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OBIEE performance tuning myth : BI Server logging

May 22nd, 2012 by Robin Moffatt

One of the frequent recommendations around performance in OBIEE that one hears is a blanket insistence on disabling the
BI Server log. It is a line that is repeated by Oracle support, propogated in Best Practice guides, and repeated throughout
blog posts on the subject. Antony Heljula did a talk on the subject at the recent RittmanMead BI Forum in Brighton, and I
would like to echo and expand on it here.

The Myth:
If you are having performance problems in OBIEE, you should switch off BI Server logging

The arguments for:

1.
2.
3.
4.

Instinct would tell us that writing a log is going to take longer than not writing to a log
On a system with high user concurrency, we would expect to see contention for writing to the log file
Usage Tracking records report response times, so why do we also need the server logging
Log files will cause the disk to fill up, which left uncontrolled could cause system instability

The arguments against:

1. If you have performance problems in OBIEE, then you need logging in place to be able to trace and diagnose them. The
BI Server log gives us vital information such as what physical SQL results from a logical query from the front end. If you
turn off logging, you lose all visibility of query behaviour, timings, and row counts.
2. OBIEE writes lots of logs, more so now in 11g. Why only disable one of them? Why not all logs?
3. If a query takes 30 seconds to run, how much of that 30 seconds is actually going to be in log overhead? You disable
logging and now your query runs in 29.999 seconds. Its still slow, its still a performance problem and now you dont
have the data available with which to diagnose the problem!
4. Usage Tracking doesnt record the same level of detail around a querys behaviour (response time profile, row counts)
that the server log does.
5. By default, Usage Tracking chops off Logical SQL above 1024 characters in length.
6. Sometimes you need the log file to confirm that Usage Tracking is reporting correctly (especially in circumstances

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7. Error messages returned from the database are not captured in Usage Tracking

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To a point, I am being contrary in arguing this specific issue, but it is important with this and other broad-stroke
pronouncements around performance that get regurgitating without context and caveats that they are understood. In
particular, labelling it a Best Practice is a dangerous fallacy as it implies that it should be done without much further thought
or consideration of its consequences.

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If the NFR for a reports performance is [sub]-second and it is not being met, then profiling of the end-to-end response time
breakdown should be done, and it might be that it demonstrates that the logging is impeding performance. But the point is
that it is proven rather than done blindly.

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Further reading
Cary Millsaps paper, Thinking Clearly About Performance, is an excellent starting point for developing an understanding of
a logical and methodical approach to performance problem solving.
James Morle wrote an great blog post on the subject of Best Practice and why it is dangerous terminology, entitled Right
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Comments
Mark Rittman Says:
May 22nd, 2012 at 9:52 am

Strikes me that this could do with some actual evidence/numbers to back it up. How about using Venkats load testing
tool to test the impact of logging with 10, 100 etc concurrent users against SampleApp?

Mike Neal Says:

May 24th, 2012 at 10:58 pm

Thanks Robin, I had always thought the pros(log) more than out-weigh the cons (no log). But it went for several years that
no logging whas the standard in Production environments and everyone took it as the way. Thanks for the post and the
effort to test this instead of going with the flow.

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