Thread: Index File growing big.

Index File growing big.

From
PRAGATI SAVAIKAR
Date:

Hi !!

   We have "PostgreSQL 7.2.1 on i686-pc-linux-gnu, compiled by GCC 2.96"
installed on Linux (RedHat 7.2)
Our database size is 15 GB.
Since the database size was increasing and was about to cross the actual
Hard Disk parttion Size, we moved the datafiles (also the index files) to
another partition  and created link to them from the data directory.
This was working fine.
But what we found was , the index files(2 files) were not getting updated
in the new partition, instead postgres had created another index file with
name
"tableID".1  in the original data directory. The size of this file was
356MB,
The actual size of the data table is 1GB. and there were 2 indexes for the
table. which were of size approximately=150MB.

But after we created link, those 2 index files were not getting updated,
instead the new file with ".1" extension got created in the data directory
(old parttion) and the same is getting updated everyday.

We dropped the table but the file with ".1" extension was not getting
removed from data directory. We manually had to remove it.

Can U please suggest some way to avoid the file getting created when we
move the data file (along with the index files) to another partition.


Thanks in Advance.



Regards,
Pragati.





Re: Index File growing big.

From
Rajesh Kumar Mallah
Date:
I remember this is your second posting for the same problem.

I hope you are aware that postgres can manage multiple databases that
lie in different partitions.

If its feasible for you you may think of moving the *big* tables in another
database which can be initialised in another partition. it depends on ur app
design as you will have to create a new db connection.

another possibility is to buy a new bigger hdd ofcourse ;-)
and migrate the data.

also i think the <tableid>.1 or <tableid>.2 are extensions of the
datafile not index files. index files have seperate id of their own.
pg_class have that id in relfilenode.


in case i am getting the problem wrong , my query is have you relocated the
index files also and created the symlinks ? (using ln -s)

Also 7.2.1 is too old an version to use in 7.2.x series 7.2.4 is latest
and in 7.3.x 7.3.2 is latest.

regds
mallah.



On Wednesday 26 February 2003 11:56 am, PRAGATI SAVAIKAR wrote:
> Hi !!
>
>    We have "PostgreSQL 7.2.1 on i686-pc-linux-gnu, compiled by GCC 2.96"
> installed on Linux (RedHat 7.2)
> Our database size is 15 GB.
> Since the database size was increasing and was about to cross the actual
> Hard Disk parttion Size, we moved the datafiles (also the index files) to
> another partition  and created link to them from the data directory.
> This was working fine.
> But what we found was , the index files(2 files) were not getting updated
> in the new partition, instead postgres had created another index file with
> name
> "tableID".1  in the original data directory. The size of this file was
> 356MB,
> The actual size of the data table is 1GB. and there were 2 indexes for the
> table. which were of size approximately=150MB.
>
> But after we created link, those 2 index files were not getting updated,
> instead the new file with ".1" extension got created in the data directory
> (old parttion) and the same is getting updated everyday.
>
> We dropped the table but the file with ".1" extension was not getting
> removed from data directory. We manually had to remove it.
>
> Can U please suggest some way to avoid the file getting created when we
> move the data file (along with the index files) to another partition.
>
>
> Thanks in Advance.
>
>
>
> Regards,
> Pragati.
>
>
>
>
>
> ---------------------------(end of broadcast)---------------------------
> TIP 4: Don't 'kill -9' the postmaster

--

Regds
Mallah

----------------------------------------
Rajesh Kumar Mallah,
Project Manager (Development)
Infocom Network Limited, New Delhi
phone: +91(11)6152172 (221) (L) ,9811255597 (M)

Visit http://www.trade-india.com ,
India's Leading B2B eMarketplace.

Re: Index File growing big.

From
Andrew Sullivan
Date:
On Wed, Feb 26, 2003 at 11:56:48AM +0530, PRAGATI SAVAIKAR wrote:
>
> Can U please suggest some way to avoid the file getting created when we
> move the data file (along with the index files) to another partition.

Yes.  Submit a patch which implements tablespaces ;-)

Seriously, there is no way to avoid this in the case where you are
moving the files by hand.  The suggestions for how to move files
around note this.

If this is merely a disk-size problem, why not move the entire
postgres installation to another disk, and make a link to it.  If you
still need to spread things across disks, you can move things which
don't change in size very much.  A good candidate here is the WAL
(pg_xlog), since it grows to a predictable size.  You even get a
performance benefit.

