From: Chris Browne <cbbrowne@acm.org>
To: pgsql-performance@postgresql.org
Subject: Re: Read/Write block sizes
Date: Thu, 25 Aug 2005 16:49:26 -0400
Message-ID: <604q9doi7d.fsf@dba2.int.libertyrms.com> (raw)
References: <d4b67d7c2b.d7c2bd4b67@bur-mail1.east.sun.com>
<21700.1124863004@sss.pgh.pa.us>
<1124864572.11270.16.camel@noodles>
<200508251245.03473.josh@agliodbs.com>
<6.2.3.4.0.20050825162308.05dbf298@pop.earthlink.net>
rjpeace@earthlink.net (Ron) writes:
> At 03:45 PM 8/25/2005, Josh Berkus wrote:
>> > Ask me sometime about my replacement for GNU sort. Â It uses the
>> > same sorting algorithm, but it's an order of magnitude faster due
>> > to better I/O strategy. Â Someday, in my infinite spare time, I
>> > hope to demonstrate that kind of improvement with a patch to pg.
>>
>>Since we desperately need some improvements in sort performance, I
>>do hope you follow up on this.
>
> I'll generalize that. IMO we desperately need any and all
> improvements in IO performance. Even more so than we need
> improvements in sorting or sorting IO performance.
That's frankly a step backwards.
Feel free to "specialise" that instead.
A patch that improves some specific aspect of performance is a
thousand times better than any sort of "desperate desire for any and
all improvements in I/O performance."
The latter is unlikely to provide any usable result.
The "specialized patch" is also pointedly better in that a
*confidently submitted* patch is likely to be way better than any sort
of "desperate clutching at whatever may come to hand."
Far too often, I see people trying to address performance problems via
the "desperate clutching at whatever seems near to hand," and that
generally turns out very badly as a particular result of the whole
"desperate clutching" part.
If you can get a sort improvement submitted, that's a concrete
improvement...
--
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To: pgsql-performance@postgresql.org
Cc: cbbrowne@acm.org
Subject: Re: Read/Write block sizes
In-Reply-To: <604q9doi7d.fsf@dba2.int.libertyrms.com>
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