The rapidly increasing volume of information contained in relational databases places a strain on databases, performance, and maintainability: DBAs are under greater pressure than ever to optimize database structure for system performance and administration.
Physical Database Design discusses the concept of how physical structures of databases affect performance, including specific examples, guidelines, and best and worst practices for a variety of DBMSs and configurations. Something as simple as improving the table index design has a profound impact on performance. Every form of relational database, such as Online Transaction Processing (OLTP), Enterprise Resource Management (ERP), Data Mining (DM), or Management Resource Planning (MRP), can be improved using the methods provided in the book.
Chapter 1 Introduction to Physical Database Design
Chapter 2 Basic Indexing Methods
Chapter 3 Query Optimization and Plan Selection
Chapter 4 Selecting Indexes
Chapter 5 Selecting Materialized Views
Chapter 6 Shared-nothing Partitioning
Chapter 7 Range Partitioning
Chapter 8 Multidimensional Clustering
Chapter 9 The Interdependence Problem
Chapter 10 Counting and Data Sampling in Physical Design Exploration
Chapter 11 Query Execution Plans and Physical Design
Chapter 12 Automated Physical Database Design
Chapter 13 Down to the Metal: Server Resources and Topology
Chapter 13.12 Literature Summary
Chapter 14 Physical Design for Decision Support, Warehousing, and OLAP
Chapter 15 Denormalization
Chapter 16 Distributed Data Allocation
Appendix A A Simple Performance Model for Databases
Appendix B Technical Comparison of DB2 HADR with Oracle Data Guard for Database Disaster Recovery