Targetbase migrated their database from a 10gR2 RAC single database environment to two Exadata quarter rack systems over two months without changing any code. They saw significant performance improvements with most applications running faster. While stability was initially a concern, ongoing optimizations like compression have helped Targetbase support twice as many customers on the Exadata systems while using less storage space. Targetbase is now upgrading to a half rack and implementing Resource Manager and IORM to further improve performance during peak loads.

1. Targetbase and Exadata:
Looking Back at the Last 2 Years
Presented by: Brad Peek & Andy Colvin
August 14, 2012

2. About Enkitec
 Oracle-Centric Consulting Firm
 US
 UK
 Extensive Exadata Practice
 Education
 Migration
 Performance Review
 On Call Support

3. About Targetbase
 Direct Marketing Agency
 Pharmaceutical
 Automotive
 Utilities
 Consumer Goods
 Broad Range of Applications
 Informatica
 Unica
 SAS
 Business Objects

4. Targetbase 2+ Years Ago
 Previous Environment
 10gR2 RAC
 Single database
 Customer Base Growing
 5% month-over-month growth
 Needed to split customers
 Direct access
 Backup/Recovery

5. Enter Exadata!
 2 quarter rack systems
 Production, DR
 Don’t change the code!

6. Migration To Exadata
 Clients moved to Exadata one at a time
 Up and running in 2 months

7. First Impressions
 Speed!
 Most applications ran faster
 No code changes
 Stability was a concern early

8. Keeping the Ball Rolling
 Things work differently
 Full scans are your friend
 DW queries don’t need indexes
 Can’t drop them for OLTP

9. OLTP vs Data Warehouse
 Mixed workloads can be tricky
 Alter session
 set optimizer_index_cost_adj = 10000
 Used in certain cases to avoid hinting SQL
 Informatica source connections (not target)
 3rd party applications where you can’t get to the SQL

10. Ongoing Support
 Heavy use of compression
 OLTP compression
 HCC compression
 Client databases shrink
 Saves customers money
 Allows more customers on the rack
 1,027GB  635GB (29% reduction)
 1,839GB  1,310GB (38% reduction)

11. Targetbase Today
 Twice the customers from 2010
 Performance still holding steady
 Upgrading to half rack
 Existing quarter racks become disaster recovery
 Implementing Resource Manager and IORM to avoid
performance issues during extra busy times

12. Targetbase Today
[oracle@dm01db01 ~]$ asmcmd lsdg
State Type Rebal Sector Block AU Total_MB Free_MB Req_mir_free_MB Usable_file_MB Name
MOUNTED NORMAL N 512 4096 4194304 55296000 11495916 14601884 -1552984 DATA/
MOUNTED NORMAL N 512 4096 4194304 12259008 6467200 1931352 2267924 RECO/
MOUNTED NORMAL N 512 4096 4194304 894240 891552 81294 405129 SYSTEMDG/

13. Questions?
Contact Information: Andy Colvin
email - andy.colvin@enkitec.com
web - http://www.enkitec.com
twitter - @acolvin