUBPARTITION PARTNO_01_GROUP3 VALUES (3),
    SUBPARTITION PARTNO_01_GROUP4 VALUES (4),
    SUBPARTITION PARTNO_01_GROUP5 VALUES (DEFAULT) ),
PARTITION PARTNO_02 VALUES LESS THAN
(TO_DATE(' 2008-07-24 00:00:00', 'SYYYY-MM-DD HH24:MI:SS', 'NLS_CALENDAR=GREGORIAN'))
( SUBPARTITION PARTNO_02_GROUP1 VALUES (1),
    SUBPARTITION PARTNO_02_GROUP2 VALUES (2),
    SUBPARTITION PARTNO_02_GROUP3 VALUES (3),
    SUBPARTITION PARTNO_02_GROUP4 VALUES (4),
    SUBPARTITION PARTNO_02_GROUP5 VALUES (DEFAULT) ),
PARTITION PARTNO_OTHER VALUES LESS THAN (MAXVALUE)
( SUBPARTITION PARTNO_OTHER_GROUP1 VALUES (1),
    SUBPARTITION PARTNO_OTHER_GROUP2 VALUES (2),
    SUBPARTITION PARTNO_OTHER_GROUP3 VALUES (3),
    SUBPARTITION PARTNO_OTHER_GROUP4 VALUES (4),
    SUBPARTITION PARTNO_OTHER_GROUP5 VALUES (DEFAULT) )
CREATE INDEX TAB_A_IDX ON TAB_A
(RUN_ID, COB_DATE, PARTITION_KEY, DATA_TYPE, VALUE_CURRENCY)
LOCAL;The table is subpartitioned as each partition typically has 135million rows in it.
Overnight, serveral runs occur that load data into this table (the partitions are rolled over daily, such that the oldest one is dropped and a new one created. Stats are exported from the oldest partition prior to being dropped and imported to the newly created partition. The oldest partition once the partition has been created has it's stats analyzed).
Data loads can load anything from 200 rows to 20million rows into the table, with most of the rows ending up in the Default subpartition. Most of the runs that load a larger set of rows have been set up to add into one of the other 4 subpartitions.
We then run a process to extract data from the table that gets put into a file. This is a two step process (due to Oracle completely picking the wrong execution plan and us not being able to rewrite the query in such a way that it'll pick the right path up by itself!):
1. Identify all the unique currencies
2. Update the (dynamic) sql query to add a CASE clause into the select clause based on the currencies identified in step 1, and run the query.
Step 1 uses this query:
SELECT DISTINCT value_currency
FROM            tab_a
WHERE           run_id = :b3 AND cob_date = :b2 AND partition_key = :b1;and usually finishes this within 20 minutes.
The problem
Occasionally, this simple query runs over 20 minutes (I don't think we've ever seen it run to completion on these occurrences, and I've certainly seen it take over 3 hours before we killed it, for a run where it would normally complete in 2 or 3 minutes), which we've now come to recognise as it "being stuck". The execution path it takes is the same as when it runs normally, there are no unusual wait events, and no unusual wait times. All in all, it looks "normal" except for the fact that it's taking forever (tongue-in-cheek!) to run. When we kill and rerun, the execution time returns to normal. (We've sent system state dumps to Oracle to be analyzed, and they came back with "The database is doing stuff, can't see anything wrong")
We've never been able to come up with any explanation before, but the same run has failed consistently for the last three days, so I managed to wangle a DBA to help me investigate it further.
After looking through the ASH reports, he proposed a theory that the problem was it was having to go to the UNDO to retrieve results, and that this could explain the massive run time of the query.
I looked at the runs and agreed that UNDO might have been used in that particular instance of the query, as another run had loaded data into the table at the same time it was being read.
However, another one of the problematic runs had not had any inserts (or updates/deletes - they don't happen in our process) during the reading of the data, and yet it had taken a long time too. The ASH report showed that it too had read from UNDO.
My question
I understand from this link: http://asktom.oracle.com/pls/asktom/f?p=100:11:0::::P11_QUESTION_ID:44798632736844 about how Selects may generate REDO, but I don't see why UNDO would possibly be generated by a select. Does anyone know of a situation where a select would end up looking through UNDO, even though no inserts/updates/deletes had taken place on the table/index it was looking at?
Also, does the theory that having to look through the UNDO (currently UNDO ts is 50000MB, in case that's relevant) causing queries to take an extremely long time hold water? We're on 10.2.0.3
Message was edited by:
Boneist
Ok, having carried on searching t'internet, I can see that it's maybe Delayed Block Cleanout that's causing the UNDO to be referenced. Even taking that into account, I can't see why going back to the UNDO to be told to commit the change to disk could slow the query down that much? What waits would this show up as, if any?

