Friday, January 20, 2023

Db2 for z/OS: What is "Wait for Other Read" Time, and What Can You Do About It?

A recent conversation I had with some folks who support a large Db2 for z/OS system reminded me of the importance of something called "wait for other read time." In this blog entry I want to make clear to people what Db2 wait-for-other-read time is, why it's important, how to monitor it and what to do about it if it becomes an issue.


What is Db2 for z/OS "wait for other read" time?

In Db2 performance monitoring parlance, time associated with SQL statement execution is known as "in-Db2" time. It's also called "class 2" time, because it is recorded, for monitoring purposes, in records that are generated when Db2 accounting trace class 2 is active. Class 2 elapsed time (elapsed time pertaining to SQL statement execution) has two main components: CPU time (some of which is consumed on so-called general-purpose processors - aka "engines" - of a mainframe server, and some of which might be consumed on what are known as zIIP engines) and suspend time (on a busy system there can be another component of in-Db2 time, called "not accounted for" time, that generally reflects wait-for-dispatch time). In-Db2 suspend time is also known as "class 3" time, because it is recorded in Db2 accounting trace records when accounting trace class 3 is active. Class 3 time is broken out in a number of categories, and these show up in an accounting long report that might be generated by your Db2 monitor, or by a Db2 monitor's online display of thread detail information.

In a Db2 monitor-generated accounting long report, class 3 suspend times are shown as "average" values. Average per what? Well, if you're looking at information for a Db2-accessing batch workload (referring to jobs that run in z/OS JES initiator address spaces and access Db2 by way of Db2's call attachment facility or TSO attachment facility), it'll be average per batch job (generally speaking, activity for one batch job will be recorded in one Db2 accounting trace record). If you're looking at a transactional workload (e.g., a CICS-Db2 workload, or a Db2-accessing IMS transactional workload, or a DDF client-server workload), the "average" values seen in a Db2 monitor-generated accounting long report will typically be average per transaction.

In many cases, the majority of in-Db2 time for a batch or a transactional workload will be class 3 suspend time (it is a little unusual, but certainly not unheard of, for a Db2 workload's in-Db2 time to be mostly CPU time). More often than not, the largest component of in-Db2 class 3 suspension time will be wait-for-synchronous-database-read time. Another wait-for-read time is labeled "wait for other read." What's that? Well, if it's "other than" synchronous read wait time, it must be asynchronous read time, right? Right, indeed. And what are asynchronous reads? Those are prefetch reads: read I/Os driven by Db2 in anticipation that the pages read into memory in bulk in this way will be requested by the process (such as an application process) that prompted Db2 to issue the prefetch read requests. Well, if a prefetch read I/O operation is executed because Db2 is aiming to get pages into a buffer pool in memory before they are requested by (for example) an application process, why would there be such a thing as a process having to wait for a prefetch read to complete?

Wait-for-prefetch read (reported as "wait for other read") happens because there are usually lots of Db2-accessing processes active in a system at one time. Let's call two of these processes process A and process B, and let's say that Db2 is driving prefetch reads (these could be sequential, list or dynamic prefetch reads - more on that in a moment) for process A. We'll further suppose that Db2 needs to access page 123 of table space TS1 on behalf of process B (i.e., Db2 issues a GETPAGE request for page 123 of table space TS1). If page 123 of table space TS1 is not already in the buffer pool to which TS1 is assigned, Db2 will drive a synchronous read request to get that page into memory, right? Not necessarily. It could be that page 123 of TS1 is already scheduled to be brought into memory via a prefetch read that is being executed on behalf of process A. If that is the case then process B will wait for that in-flight prefetch read to complete, and that wait time will be recorded as "wait for other read time" for process B. [It is also possible that process A has gotten to the point that it needs to access page 123 of TS1, and the prefetch read that will bring that page into memory is currently in-flight, and that would end up causing wait-for-other-read time for process A related to the prefetch request being driven on behalf of process A, but I think it's more likely that wait-for-other-read time will be associated with one process waiting on completion of a prefetch read operation that is being executed on behalf of another process.]


Why is wait-for-other-read time important?

Usually, wait-for-other-read time is a relatively small percentage of total class 3 suspend time for a process (it's typically much smaller than wait-for-synchronous-read time), but that's not always the case. In some situations, wait-for-other-read time is a major component of overall in-Db2 suspend time. The performance impact of elevated wait-for-other-read time can be especially significant for batch applications, as these Db2 processes are often particularly reliant on prefetch to achieve elapsed time objectives. If wait-for-other-read time gets too large then service levels could degrade, leading to user dissatisfaction.


How can wait-for-other-read time be monitored?

As mentioned previously, wait-for-other read time is recorded in accounting long (i.e., accounting detail) reports that can be generated by a Db2 performance monitor; so, you can track that for a process or a workload over time and note trends. Besides wait-for-other-read time itself, are there any other related fields in Db2 monitor-generated reports that you should keep your eye on to help ensure that a wait-for-other-read time problem does not sneak up on you? Yes, as explained below.

