Very Big Table (36 Indexes, 1000000 Records)

Question

Hi
I have a very big table (76 columns, 1000000 records), these 76 columns include 36 foreign key columns , each FK has an index on the table, and only one of these FK columns has a value at the same time while all other FK have NULL value. All these FK columns are of type NUMBER(20,0).
I am facing performance problem which I want to resolve taking in consideration that this table is used with DML (Insert,Update,Delete) along with Query (Select) operations, all these operations and queries are done daily. I want to improve this table performance , and I am facing these scenarios:
1- Replace all these 36 FK columns with 2 columns (ID, TABLE_NAME) (ID for master table ID value, and TABLE_NAME for master table name) and create only one index on these 2 columns.
2- partition the table using its YEAR column, keep all FK columns but drop all indexes on these columns.
3- partition the table using its YEAR column, and drop all FK columns, create (ID,TABLE_NAME) columns, and create index on (TABLE_NAME,YEAR) columns.
Which way has more efficiency?
Do I have to take "master-detail" relations in mind when building Forms on this table?
Are there any other suggestions?
I am using Oracle 8.1.7 database.
Please Help.

Answer 1

Hi everybody
I would like to thank you for your cooperation and I will try to answer your questions, but please note that I am a developer in the first place and I am new to oracle database administration, so please forgive me if I did any mistakes.
Q: Have you gathered statistics on the tables in your database?
A: No I did not. And if I must do it, must I do it for all database tables or only for this big table?
Q:Actually tracing the session with 10046 level 8 will give some clear idea on where your query is waiting.
A: Actually I do not know what you mean by "10046 level 8".
Q: what OS and what kind of server (hardware) are you using
A: I am using Windows2000 Server operating system, my server has 2 Intel XEON 500MHz + 2.5GB RAM + 4 * 36GB Hard Disks(on RAID 5 controller).
Q: how many concurrent user do you have an how many transactions per hour
A: I have 40 concurrent users, and an average 100 transaction per hour, but the peak can goes to 1000 transaction per hour.
Q: How fast should your queries be executed
A: I want the queries be executed in about 10 to 15 seconds, or else every body here will complain. Please note that because of this table is highly used, there is a very good chance to 2 or more transaction to exist at the same time, one of them perform query, and the other perform DML operation. Some of these queries are used in reports, and it can be long query(ex. retrieve the summary of 50000 records).
Q:please show use the explain plan of these queries
A: If I understand your question, you ask me to show you the explain plan of those queries, well, first, I do not know how , an second, I think it is a big question because I can not collect all kind of queries that have been written on this table (some of them exist in server packages, and the others performed by Forms or Reports).