Title
Efficiently approximating query optimizer plan diagrams
Abstract
Given a parametrized n-dimensional SQL query template and a choice of query optimizer, a plan diagram is a color-coded pictorial enumeration of the execution plan choices of the optimizer over the query parameter space. These diagrams have proved to be a powerful metaphor for the analysis and redesign of modern optimizers, and are gaining currency in diverse industrial and academic institutions. However, their utility is adversely impacted by the impractically large computational overheads incurred when standard brute-force exhaustive approaches are used for producing fine-grained diagrams on high-dimensional query templates. In this paper, we investigate strategies for efficiently producing close approximations to complex plan diagrams. Our techniques are customized to the features available in the optimizer's API, ranging from the generic optimizers that provide only the optimal plan for a query, to those that also support costing of sub-optimal plans and enumerating rank-ordered lists of plans. The techniques collectively feature both random and grid sampling, as well as inference techniques based on nearest-neighbor classifiers, parametric query optimization and plan cost monotonicity. Extensive experimentation with a representative set of TPC-H and TPC-DS-based query templates on industrial-strength optimizers indicates that our techniques are capable of delivering 90% accurate diagrams while incurring less than 15% of the computational overheads of the exhaustive approach. In fact, for full-featured optimizers, we can guarantee zero error with less than 10% overheads. These approximation techniques have been implemented in the publicly available Picasso optimizer visualization tool.
Year
DOI
Venue
2008
10.14778/1454159.1454173
PVLDB
Keywords
Field
DocType
parametric query optimization,query parameter space,optimal plan,complex plan diagram,query optimizer plan diagram,high-dimensional query template,plan cost monotonicity,plan diagram,tpc-ds-based query template,execution plan choice,query optimizer,query optimization,parameter space,picasso,computer science
Query optimization,SQL,Data mining,Visualization,Inference,Computer science,Sargable,Theoretical computer science,Parametric statistics,Activity-based costing,Grid,Database
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
1
2
2150-8097
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
9
0.56
39
Authors
4
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Atreyee Dey1231.85
Sourjya Bhaumik217314.26
Harish Doraiswamy325218.95
Jayant R. Haritsa42004228.38