Cyclical Database Resource Requirements - Oracle

User needs often cycle over the course of time, based on business needs, such that some users will not find the database to be inaccessible until there is a massive amount of activity in a certain area, and then suddenly there are not enough resources.

Accounts Receivable, at Horatio's Woodscrews, has this problem. As the end of each month comes to a close, they have to close out the previous month's accounts and run massive reports on the status of all opening and closing accounts. This month-end processing sends the database processing needs of the AR department through the roof—but only for a week or so, before it settles back into a more routine usage pattern.

At the same time, Human Resources typically finds its peak at the lead-up to the end of the month, as it processes employee hours, salaries, and payments. They will need the most resources, then, at a different time than the AR department.

The reporting of these two groups always affects the Order Entry group, as they have a relatively steady database resource usage pattern over the entire course of the month. However, as the summer approaches, the hardware stores begin to increase the stock of woodscrews, and so orders will steadily increase as the summer approaches, and then steadily decrease as weather cools.

What Reports Were Those, Exactly?

The problem with attempting to allocate the correct resources to the correct applications at the correct time of month or year is that often it is nearly impossible to get trended data on usage over time.

The DBA at Horatio's Woodscrews is faced with this dilemma. The different application groups have been complaining about the performance of their reports at different times, but the DBA has not been able to get accurate data on which problem reports or application batch processes are truly in need of more resources. He's been reading up on his performance tuning techniques, but the month is coming to an end again, and he can already hear his pager beginning to beep.