Since you're on 10.2 and I understand that you use
the statistics of the "previous" content for the
partition that you are now loading (am I right?) you
have to be very careful with the 10g optimizer. If
the statistics tell the optimizer that the values
that you're querying for are sufficiently
out-of-range this might change the execution plan
because it estimates that only a few or no rows will
be returned. So if the old statistics do not fit the
new data loaded in terms of column min/max values
then this could be a valid reason for different
execution plans for some executions (depending on the
statistics of the old partition and the current
values used). Your RUN_ID is a good candidate I guess
as it could be ever increasing... If the max value of
the old partition is sufficiently different from the
current value this might be the cause.
Do you actually use bind variables for that
particular statement? Then we have in addition bind
variable peeking and potentially statement re-using
to consider.
I would prefer literals instead of bind variables or
do you encounter parse issues?Yes, that query runs as part of a procedure and uses bind variables (well, pl/sql variables!). We are aware that because of the histograms that get produced, the stats are not as good as we'd like. I'm wondering if analyzing the partition would be the best way to go, only that means analysing the entire partition, not just the subpartition, I guess? But if other inserts are taking place at the same time, having several analyzes taking place won't help the speed of inserting, or won't it matter?
Do you have the "default" 10g statistics gathering
job active? This could also explain why you get
different execution plans at different execution
times. If the job determines that the statistics of
some of your partitions are stale then it will
attempt to gather statistics even if you already have
statistics imported/generated.No, we turned that off. The stats do not change when we rerun the query - we guess there is some sort of contention taking place, possibly when reading from the UNDO, although I would expect that to show up in the waits - it doesn't appear to though.
Data loads can load anything from 200 rows to
20million rows into the table, with most of therows
ending up in the Default subpartition. Most of the
runs that load a larger set of rows have been setup
to add into one of the other 4 subpartitions.
I'm not sure about above description. Do most of the
rows end up in the default subpartition (most rows in
default partition) or do the larger sets load into
the other 4 ones... (most rows in the non-default
partitions)?Sorry, I mean that the loads that load say 20million + rows at a time have a specified subpartition to go into (defined via some config. We had to make up a "partition key" in order to do this as there is nothing in the data that lends itself to the subpartition list, unfortunately - the process determines which subpartition to load to/extract from via a config table), but this applies to not many of the runs. So, the majority of the runs (with fewer rows) go into the default partition.
The query itself scans the index, not the table, doing partition pruning, etc.
The same SQL_ID doesn't mean it's the same plan. So
are you 100% sure that the plans where the same? I
could imagine (see above) that the execution plans
might be different.The DBA looking at it said that the plans were the same, and I have no reason to doubt him. Also, the session browser in Toad shows the same explain plan in the "Current Statement" tab for normal and abnormal runs and is as follows:
Time     IO Cost     CPU Cost     Cardinality     Bytes     Cost     Plan
                         6     SELECT STATEMENT ALL_ROWS
4 1     4 4     4 82,406     4 1     4 20     4 6          4 HASH UNIQUE
3 1     3 4     3 28,686     3 1     3 20     3 5               3 PARTITION RANGE SINGLE Partition #: 2
2 1     2 4     2 28,686     2 1     2 20     2 5                    2 PARTITION LIST SINGLE Partition #: 3
1 1     1 4     1 28,686     1 1     1 20     1 5                         1 INDEX RANGE SCAN INDEX TAB_A_IDX Access Predicates: "RUN_ID"=:B3 AND "COB_DATE"=:B2 AND "PARTITION_KEY"=:B1 Partition #: 3
How do you perform your INSERTs? Are overlapping
loads and queries actually working on the same
(sub-)partition of the table or in different ones? Do
you use direct-path inserts or parallel dml?
Direct-path inserts as far I know create "clean"
blocks that do not need a delayed block cleanout.We insert using a select from an external table - there's a parallel hint in there, but I think that is often ignored (at least, I've never seen any hint of sessions running in parallel when looking at the session browser, and I've seen it happen in one of our dev databases, so...). As mentioned above, rows could get inserted into different partitions, although the majority of runs load into the default subpartition. In practise, I don't think more than 3 or 4 loads take place at the same time.
If you loading and querying different partitions then
your queries shouldn't have to check for UNDO except
for the delayed block cleanout case.
You should check at least two important things:
- Are the execution plans different for the slow and
normal executions?
- Get the session statistics (logical I/Os, redo
generated) for the normal and slow ones in order to
see and compare the amount of work that they
generate, and to find out how much redo your query
potentially generated due to delayed block cleanout.It's difficult to do a direct comparison that's exact, due to other work going on in the database, and the abnormal query taking far longer than normal, but here is the ASH comparison between a normal run (1st) and our abnormal run (2nd) (both taken over 90 mins, and the first run may well include other runs that use the same query in the results):
              Exec Time of DB    Exec Time (ms)      #Exec/sec   CPU Time (ms)   Physical Reads / Exec #Rows Processed
              Time                / Exec             (DB Time)    / Exec                                 / Exec
SQL Id        1st 2nd   Diff    1st     2nd         1st 2nd    1st    2nd      1st       2nd          1st 2nd         Multiple Plans   SQL Text
gpgaxqgnssnvt 3.54 15.76 12.23   223,751 1,720,297   0.00 0.00   11,127 49,095   42,333.00 176,565.00   2.67 4.00        No               SELECT DISTINCT VALUE_CURRENCY...

Extremely basic cluster questions

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