Scribd
Upload
6 views

Buffer Cache 2

The Oracle Buffer Cache is a key memory area in the SGA that stores copies of data blocks read from the database discs, allowing for faster access by users. It uses a complex algorithm to manage memory, storing the most recently and frequently accessed data while writing changes to the disc in batches through database writer processes. This mechanism enhances performance for repeated queries by reducing the need to access slower disc storage.

Uploaded by

Daniel Ahmed
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
6 views

Buffer Cache 2

The Oracle Buffer Cache is a key memory area in the SGA that stores copies of data blocks read from the database discs, allowing for faster access by users. It uses a complex algorithm to manage memory, storing the most recently and frequently accessed data while writing changes to the disc in batches through database writer processes. This mechanism enhances performance for repeated queries by reducing the need to access slower disc storage.

Uploaded by

Daniel Ahmed
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

What Is A Buffer Cache In Oracle?

Buffer Cache:
 The database buffer cache is the largest memory area in the SGA. This memory area stores the
copies of the data blocks that are read from the database discs.
 As this area is in the SGA, this data is available for all the users.
 So when the first user runs a query, the related data is read from the disc and stored into the
buffer cache.
 When any other user, or maybe the same user wants to reach the same data, before checking
the disc the server checks the buffer cache first.
 If all the data we need is already in the buffer cache, it can read the data from the buffer cache
directly.
 If some of the data is not there but some of it is already in the buffer cache, it goes to the discs
only for the absent blocks.
 If there is no related data with our query in the buffer cache, the server reads all the data from
the disc into the buffer cache.

Oracle Buffer Cache


Why read into the buffer cache?
 It is much faster than the database discs.
 If the same data will be used the next time, it’s better to store it in the memory.
 But let me explain with another way to let you understand better.
 If you are making a join operation. Let’s say it is a Cartesian product, then all the rows of the first
table will be joined with the other one Or if it is a nested join, it will be like that.
 The data is read maybe several times. If we do that by reading from the disc all the time, it
would be a very costly operation.
 So the data is stored in the buffer cache and read from here rapidly.
 It is maintained with a complex algorithm Since the size of the memory is finite ,We cannot store
all the data in the buffer cache.
 These kinds of databases are called “in-memory databases”. But storing all the data in the
memory is really expensive and Oracle does not do that in this way.
 It stores “some” of the blocks. So the buffers in the buffer cache are managed by a complex
algorithm.
 It stores the most recently used data and the most touched ones.
 So it deletes the first stored one, but if it is frequently read from the cache it does not delete it.
Instead, it deletes the least used one among the most aged ones.
 The database write processes handle the write operations to the disc. Between the buffer cache
and the database files
 The buffer cache can read from the disc and can write to the disc, too. Actually, it is not done by
the buffer cache. Because it is a memory and cannot make any process.
 So, reading from the disc is handled by the server. It reads the related data from the disc and
stores it into the buffer cache.
 To write to the disc from the buffer cache,
 Oracle uses database writer processes.
Update Statement Works:
 This is also important. Because let’s say if you make an update statement on a block in the
buffer cache,
 It is not updated directly to the disc.
Dirty Blocks:
 We make the update to the block in the buffer cache and when you commit, these blocks are
written to the disc using the database writer processes.
 This also increases the performance because instead of writing one by one, it writes all the
changed blocks in one step.
 These changed blocks are called “dirty blocks” in the database terminology.
 Not only storing the table data, buffer cache stores the index data, too. Because if an index is
commonly used, it will be efficient to store its data, too.
Conclusion:
 As we remember, indexes are also stored in the database blocks and we can easily store these
blocks into the buffer cache and reach them rapidly.
 So basically, a database buffer cache stores the recent and most commonly used blocks in it, for
faster access in the next usages.
 If your query needs exactly the same data, it will most probably come from the result cache
 If it is not deleted from there. But even if you write a different query asking for the data that the
server read before since it is stored in the buffer cache, your query will be much faster than the
first call.
 So buffer cache increases the performance for not only the same query but also the queries that
ask for the same table or same index.

You might also like