Granted Patent B1

US 7,634,459 · App. 11/560,391 · Granted Dec 15, 2009

Abstract

Claims (46)

1. An apparatus for monitoring execution plans of a relational database, the apparatus comprising:

a) at least one of a volatile and a non-volatile memory; configured to store a detector agent and an alert agent; and

b) a microprocessor operative to:

i) execute code of the detector agent to monitor the performance of the relational database to detect an execution plan change for at least one database statement handled by the relational database; and

ii) execute code of the alert agent to generate an alert signal, contingent on results of said detecting of said execution plan change.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:

a performance data collector agent, wherein execution of the performance data collector agent by the microprocessor is operative to collect performance data comprising execution plan data for the database;

wherein said execution of said detector agent is operative to detect said execution plan change from said collected execution plan data.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said execution of said performance data collector agent is operative such that said collecting of said performance data comprises effecting a query of a system table of the database.

4. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said execution of said performance data collector agent is operative such that said collecting of said performance data comprises effecting an API call to the database.

5. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said execution of said performance data collector agent is operative to collect said performance data comprising said execution plan data for a pre-specified historical time interval.

6. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said execution of said collector agent is operative to effect a plurality of distinct said execution plan data collectings at a frequency that is determined at least in part by a pre-determined frequency parameter.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said detector agent is operative such that execution of said detector agent effects a plurality of said execution plan detectings at a frequency that is determined at least in part by a pre-determined frequency parameter.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:

c) a configuration user interface for receiving at least one user specified operation parameter selected from the group consisting of:

i) a detection frequency parameter;

ii) decision influencing historical time period parameter,

wherein said execution of detector agent is operative to effect said monitoring in accordance with at least one said user specified operation parameter.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said execution of said detector agent is operative to detect said execution plan change for a pre-determined decision influencing historical time period.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein at least one of:

i) said alert agent; and

ii) said detector agent, is at least partially an internal agent that resides at least in part within a code module of the database.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein at least one of:

i) said alert agent; and

ii) said detector agent, is at least partially an external agent that resides at least in part within a code module that is external to the database.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:

c) at least one of a video display and an audio speaker for presenting the generated alert signal.

13. A method for monitoring execution plans of a relational database, the method comprising:

a) automatically and electronically monitoring the performance of the relational database by executing code of a detector agent by a microprocessor to detect an execution plan change for at least one database statement handled by the relational database; and

generating an alert signal, contingent on results of said detecting of said execution plan change.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein said monitoring comprises automatically effecting a plurality of said execution plan detectings at a frequency that is determined at least in part by a pre-determined frequency parameter.

15. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

c) receiving, via a user interface at least one user specified operation parameter selected from the group consisting of:

i) a detection frequency parameter;

ii) decision influencing historical time period parameter,

wherein said monitoring is carried out in accordance with at least one said user specified operation parameter.

16. The method of claim 13 wherein the monitoring includes:

(i) automatically and electronically submitting to the relational database, a plurality of times, requests for data indicative of contents of one or more system tables of the relational database; and

(ii) receiving the requested system table-indicative data from the relational database.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the relational database is distributed over a plurality of different digital computers connected via a computer network, and the monitoring includes monitoring execution of the distributed relational database.

18. The method of claim 13 wherein the generating of the alert signal includes displaying a visual indication of the alert signal on a video display device.

19. The method of claim 13 wherein the generating of the alert signal includes: sending an email message via an interface between a computer and a computer network.

20. The method of claim 13 wherein the generating of the alert signal includes sending a text message to a mobile telephone via a network.

21. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

c) executing code of a performance data collector agent by a microprocessor to collect performance data comprising execution plan data for the database,

wherein said execution of said code of said detector agent is operative to detect said execution plan change from said collected execution plan data.

Assignments (11)