dump & reload ??

[Rob]

hi,

when we were using Progress 7, we did a dump&reload on our databases every year.
we have now upgraded to version 9 and wonder if dump&reload is still the preferred way to optimize the databases & indexes ??

any info or recommendation on that ??

 

[TomBascom]

Dumping and loading can still have value.

But, as always, "it depends".

If you have significant processes that access data in a particular order and if your record creation and update process causes records to become logically scattered then dumping and loading will improve performance for the processes that access data in that order. (That was a mouthful...)

If, however, more than one significant record ordering exists in your application reordering that improves some processes may hurt others.

Also... in v9+ you can use storage areas to concentrate data into homogenous data blocks by creating areas that only have a single table in them. This brings many of the advantages of a dump and load to your application and can be much more resilient than dumping & loading all by itself. See:

http://www.greenfieldtech.com/articles/storage_areas.shtml

for more info on that.

In OE 10 type 2 areas take it a step father by explicitly making blocks homogenous and allocating them from disk in larger units.

 

[Rob]

thanks for the info !

we did the d & r purely for 'ceaning up' reasons. we regularly archive some of the 'history' tables and did a d&r once a year to reclaim disk space, fill up the gaps and reindex.

we will definitely have a look at the storage areas - it looks like we are already using them, probably advised by QAD (we are running MFG/Pro eB).

 

[hooichia82]

Hi Rob,

we are running MFG-Pro eB too. Is that means that in order to claim back the disk space, I will need to do dumping & reloading? If I just doing archieve & delete without doing dumpling & reloading, will the PROGRESS use back the deleted record spaces for new records?

Thanks.

 

[taqvia]

It is always advisable to perform a dump/load of database expecially if the scatter factor is large. dump and reload will reduce the scatter factor and in many situation it is found that it significantly improves the performance . it is better to run a dbanalys report to check wether a d&l is required for your database or not,check for the fragmentation,block usage data which will give a fair idea wether to do d&l

AT

 

[ramyapriyacsit]

Hi

Please let me know is there any difference between Prorest, probkup verses dump and load using proutil command.

Thanks in advance.

 

[TomBascom]

Yes, they are completely different.

PROBKUP & PROREST are for backing up and restoring your database. Most people backup every day (and hope to never restore).

Dumping and loading is something that you do to reorganize your database. You dump and load when you need to -- such as when upgrading to new version of Progress or if you want to change things like your db blocks size or the rows per block of a storage area or if you feel that your data has become more "scattered" than you would like it to be.

 

[ramyapriyacsit]

ok thank very much .

regards,
ramya

 

[hooichia82]

Hi Taqvia,

Thank you for your reply.
But, how to perform the dbanalys report?

 

[Casper]

proutil /path/to/database/databasename -C dbanalys > dbanalys.lg

Read up in the Progress documentation: http://www.psdn.com/library/kbcategory.jspa?categoryID=1916

Getting started: Database Essentials will be a good starting point.
Furthermore you will find that the dtabase administration manual is your friend

HTH,

Casper.

 

[hooichia82]

Hi Casper,

Thank you for your info. I will try it out.

It's my pleasure to join "ProgressTalk.com" and know all of you. All of you are so helpful

Thanks guys!