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How multithreaded architecture works in DB2 9.5An overviewSkill Level: Intermediate Shashank D. Kharche ([email protected]) Staff Software Engineer IBM

17 Jul 2008 New multithreaded capabilities were introduced inDB2 9.5 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows, codenamed Viper 2." Learn how these new capabilities affect you if you regularly monitor processes or threads, if you need to understand how much memory your database is using, or if you want to simplify mission-critical tasks such as backup, restore, and roll forward. You'll learn how these changes affect configuration parameters, and gain knowledge of the new technology in DB2 9.5.

IntroductionIn order to understand the new multithreaded capabilities in DB2 9.5, this article starts with a look at the DB2 process model. The entire DB2 process model is controlled by Base System Utilities (BSUs). BSUs allocate memory for the instance and database, intercept and handle signals, and handle exceptions sent to DB2. Figure 1 shows the old DB2 process model for the Linux and UNIX platforms. Figure 1. Old DB2 process model on Linux and UNIX

How multithreaded architecture works in DB2 9.5 Copyright IBM Corporation 1994, 2008. All rights reserved.

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Figure 2 illustrates the new process model on Linux and UNIX. Figure 2. New DB2 process model on Linux UNIX

How multithreaded architecture works in DB2 9.5 Page 2 of 15

Copyright IBM Corporation 1994, 2008. All rights reserved.


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The communication between database servers, clients, and applications is taken care of by a framework. This kind of framework is nothing but the process model used by all DB2 servers. It makes sure that internally used database files won't interfere with user or database applications. Engine dispatchable units (EDUs) are responsible for performing various tasks such as processing database application requests, reading database log files, and flushing log records from the log buffer to the log files on disk. Typically the DB2 server handles this as a separate EDU per task. Prior to DB2 9.5, most of these EDUs were processed based on UNIX and Linux environments and were thread based on a Windows environment. Now, in 9.5 there is uniformity in the process model of DB2 as EDUs are now thread based on Linux, UNIX, and Windows environments. Here are some of the advantages of the new memory model: The new memory model is simpler and more easily configured. See the following entries in the DB2 Information Center: Configuring memory and memory heaps Memory configuration has been simplified


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This model saves resources: Significantly fewer system file descriptors are used. The most obvious distinction between processes and threads is that all threads of a process share the same memory space and system-defined facilities. Facilities include open file handles (file descriptors), shared memory, process synchronization primitives, and current directory. All threads in a process can share the same file descriptors. There is no need to have each agent maintain its own file descriptor table. Performance is enhanced: Operating systems can generally switch (context switching) faster between threads of the same process than between different process. There is no need to switch address space. Because global memory is shared and almost no new memory must be allocated, creating a thread is simpler and faster than creating a process. Process creation is expensive in terms of processor cycles and memory usage. There are more automatic and dynamic configurable parameters, so less is required from the DBA. This is covered in the Process model configuration simplification section of this article. The process model is the same now across all three platforms: Linux, UNIX, and Windows.

Monitor threads with db2pd and mapping it with ps outputPrior to DB2 9.5, on UNIX and Linux environments with the help of the ps system command or the db2_local_ps command, you were able to list all active DB2 EDUs. However, in DB2 9.5 those commands no longer list any EDU threads within the db2sysc process. Therefore, one of the changes DB2 users and DBAs will see when they use an OS command to look at the processes running on the system is that they will see only one process as apposed to several. This is an administrative change you might expect from a DBA perspective.$ ps -fu UID db2ins10 db2ins10 db2ins10 db2ins10 db2ins10 PID PPID 1237176 2109662 1921136 2109662 2101494 1941686 2420958 2101494

C STIME 0 Feb 28 0 Feb 28 0 14:22:34 0 15:25:33

TTY pts/1 pts/1

TIME 0:12 0:14 0:00 0:00

CMD db2acd 0 db2sysc 0 -ksh ps -fu db2ins10

On AIX: To view all threads of the db2sysc process (PID = 1921136): Listing 1. View all threads of the db2sysc process on an AIX system