The "other related fields" that I'd recommend checking out are found in a Db2 monitor-generated statistics long report (i.e., statistics detail report). In such a report you would see, for each buffer pool, a set of fields like those shown below (this is a snippet of a statistics long report generated by the IBM OMEGAMON for Db2 for z/OS performance monitor - I've added some A, B, C labels that I'll subsequently use in referencing various of these fields):


BP1 READ OPERATIONS          QUANTITY  /SECOND
---------------------------  --------  -------

SEQUENTIAL PREFETCH REQUEST   5622.00     3.23   A
SEQUENTIAL PREFETCH READS     5587.00     3.21   B
PAGES READ VIA SEQ.PREFETCH  52950.00    30.43   C
S.PRF.PAGES READ/S.PRF.READ      9.48            D
LIST PREFETCH REQUESTS       47394.00    27.24   E
LIST PREFETCH READS           5876.00     3.38   F
PAGES READ VIA LIST PREFTCH    154.9K    89.03   G
L.PRF.PAGES READ/L.PRF.READ     26.36            H
DYNAMIC PREFETCH REQUESTED     378.3K   217.42   I
DYNAMIC PREFETCH READS         157.6K    90.59   J
PAGES READ VIA DYN.PREFETCH   3110.6K  1787.68   K
D.PRF.PAGES READ/D.PRF.READ     19.73            L

By way of explanation, I'll first point out that what you see above are three repeating sets of fields (4 fields in each set) that pertain to sequential, list and dynamic prefetch activity. Here are thumbnail definitions of these prefetch types:

  • Sequential - Generally speaking, this is the prefetch mode used for table space scans or for non-matching index scans. In other words, if Db2 determines that a front-to-back scan of a table space or index will be required, sequential prefetch will be used (assuming that the table or index in question is not super-small, in which case prefetch of any kind would usually not make sense).
  • List - This is the prefetch type used when Db2 is retrieving table rows based on a list of row IDs (RIDs) that have been retrieved from an index (or from more than one index, if index ANDing or index ORing is part of the access plan for the query). List prefetch can be efficient if the clustering sequence of rows in the target table is substantially uncorrelated with respect to the order of entries in the index in question (the list of RIDs obtained from the index is sorted in ascending RID sequence and then the sorted RID list is used to prefetch pages of associated rows from the target table). The hybrid method of joining tables is another driver of list prefetch activity.
  • Dynamic - This prefetch method is dynamically initiated at statement execution time when Db2 recognizes a sequential pattern of data access as it retrieves rows. Matching index scans are often drivers of dynamic prefetch activity.
OK, so here are a couple of things to keep an eye on, if you want to avoid a surprise situation involving elevated levels of wait-for-other-read time for processes that use prefetch to access pages of objects assigned to a given buffer pool:

  • Prefetch reads relative to prefetch requests - This tends to be more important for list and dynamic prefetch (less so for sequential prefetch, owing to locality of reference being less of a factor in that case). For list and dynamic prefetch, then, compare the number of prefetch reads to the number of prefetch requests (i.e., compare F to E, and J to I, using the letter-labels I added to the statistics report snippet shown above). What's this about? Well, a prefetch request is just that - a request to read a certain chunk of pages from a table space or an index into the assigned buffer pool. Suppose the prefetch request is for 32 pages (the most common quantity), and suppose that all 32 of those pages are already in the buffer pool. In that case, the prefetch request will not drive a prefetch read I/O operation. The larger the number of buffers allocated for a pool, the greater the likelihood that all pages associated with a prefetch request will already be in memory, thereby reducing prefetch reads as a percentage of prefetch requests. If you see the percentage of prefetch reads relative to prefetch requests going up over time for a pool, especially for list and/or dynamic prefetch, that's an indication that elevated levels of wait-for-other-read time could be in the offing. Why? Because more prefetch reads will generally mean more waiting for prefetch reads to complete.
  • The number of pages read per prefetch read - These are the fields labeled D, H and L in the example statistics report snippet. If you see that number going up for one or more prefetch types (sequential, list, dynamic), it could be an early-warning sign of higher wait-for-other-read times. Why? Because a prefetch read that will bring 25 pages into memory is likely to take longer than a prefetch read that will bring 5 pages into memory (recall that a prefetch read I/O is driven to bring into memory the pages, associated with a prefetch request, that are not already in the buffer pool). When prefetch reads take longer to complete, it is likely that application processes will see higher levels of wait-for-other-read time.
At this point you may have put two and two together, and are thinking, "Hmm. It seems to me that a growing number of prefetch reads relative to prefetch requests combined with an increase in the number of pages read into memory per prefetch read would really be a flashing yellow light with respect to wait-for-other-read time." Right you are. In that case, two things are happening, and both have negative implications for wait-for-other-read time: there are more prefetch reads (because there are fewer cases in which all pages associated with a prefetch request are already in memory) and each prefetch read, on average, is taking longer to complete (because each read, on average, is brining more pages into memory). If too much of that goes on, you could "hit the curve of the hockey stick" and see a sharp and sudden increase in applications' wait-for-other-read times. Better to take a corrective action before that happens. But what?

Glad you asked...


What can you do to reduce (or head off an increase in) wait-for-other-read time?

