Re: table growing

Stephane Tessier <stephane@info-logika.com> writes:

> The database version is Postgresql 7.2.1
> And I run 4 time/day vacuum but I cannot lock tables so I don't want to
> use a vacuum full.... the question is:is it a problem with pgsql or
> Is it normal to have to stop the database to do maintenance...
> My boss WANT (!!!!!) that we find the trouble but is there a trouble????

Is it the table or an index that's growing?

If it's the table, it may be growing too fast for VACUUM to clean up.
If you have heavy update/delete-insert activity, try running VACUUM
more often (you can run it every few minutes if you have to, since it
doesn't block anything).  If there's any way you can run VACUUM FULL
at least once a day (during non-peak hours) it might help as well.

If it's an index that's growing, right now REINDEX is the only way to
reclaim that space.  There are plans to hopefully fix VACUUM to do it,
but it's not currently done.

-Doug