Maintaining IBM Content Cortex database operations

Reorganizing indexes and tables

As large amounts of content are added, removed, or changed in a database, the associated tables, and indexes need to be periodically reorganized for optimal performance.

See the database vendor documentation to determine whether a REORG is necessary, and if so, how to complete the process.

Monitoring memory and disk I/O

Memory and disk I/O limitations are the main contributors to database-related performance issues. Use the appropriate operating system tools to monitor memory usage, CPU usage, and disk performance.

Use vmstat and iostat on UNIX-based systems.

Using inline BLOBs in an object store schema

Certain object store tables, for instance the DocVersion table, include some fields that are defined as inline BLOBs. You can update the definition of additional columns to use inline BLOBs. In general, using inline blobs improves database performance as it involves no extra read for the blob. However, inline blobs tend to take more space in the database row possibly causing issues when the row size limit is reached. It is important to evaluate the changes in your environment before you add them to your production object stores, as this type of change might impact the performance, functionality, and future upgrades. You need to be aware that IBM Support might not be able to reproduce issues that are related to the use of inline BLOBs.

Computing statistics for optimal performance

As content is added, removed, and changed in a database, it is important to keep database statistics updated for optimal query performance.