If wait-for-other-read time has become problematic, or if you see the warning signs and want to take a preemptive action, what can you do? Here are some possibilities:

  • Increase the size of the buffer pool in question - Simple: more buffers in a pool leads to increased page residency time, and that leads to 1) more prefetch requests NOT leading to prefetch reads (because all pages associated with a request are already in memory) and 2) fewer pages, on average, per prefetch read. Fewer prefetch reads + quicker execution of prefetch reads that do occur = less wait-for-other-read time. Obvious related question: "Can I make a buffer pool bigger? I don't want to put too much pressure on the z/OS LPAR's real storage resource." My response: check the LPAR's demand paging rate (available via an RMF Summary Report for the LPAR). If the demand paging rate is zero or a very small non-zero value (i.e., less than 1 per second), there is little to no pressure on the real storage resource, and you have a green light for making the buffer pool bigger. If the demand paging rate is 2-3 per second or more, and you don't want it to go higher than that (I wouldn't want it to go higher than that), consider reducing the size of a buffer pool that has low GETPAGE-per-second and read-I/O-per-second values, and increase the size of the buffer pool of concern by a like amount (so, the overall size of the buffer pool configuration remains the same). In my experience, plenty of Db2 for z/OS-using organization under-utilize the real storage resources of production z/OS LPARs.
  • Change some query access plans - If it looks as though sequential prefetch reads are the primary contributor to higher wait-for-other read times, you can consider taking actions that would reduce table space scan and/or non-matching index scan activity. For that, you could potentially use a query monitor to identify longer-running queries that access objects assigned to the buffer pool in question, and examine EXPLAIN output for those queries to see if any of them have table space scans and/or non-matching index scans in their access plans that involve objects assigned to the buffer pool. Then, consider whether it would be worth it to create a new index or indexes to eliminate such scans (there are cost factors associated with new indexes - you want the benefit to outweigh the cost), or whether simply adding a column to an existing index might reduce scan activity (there is a cost associated with that, too, but it's not as high as the cost of a new index). For dynamic prefetch, keep in mind that this is often related to matching index scans. You can sometimes reduce that activity by enabling Db2 to do more result set row filtering at the index level, and that often involves trying to increase MATCHOLS values for one or more predicates of longer-running and/or more-frequently-executed queries (referring to the name of a column in the PLAN_TABLE in which EXPLAIN output is found). Boosting MATCHCOLS can involve things such as changing an index (add a column, or change the order of columns in a key - keeping in mind that the latter change could benefit some queries and negatively impact others), or maybe re-coding some non-indexable predicates to make them index-able, or maybe adding a predicate that does not change a query's result set. For list prefetch, keep in mind that this often has to do with rows in a table being clustered in a sequence that is very different from the sequence of the index used in the list prefetch operation. You might consider whether a table's clustering key is what it should be - the clustering key of a table can always be changed, and sometimes it makes sense to do that. Also, when index ANDing is driving a lot of list prefetch activity, increasing index-level filtering can help (maybe by adding a column to an index involved in the ANDing, to increase the column-match number, or adding an index that would take the number of indexes AND-ed from n to n+1).
  • Take a look at RID pool activity - List prefetch operations involve use of the Db2 subsystem's RID pool. If the RID pool can't be used for a RID processing operation, Db2 will fall back to a table space scan for the target table, and that can drive sequential prefetch numbers up. RID pools these days are MUCH larger than they used to be (the default RID pool size in a Db2 12 or Db2 13 system is 1 GB), so incidences of RID processing "failed (or not used) due to lack of storage" - something that is indicated in Db2 monitor-generated accounting long as well as statistics long reports - are now quite rare. What you could potentially see, however, in the RID processing block of a statistics long report is a relatively large number of occurrences of "failed due to RDS limit exceeded." What this RID-pool-not-used counter means: If Db2 is executing a query, and a RID list processing action commences, and Db2 determines that more than 25% of the RIDs in the index being accessed will be qualified by the predicate in question, Db2 will abandon the RID list processing action in favor of a table space scan. Can you do anything about this? Maybe. In the case of a static SQL statement, it is my recollection that this RDS limit value is embedded in the associated Db2 package; so, at bind time, Db2 notes the number of RIDs that would exceed 25% of the RIDs in an index that is to be used as part of a RID-list-utilizing access plan action. Why is this potentially important? Because an index could grow substantially in the months (or years) following the most recent bind or rebind of a package. What this means: if you have an application process for which there are many occurrences of "RID list processing failed - RDS limit exceeded," check how long it has been since the package (or packages) associated with the process were last bound or rebound. If it's been a long time, and if you think that relevant indexes have grown substantially since then, consider rebinding the packages - if that rebind results in new and larger "this is the RDS limit threshold for this index" values being embedded in the package, that value increase might be enough to reduce incidences of "RID list processing failed - RDS limit exceeded" for the package.
OK, that's what I've got on this topic. As I mentioned up front: in-Db2 wait-for-other-read time is usually not a matter of concern for Db2 application performance. In some cases, it can be an issue. This blog entry is aimed at helping you should such a case arise at your site (or even better, to help ensure that it doesn't become an issue for you).