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$ ps -mo THREAD -p 1921136 USER PID PPID db2ins10 1921136 2109662 TID 1273899 1327331 1392805 1601705 1814627 1851457 1961987 1974311 2023571 2068591 2179161 2187515 2216003 2412647 2551911 2592969 2621455 2658531 3031171 3457047 3899477 4157609 4390991 4636819 5628153 6783009 ST A S Z Z Z Z S Z Z S Z Z Z S Z Z Z S S Z Z Z Z S Z S Z CP PRI SC WCHAN F 0 60 26 * 40401 0 60 1 f1000100403674b0 0 60 1 c00001 0 60 1 c00001 0 60 1 c00001 0 60 1 c00001 0 60 1 f1000004f010de00 0 60 1 c00001 0 60 1 c00001 0 60 1 f100010041b401b0 0 60 1 c00001 0 60 1 c00001 0 60 1 c00001 0 60 1 400400 0 60 1 c00001 0 60 1 c00001 0 60 1 c00001 0 60 1 f1000100407f7e30 0 60 1 418400 0 60 1 c00001 0 60 1 c00001 0 60 1 c00001 0 60 1 c00001 0 60 1 400400 0 60 1 c00001 0 60 1 400400 0 60 1 c00001 TT BND 410400 410400 410400 410400 COMMAND db2sysc 0 -

-

-

On Linux: To view all threads of the db2sysc process (PID = 1921136): ps -lLfp 1921136 The DBA's life is made easier now. Improvements were done in db2pd to list processes and threads. You can now use the db2pd command, with the -edu option, to list all EDU threads that are active. It can be used on UNIX, Linux, and Windows systems. Listing 2. view all threads of the db2sysc process on a Linux system$ db2pd -edu Database Partition 0 -- Active -- Up 1 days 01:05:54 List of all EDUs for database partition 0 db2sysc PID: 1921136 db2wdog PID: 2109662 db2acd PID: 1237176 EDU ID TID Kernel TID EDU Name USR SYS =================================================================================== 1801 1801 2216003 db2agent (idle) 0 0.706935 1.071737 1543 1543 5628153 db2resync 0 0.002641 0.004271 1286 1286 1851457 db2ipccm 0 0.082388 0.044037 1029 1029 2023571 db2licc 0 0.000211 0.001055 772 772 4390991 db2thcln 0 0.000244 0.000105


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515 2 258

515 2 258

2621455 1273899 2658531

db2aiothr 0 db2alarm 0 db2sysc 0

2.740874 0.274076 2.085981

6.287562 0.408226 1.379128

How much memory is used by DB2?There are few ways to check memory usage: db2pd -dbptnmem db2 get snapshot for applications on sample select * from table(admin_get_dbp_mem_usage()) db2mtrk -a and db2mtrk -p Note the following information: db2pd shows accurate representation of shared memory hierarchy db2pd still can't report private memory allocations db2mtrk can report private memory allocations, but weak in other areas Private memory usage is not so interesting anymore db2pd -dbpntmem high-level reporting may be sufficient Using db2pd Listing 3. Example of db2pd$ db2pd -dbptnmem Database Partition 0 -- Active -- Up 1 days 01:11:27 Database Partition Memory Controller Statistics Controller Automatic: Memory Limit: Current usage: HWM usage: Cached memory: Y 13994636 KB 76608 KB 332736 KB 16064 KB

Individual Memory Consumers: Name Mem Used (KB) HWM Used (KB) Cached (KB) ======================================================== DBMS-db2ins10 46784 46784 10048 FMP_RESOURCES 22528 22528 0 PRIVATE 7296 7296 6016

Fields information:How multithreaded architecture works in DB2 9.5 Page 6 of 15



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Controller Automatic is set to Y if the INSTANCE_MEMORY configuration parameter is set to AUTOMATIC. This means that database manager automatically determines the upper boundary on memory consumption. Memory Limit is the DB2 server's upper bound of memory that can be consumed. It is the value of the INSTANCE_MEMORY configuration parameter. Current usage is the amount of memory the server is currently consuming. HWM usage is the high water mark (HWM) or peak memory usage that has been consumed since the activation of the database partition when the db2start command was run. Cached memory is how much of the current usage is not currently being used, but is cached for performance reasons for future memory requests. Individual Memory Consumers section: All registered "consumers" of memory within the DB2 server are listed with the amount of the total memory they are consuming. Name: A brief, distinguishing name of a "consumer" of memory. Examples include: APPL- for application memory consumed for a database DBMS-xxx for global database manager memory requirements FMP_RESOURCES for memory required to communicate with db2fmps PRIVATE for miscellaneous private memory requirements FCM_RESOURCES for Fast Communication Manager resources LCL- for memory segment used to communicate with local applications DB- for database memory consumed for a database Mem Used (KB): How much memory is currently allotted to that consumer. HWM Used (KB): High-water mark, or peak, memory that the consumer has used. Cached (KB): Of the Mem Used (KB), the amount of memory that is not currently being used but is immediately available for future memory


