This section includes the following topics:
The Dashboard tab (displayed in provides an overview of the information displayed in the other Precise for DB2 tabs. It lets you quickly identify the most active database partitions which are most likely to benefit from a tuning operation.
The Dashboard tab lets you identify the top resource consumers of your DB2 database partitions within the selected time frame. This will guide you in your search for the root cause of a problem. You can also select a database partition and watch its activity over the last hours, days, or months.
The Dashboard tab provides answers to questions like: "Are all my DB2 database partitions up and running?"; "Which database partition is consuming the most resources?"; "Which application is consuming the most resources for the specified database partition and across all database partitions?", “Is the problem related to a slow I/O, a low hit-ratio, a memory shortage, high CPU consumption, or another specific problem?”
The All row in the All DB2 Databases table located in the Main area (left pane) displays the average availability of all database partitions. When you select the All row, a summary of the activities of all the database partitions and a comparison of application identifiers is displayed in the tab views in the Database Details area (right pane).
If you are working with SAP and ERP support is installed, the Dashboard tab displays information on DB2 activity in relation to the ERP application and users, and specific information on executed views and transactions.
When an extension for ERP is installed, the Precise for DB2 Collector divides DB2 activities into several groups, called work types.
Technology | Work type |
---|---|
SAP Dialog | Activities generated from the SAP Dialog work process. |
SAP Update | Activities generated from the SAP Update work process. |
SAP Spool | Activities generated from the SAP Spool work process. |
SAP Background | Activities generated from the SAP Background work process. |
All databases, including those with only one partition, are referred to as database partitions. In the Multipartition column, databases with only one partition will have a value = ‘No’. |
See “Precise for DB2 basics” on page 14, “Getting current application information” on page 30, “Examining performance over time” on page 39, “Examining the relationship between database objects” on page 67, “Analyzing Statement plans” on page 73, “Simulating the effect of changes” on page 82, and “Examining DB2 database statistics” on page 86.
Figure 1 Precise for DB2 Dashboard tab
The Dashboard tab is divided into two areas—the Main area and the Details area. The Main area lists all the databases or database partitions that are monitored by Precise for DB2. The Details area provides comparative information regarding the selected database partition.
You can filter the information shown in the Details area so that only the contribution of certain entities is included. See “Filtering data” on page 19.
The following table displays information on the general structure of the Dashboard tab.
Table 1 Elements of the Dashboard tab
Element | Description | |
---|---|---|
Time Frame | Allows selecting the time frame we want to work with. The time frame influences all counters displayed (e.g., executions, I/O time). | |
Filter On/Off | Allows filtering the displayed information according to user-defined conditions. | |
Tab heading | Displays All DB2 databases. | |
Main area | Each row displays a single database or a single database partition. It displays all databases/partitions which belong to the current tab. Also displayed is a summary row (All). | |
Details area heading | Displays either a database partition and the name of the server it is running on, or all databases running on all servers.
| |
Details area | Displays graphs and tables describing the row selected in the Main area. | |
Details area tabs | Allows switching between the different views (Overview, Application) |
The database table displayed in the Main area lists all the databases or partitions that are monitored by Precise for DB2. Each row corresponds to a database or database partition. The All row displays the average activity and the average availability (%) of all database partitions.
The following table displays information on the different database partitions in the application.
Table 2 Database partitions table
Column name | Description | Sortable | |
---|---|---|---|
Status | Icon representing the status of the collector (running, stopped, starting, etc.) | No | |
Server | Name of the server on which the database partition is running. | Yes | |
Database partition | <instance>.<database>[.number] | Yes | |
In DB2 (summed) | Stacked bar of 'In DB2' data with regular 3 display modes. Information limited to time frame. | Yes | |
Executions | # of statements executed in time frame.
| Yes | |
Total lock time | Time period this database partition spent in lock wait. | Yes | |
Multi-partitioned | Icon representing if this is part of a multi-partitioned installation or not. | Yes | |
Availability | % of availability (0-100) | Yes | |
Catalog partition | Name of the database partition (see format above) which contains the database catalog. For single partition, this column will be left blank. | Yes |
When you open the Dashboard tab, only the first six columns are displayed. To view additional columns (such as: Executions and Last Update columns), use the left and right arrows to the right of the column titles. |
The Details area displays information on the database or partition selected in the Main area. It has two tabs: an Overview tab and an Application tab.
