International Business Machines Corporation

Gary Valentin

Sam Sampson Lightstone

Guy Maring Lohman

Adam J Storm

Matthew Albert Huras

Eyal Gordon

Ronen Grosman

Daniel Costante Zilio

Ran Fashchik

Aviad Zlotnick

Bulent Abali

Michael Edward Factor

Robert Akira Kubo

Calisto Paul Zuzarte

Roger C Raphael

Ian R Finlay

Orit Nissan-Messing

Thomas Charles Jarvis

Kevin Scott Beyer

Maheswaran Surendra

Paul Miller Bird

David Everett Simmen

Ting Yu Leung

Christian Marcelo Garcia-Arellano

Roberta Jo Cochrane

Xun Xue

Paul Sherwood Taylor

Linda Ann Riedle

Yixin Diao

Mohammad Banikazemi

Michael Jeffrey Winer

Dan Edward Poff

Scott David Lashley

Daniele Costante Zilio

D Scott Guthridge

James W Arendt

David Tremaine

Catherine Suzanne McArthur

Randall William Horman

Kevin Leo Beck

Miroslaw Adam Flasza

James Liam Finnie

Markos Zaharioudakis

Hamid Pirahesh

Paul Michael Brett

Leo T M Lau

Robert T Berks

Lan Pham

Ziv Rafalovich

Elena Yerushalmi

Kit Man Cheung

Samuel S Lightstone

Nancy M Wei

A method for of accelerating database log hardening using specific per block data protection and damage control is provided. A per write specification is implemented to determine when database log data is mirrored synchronously or asynchronously. Synchronous mirroring is performed upon reaching a predetermined threshold, based on one or more parameters such as transaction value, both individual and cumulative, and the quantity of data written since the last synchronous mirroring. As data is added to the database log, it is written specifying asynchronous mirroring to the primary log file. Once a threshold is met, a write specifying synchronous mirroring is performed to both the primary and secondary log files, thereby hardening the log file in both primary and secondary storage subsystem.

Method for mirroring a log file by threshold driven synchronization

Methods and systems are provided for tuning memory allocated among a plurality of applications in a data processing system. In one implementation, the method includes generating memory benefit data for the plurality of applications, comparing the generated memory benefit data associated with each of the plurality of applications, and dynamically reallocating memory from one or more of the plurality of applications to one or more other of the plurality of applications based on the comparison. A method and system is also provided for tuning memory allocated among a plurality of individual memory consumers for a given application.

Method and apparatus for distributing memory in a data processing system

Method, device and computer program product for determining a characteristic of an identifiable component. The method includes: receiving identification information representative of an identity of components that belong to a group of components, determining at least one characteristic of an identifiable component in response to the received identification information, and performing at least one characteristic responsive operation. The device includes an identifiable component and a component characteristic determiner. The component characteristic determiner is adapted to receive identification information representative of an identity of components that belong to a group of components and to determine at least one characteristic of the identifiable component in response to a relationship between the received identification information and reference identification information. The device is adapted to perform at least one characteristic responsive information.

Device, method and computer program product readable medium for determining the identity of a component

Two methods (native and clone) are used for installing software, such as an operating system, on client system(s) booting from shared storage. The native installation method configures an interconnection network to create an exclusive communication zone between the client system and the shared storage system and installs the operating system on the client system using the exclusive communication zone. After the software is installed, the method terminates the exclusive communication zone. The clone installation method utilizes a point-in-time copy feature of the shared storage system to clone an operating system drive instantaneously. After the drive is cloned, it is logically attached to a new client and the operating system is customized for that client.

Method for installing operating system on remote storage: flash deploy and install zone

A method, system and computer program product for responding to error events are provided. The method includes: detecting a detected error event while executing a computer readable program; looking for a predefined response to the detected error event in a modifiable error event response data structure; validating the modifiable error event response data structure; and responding to the detected error event according to the predefined response if the modifiable error event response data structure is valid and if the modifiable error event response data structure includes the predefined response.

Device, method and computer program product for responding to error events

Provided are a method, system, and article of manufacture for the traversal of empty regions in a searchable data structure such as a table. A plurality of elements are allocated in logical storage, wherein the plurality of elements correspond to entries of the searchable data structure. An indicator is maintained corresponding to contiguously allocated empty elements in the plurality of elements. An operation is performed on the searchable data structure by avoiding the contiguously allocated empty elements.

Traversal of empty regions in a searchable data structure

In an information retrieval system, a query optimization method transforms maximum or minimum function aggregation predicates on a non-indexed column into a single sort function. The method evaluates the query to identify a table and a predicate equating a column of the table to a sub-query that applies a maximum or minimum aggregation function to the column to return an aggregate value for the column. The aggregate value is used for selecting rows from the table to produce a query result. A determination is then made whether an index has not been created using the column of the table. In response to these steps of evaluating and determining, the method reforms the query as a sort function on the column. The sort function scans the table once to provide the query result.

