Re: Crappy performance even though not swapping

Hello all:

I read the performance tips section of the documentation
and tried removing an index I had on the table.  Once I
did that, the performance seems to keep to the level
when my program first runs.

Here is my table:

CREATE TABLE "exemptions" (
    acct_num    varchar(13) not null,
    tax_district        char(3),
    exemption_code        char(3),
    exemption_description    varchar(50)
);

I had this index on it:
CREATE INDEX "exemptions_acct_num" on "exemptions" ("acct_num");

I can't create a unique index since there are repeat rows for
the account number when it has a different exemption code.

I am completely surprised by how much performance degredation
occurs with the index vs. without it.

Do unique indexes also have such a large impact on insert performance?

Will a non-unique index such as defined above help much with queries or
will the improvement be negligible?

Is there a better type of index to use?  The queries against this table
will almost always be looking to retrieve a set of rows by account number.

Thanks,
    Neil

--
Neil Aggarwal, (214)986-3533, www.JAMMConsulting.com
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-----Original Message-----
From: pgsql-novice-owner@postgresql.org
[mailto:pgsql-novice-owner@postgresql.org] On Behalf Of Neil Aggarwal
Sent: Tuesday, February 27, 2007 8:50 PM
To: pgsql-novice@postgresql.org
Subject: [NOVICE] Crappy performance even though not swapping

Hello:

I have a Java program that is trying to import over 8 million
rows from a text file.

When the program starts up, it runs fine, but after a while
it begins to crawl.

This is usually symptomatic of a machine that started swapping,
but take a look at the attached output from top.

I am using a LOT of memory, but the swap is still very
low.  I don't think the machine should be paging to disk.

The CPU states show that the cpus are spending most of their time
in an idle state.  The process list shows the postmaster and java
processes are less than 10 percent the CPU cycles.

Having said that, the load average is still about 2.

Any ideas what could be going on?

Thanks,
    Neil

--
Neil Aggarwal, (214)986-3533, www.JAMMConsulting.com
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