If you select the All row, the information displayed reflects the average availability of all Database Partitions. |
The Overview tab displays information in three views:
This graph displays the database partition In DB2 activity over time, split according to normal In DB2 division.
The following table describes the different elements of the Top consumers table.
Table 3 Top consumers table
Column name | Description | Sortable |
---|---|---|
Launch | Launch to the activity's statement or object. You will see activity over time. From a statement, launch to the SQL tab. From an Index or Table, Launch to the Activity tab. | No |
Consumer Type | Table, Index or Statement. | Yes |
Text | Table name, index name or statement unformatted text. | Yes |
In DB2 (summed) | In DB2 time consumed by the object during the time period. | Yes |
% | % (0-100) representing the percentage of time (of the total In DB2 time of the database partition) spent on that statement or object. | Yes |
Executions | Total statement executions within the selected time frame. Available for statements, tables, and indexes. | Yes |
The Bufferpool activity view displays the activity of each bufferpool in the system.
When clicking the view’s heading (Bufferpool activity), we launch to activity and view the comparison screen of the bufferpools, at the database partition level.
The following table describes the different elements of the Bufferpool activity table.
Table 4 Bufferpool activity table
Column name | Description | Sortable |
---|---|---|
Launch | Launch to activity's bufferpool. You will be able to see the bufferpool's activity over time. | No |
Name | The bufferpool name. | Yes |
Total I/O time | A stacked bar of I/O time break into the following:
| Yes |
Hit ratio | Bufferpool hit ratio. | Yes |
Size | Bufferpool size (in MB). | Yes |
Bufferpool size (in MB) | Bufferpool page size. | Yes |
Response Time (Avg) | Bufferpool’s average response time. | No |
Logical Read | Logical reads. | Yes |
Total I/O Count | Bufferpool’s total I/O count, broken down into the following:
| Yes |
Physical Reads | Total physical reads. | Yes |
Pages | Number of pages. | Yes |
The Application tab displays information in three views:
All views share the same columns headings. The following table describes the different elements of these tables.
Table 5 Application tab tables
Column name | Description | Sortable |
---|---|---|
Program | Name of the program. | Yes |
In DB2 (summed) | The In DB2 view displays a stacked bar graph on the In DB2 resource consumption over time, for the selected time frame, broken down into the In DB2 application states. | Yes |
% | Percentage of time the program took out of the total In DB2 time for the selected database partition. | Yes |
Executions | Number of program executions. | Yes |
Applications | Number of applications opened by the program. | Yes |
If you are working with SAP and ERP support is installed, the Application tab is named SAP instead, and the entities displayed are Work Types, Transactions, and Modules. |
When you open the Dashboard tab and select a row on the Main area (left pane) and then click on another tab, the target tab is opened in the context of the selected database partition.
You can identify a performance problem by doing one or more of the following:
Precise for DB2 enables you to determine which are the most resource-consuming database partitions, indicating a potential performance problem.
The following example shows how to determine which database partition consumes the most resources. This example can show the top resource-consuming database partition, as measured by the total time spent executing In DB2.
To identify the most resource-consuming database partition
Precise for DB2 enables you to determine which are the most resource-consuming statements and objects (tables and indexes), as measured by the total time spent executing In DB2, indicating a potential performance problem.
The following example shows how to identify the top consumers that are the most resource-consuming statements and objects.
To identify the top resource consumers (statements and objects)
In case of a heavy table or index directly launch in context to the Activity tab to see which statements were using the heavy object.
Precise for DB2 enables you to determine which are the most activated buffer pools. It also presents additional statistics-related information on each buffer pool, such as hit ratio, average response time etc.
The following example shows how to identify the top active buffer pools. To identify the top active buffer pools
A look at the Applications tab quickly helps you identify the top resource-consuming entities. The following example shows how to identify the top resource-consuming entities.
To identify the top resource consumers in various entities