Information retrieval method for optimizing queries having maximum or minimum function aggregation predicates

The invention herein provides method and apparatus for managing attribute-tagged index entries contained in an index by assigning or tagging an index entry attribute indicator to a newly inserted index entry (that is, at the time when a key data value is inserted into the index, the key data value becomes a newly inserted index entry and an attribute indicator is tagged to the newly inserted index entry). The index entry can be placed anywhere within the index. Once a group of attribute-tagged index entries have been inserted into the index, the attribute identifiers can be switched off instantaneously (that is, the attribute associated with the attribute indicators is disabled).

Managing attributed-tagged index entries

A method, apparatus and article of manufacture, implementing the method, accesses rows in a range-clustered table in a database management system. A table stores data that is organized into rows and columns. At least one column is designated as a key column. A particular row in the table is accessed based on a relationship between a specified key value and a predetermined range of key values associated with the key column. The table has slots for storing rows, and the slots are organized in accordance with the values of the predetermined range.

Range-clustered tables in a database management system

The present invention is directed towards a diagnostic system for a database system. The diagnostic system includes a grouping module for assigning a grouping identifier to each query received by the database system; and a statistics collection module. The statistics collection module includes a query processing statistics module for obtaining processing statistics corresponding to each query; a group statistics compilation module for compiling processing statistics for each query by the query's grouping identifier; and group data storage for storing compiled processing statistics. A method is also disclosed for generating database diagnostic data.

Database diagnostic system and method

Memory balancing and optimization services (MBOS) control a size of a plurality of memory heaps, and a memory optimizer for allocating and de-allocating memory for a plurality of respective memory consumers. The MBOS may be instantiated within an application program such as a database management system providing services to memory consumers within the application. Alternatively, the MBOS may be instantiated within an operating system for providing services to memory consumers that are applications such as database management systems, e-commerce engines, operating systems, customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise resource planning (ERP), or supply chain management (SCM). Alternatively, an MBOS is instantiated within the operating system to provide services to applications and an MBOS is instantiated within each application to provide services to memory consumers within the application.

Memory balancing and optimization services

The invention herein provides method and apparatus, including software for determining a set of materialized views or indices of the contents or a subset of the contents of a database in a data processing system to be created for one or more users of the database. The method and apparatus provide method and means for evaluating a workload presented by a user to the database; evaluating the data processing system characteristics; evaluating the database characteristics; and, using the above evaluations for recommending a set of suitable materialized views or indices to the user. Another aspect of the invention, which may be used for a workload presented by a user of a database in a data processing system, provides method and apparatus, including software for determining a set of materialized views or indices of the contents or a subset of the contents of the database, by: generating a plurality of materialized view candidates from evaluation of the workload, data processing system characteristics and database characteristics; estimating statistics for the materialized view candidates such as the number of rows, row size, and column statistics; generating a plurality of potential index candidates by evaluating the workload, data processing system characteristics, database characteristics and the materialized view candidates; and, from the materialized view candidates and index candidates selecting a set of suitable materialized views and/or indices for submission to the user.

Method for recommending indexes and materialized views for a database workload

A system and method autonomically reallocate memory among buffer pools to permit quick access to data. A simulated buffer pool extension (SBPX) is created for each buffer pool in a set of buffer pools. Data victimized from a buffer pool is represented in the associated SBPX. Requests for data that is not resident in a buffer pool but is represented in the associated SBPX are tallied. Periodically, an expected efficiency benefit of increasing the capacity of each buffer pool is determined from the tallies. Memory is reallocated from the buffer pool with the lowest expected efficiency benefit having remaining reallocatable memory to the buffer pool with the highest expected efficiency benefit having remaining reallocatable memory, until either one or both of the buffer pools exhausts its reallocatable memory. This process is repeated until all reallocatable memory has been reallocated, until only one buffer pool with reallocatable memory remains, or until all buffer pools with remaining reallocatable memory have substantially the same expected efficiency benefit.

System and method for autonomically reallocating memory among buffer pools

A method for determining optimal database materializations utilizing a query optimizer in a database management system. The method takes one or more queries as inputs and using the query optimizer in the database management system generates a series of virtual materializations by materializing some subsets of the database. The virtual materializations are used to consider the relative performance benefits, i.e. cost-benefits, for the queries based on the various virtual materializations. If the query optimizer decides to use any of the materializations in its plan, then those materializations are recommended to the user, or created automatically for the user.

Method for determining optimal database materializations using a query optimizer

Growing community of inventors

Tel Aviv, Israel

Gary Valentin