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allocations. Using db2 get snapshot Listing 4. Example of db2 get snapshot$ db2 get snapshot for applications on sample Memory usage for application: Memory Pool Type Current size (bytes) High water mark (bytes) Configured size (bytes) Agent process/thread ID Agent Lock timeout (seconds) Memory usage for agent: Memory Pool Type Current size (bytes) High water mark (bytes) Configured size (bytes) = = = = Application Heap 65536 65536 1048576

= 6463 = -1 = = = = Other Memory 196608 196608 16710107136

Using SQL Listing 5. Example of using SQL$ db2 "select * from table(admin_get_dbp_mem_usage())" DBPARTITIONNUM MAX_PARTITION_MEM CURRENT_PARTITION_MEM PEAK_PARTITION_MEM -------------- -------------------- --------------------- -------------------0 14330507264 340590592 340852736 1 record(s) selected.

Using db2mtrk Listing 6. Example of db2mtrk -a$ db2mtrk -a Tracking Memory on: 2008/02/29 at 15:51:00 Application Memory for database: SAMPLE appshrh 128.0K Memory for application 546 apph other 64.0K 192.0K Memory for application 545 apph other 64.0K 192.0K Memory for application 544 apph other 64.0K 320.0K




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Memory for application 543 apph other 64.0K 576.0K Memory for application 547 apph other 64.0K 192.0K

Listing 7. Example of db2mtrk -p$ db2mtrk -p Tracking Memory on: 2008/02/29 at 15:51:37 Memory for agent 6463 other 192.0K Memory for agent 6206 other 192.0K Memory for agent 5949 other 320.0K Memory for agent 2094 other 576.0K Memory for agent 6720 other 192.0K

Note: By default, INSTANCE_MEMORY is set to AUTOMATIC, which means that the instance is allowed a maximum of some percentage of RAM (the range is 75 percent for smaller systems and 95 percent for larger systems ). This includes all local partitions for a single instance.db2 get dbm cfg show detail|grep INSTANCE_MEMORY Size of instance shared memory(4KB)(INSTANCE_MEMORY)=AUTOMATIC(3498659)AUTOMATIC(3498659)

You cannot permanently set different INSTANCE_MEMORY values for different database partitions. For a DB2 Express licenses, the upper bound on INSTANCE_MEMORY is further restricted to at most 4GB of memory (1,048,576 * 4KB pages). DB2 Workgroup licenses are restricted to at most 16GB of memory (4,194,304 * 4KB pages). Attempts to update the INSTANCE_MEMORY configuration parameter to values larger than these limits will fail with a SQL5130N return code, specifying the restricted range allowed for the license. Other license types have no additional restrictions. You cannot set INSTANCE_MEMORY to be more than RAM.

Get rid of DPF backup and recovery problemsHow multithreaded architecture works in DB2 9.5 Copyright IBM Corporation 1994, 2008. All rights reserved. Page 9 of 15

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Each partition gets a different timestamp On previous DB2 versions:$ db2_all " db2 backup db test" Backup successful. The timestamp for this backup image is : 20080304124529 eva88: db2 backup db test completed ok Backup successful. The timestamp for this backup image is : 20080304124544 eva88: db2 backup db test completed ok Backup successful. The timestamp for this backup image is : 20080304124554 eva88: db2 backup db test completed ok

Whereas, in DB2 9.5, the BACKUP command is enhanced to take a list of database partitions, which provides a single system view.$ db2 Part ---0000 0010 backup db test on all dbpartitionnums Result ------------------------------DB20000I The BACKUP DATABASE command completed successfully. DB20000I The BACKUP DATABASE command completed successfully.

Backup successful. The timestamp for this backup image is : 20080304135942

How do you determine what log files are required during roll-forward?$ db2 rollforward db test to 2008-03-01 and stop SQL1275N The stoptime passed to roll-forward must be greater than or equal to "2008-03-04-12.45.54.000000 UTC", because database "TEST" on node(s) "0,1" contains information later than the specified time. $ db2 rollforward db test to 2008-03-04-12.45.54.000000 and stop DB20000I The ROLLFORWARD command completed successfully.