A

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Re: Index File growing big.

From
"Christopher Kings-Lynne"
Date:
> > Can U please suggest some way to avoid the file getting created when we
> > move the data file (along with the index files) to another partition.
>
> Yes.  Submit a patch which implements tablespaces ;-)

You should note that someone already has sent in a patch for tablespaces, it
hasn't been acted on though - can't quite remember why.  Maybe we should
resurrect it...

Chris



Re: Index File growing big.

From
Tom Lane
Date:
"Christopher Kings-Lynne" <chriskl@familyhealth.com.au> writes:
>> Yes.  Submit a patch which implements tablespaces ;-)

> You should note that someone already has sent in a patch for tablespaces, it
> hasn't been acted on though - can't quite remember why.  Maybe we should
> resurrect it...

It's been awhile, but my recollection is that the patch had restricted
functionality (which would be okay for a first cut) and it invented SQL
syntax that seemed to lock us into that restricted functionality
permanently (not so okay).  Details are fuzzy though...

            regards, tom lane

Re: Index File growing big.

From
"Christopher Kings-Lynne"
Date:
> > You should note that someone already has sent in a patch for
tablespaces, it
> > hasn't been acted on though - can't quite remember why.  Maybe we should
> > resurrect it...
>
> It's been awhile, but my recollection is that the patch had restricted
> functionality (which would be okay for a first cut) and it invented SQL
> syntax that seemed to lock us into that restricted functionality
> permanently (not so okay).  Details are fuzzy though...

Well, I'll resurrect it and see if it can be improved.  Tablespaces seem to
be a requested feature these days...

Chris



Re: Index File growing big.

From
"Jim Buttafuoco"
Date:
All,

I was the person who submitted the patch.  I tried to a generic syntax.  I also tried to keep the tablespace concept
simple.  See my posting on HACKERS/GENERAL from a week or 2 ago about the syntax.  I am still interested in working on
this patch with others.  I have many system here that are 500+ gigabytes and growing.  It is a real pain to add more
disk space (I have to backup, drop database(s), rebuild raid set (I am using raid 10) and reload data).

Jim



> > > You should note that someone already has sent in a patch for
> tablespaces, it
> > > hasn't been acted on though - can't quite remember why.  Maybe we should
> > > resurrect it...
> >
> > It's been awhile, but my recollection is that the patch had restricted
> > functionality (which would be okay for a first cut) and it invented SQL
> > syntax that seemed to lock us into that restricted functionality
> > permanently (not so okay).  Details are fuzzy though...
>
> Well, I'll resurrect it and see if it can be improved.  Tablespaces seem to
> be a requested feature these days...
>
> Chris
>
> ---------------------------(end of broadcast)---------------------------
> TIP 4: Don't 'kill -9' the postmaster





Re: Index File growing big.

From
Bruce Momjian
Date:
Yes, the issue was that it only had places for heap and index location,
not more generic.

I can work with a few folks to get this done. I think it can be done in
a few stages:

    Decide on syntax/functionality
    Update grammer to support it
    Update system catalogs to hold information
    Update storage manager to handle storage locations

If folks can decide on the first item, I can do the second and third
ones.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jim Buttafuoco wrote:
> All,
>
> I was the person who submitted the patch.  I tried to a generic syntax.  I also tried to keep the tablespace concept
> simple.  See my posting on HACKERS/GENERAL from a week or 2 ago about the syntax.  I am still interested in working
on
> this patch with others.  I have many system here that are 500+ gigabytes and growing.  It is a real pain to add more
> disk space (I have to backup, drop database(s), rebuild raid set (I am using raid 10) and reload data).
>
> Jim
>
>
>
> > > > You should note that someone already has sent in a patch for
> > tablespaces, it
> > > > hasn't been acted on though - can't quite remember why.  Maybe we should
> > > > resurrect it...
> > >
> > > It's been awhile, but my recollection is that the patch had restricted
> > > functionality (which would be okay for a first cut) and it invented SQL
> > > syntax that seemed to lock us into that restricted functionality
> > > permanently (not so okay).  Details are fuzzy though...
> >
> > Well, I'll resurrect it and see if it can be improved.  Tablespaces seem to
> > be a requested feature these days...
> >
> > Chris
> >
> > ---------------------------(end of broadcast)---------------------------
> > TIP 4: Don't 'kill -9' the postmaster
>
>
>
>
>
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