Automatic Database Management System Tuning Through Large-scale Machine Learning

Abstract

Database management system (DBMS) configuration tuning is an essential aspect of any data-intensive application effort. But this is historically a difficult task because DBMSs have hundreds of configuration "knobs" that control everything in the system, such as the amount of memory to use for caches and how often data is written to storage. The problem with these knobs is that they are not standardized (i.e., two DBMSs use a different name for the same knob), not independent (i.e., changing one knob can impact others), and not universal (i.e., what works for one application may be sub-optimal for another). Worse, information about the effects of the knobs typically comes only from (expensive) experience.