The above example shows that during roll-forward if point in time (PIT) specified in the command is old or early, you get error message (SQL1275N). The error message tells you about the correct PIT. You might consider using BACKUP with INCLUDE logs. However, in a DPF database, BACKUP with INCLUDE logs generates error message (SQL2032N). Therefore, you cannot use this option. Whereas, in DB2 9.5 you can use the "TO END OF BACKUP" clause with the ROLLFORWARD command to roll forward all partitions in a partitioned database to the minimum recovery time. The minimum recovery time is the earliest point in time during a roll-forward when a database is consistent (when the objects listed in the database catalogs match the objects that physically exist on disk). Manually determining the correct point in time to which to roll forward a database is difficult, particularly for a partitioned database. The "END OF BACKUP" option makes it easy.$ db2 rollforward db test to end of backup and stop DB20000I The ROLLFORWARD command completed successfully




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What's important about user limits?User limits set or show various restrictions on resource usage for a shell. It's a good practice to set some of these limitations to prevent such issues as a faulty shell script to start unlimited copies of itself or to prevent users on the system to start processes that run forever. But, what to set it to? Below are the few considerations for various restrictions on resources: At db2 start, data and nofiles are unlimited. The stack limit is irrelevant because DB2 creates its own stack space (AGENT_STACK_SZ dbm cfg) On 64-bit UNIX Default : 4 MB Minimum : 1 MB Maximum : 128 MB On 32-bit LINUX Default : 1MB Minimum : 64 KB Maximum : 4MB MAXFILOP is the maximum per database per partition. New high defaults of ~32K for 32-bit and ~64K for 64-bit. Current ulimit setting (or 8GB on AIX if ulimit is set to unlimited). DB2 overrides an unlimited core limit. In order to get a core larger than 8GB, you have to explicitly set the core limit to something larger than 8GB, but not unlimited.

Process model configuration simplificationIn this section you will see how the configuration parameters behave differently in DB2 9.5. Take note of the default values and ranges, as they are different than before. Figure 3. Configuration parameters


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If you have performance-critical unfenced, external stored procedures (SPs) or user-defined functions (UDFs), ensure they are thread-safe. Upon migration, all external, unfenced SPs and UDFs, will become fenced. For data integrity, by convention, unfenced SPs and UDFs should already be thread-safe, but this cannot be enforced. Running a non-thread-safe SP or UDF in a multi-threaded process could cause unpredictable problems. Therefore, as a migration procedure, create a script to facilitate the conversion to unfenced. Before taking Schooner, have a quick look over newly introduced threads and processes: db2thcln (thread stack cleanup): Recycles resources when an EDU terminates (UNIX-only). db2aiothr (aio collector thread): Manages asynchronous I/O requests for the database partition (UNIX-only).




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db2alarm (alarm thread): Notifies EDUs when their requested timer has expired (UNIX-only). db2vend (fenced vendor process): Executes vendor code on behalf of an EDU, for instance to execute the user-exit program for log archiving (UNIX-only). db2extev (external event handler thread): The same as SIGUSR2. db2acd: A health monitor process. Finally, does it impact the applications that you currently have if you are moving up DB2 9.5? The answer to this question is NO, absolutely NOT. The internal change this does not affect the application at all. In fact, it is largely transparent from an administration and application programming prospective.

AcknowledgementsSpecial thanks to Amar Thakkar and Samir Kapoor for their technical review of this article.


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ResourcesLearn IBM DB2 9.5 Information Center for Linux, UNIX and Windows: Find information describing how to use the DB2 family of products and features, as well as related WebSphere Information Integration products and features. IBM DB2 Express-C 9.5: Download DB2 Express-C 9.5, a no-charge version of DB2 Express 9 database server. IBM DB2 Training and Certification: Find award winning instructors, industry leading software, hands-on labs, and more. DB2 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows Forum: Share questions, thoughts, and ideas with others DB2 users and developers. Stay current with developerWorks technical events and webcasts. developerWorks Information Management zone: Learn more about DB2. Find technical documentation, how-to articles, education, downloads, product information, and more. Get products and technologies Build your next development project with IBM trial software, available for download directly from developerWorks. Download IBM product evaluation versions and get your hands on application development tools and middleware products from DB2, Lotus, Rational, Tivoli, and WebSphere. Discuss Participate in the discussion forum for this content. Participate in developerWorks blogs and get involved in the developerWorks community.

About the authorShashank D. Kharche Shashank Kharche is a staff software engineer with the IBM Australia Development Lab in Sydney, Australia. He is an IBM certified DB2 administrator. Shashank currently works as part of the Down Systems Division, Asia Pacific region, and has widespread experience in DB2 database and the diagnosis and resolution of critical problems. He has published several technotes for IBM. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Computers Science and Engineering. You can reach him at




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[email protected].


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