Release 10.1A: OpenEdge Getting Started:
Database Essentials

Ensuring system availability

The primary goal of the database administrator is to make sure that data is available to users. Most OpenEdge-based applications require multiple resources to function properly. This section centers on monitoring those resources.

Running out of resources is the second most likely cause of system failure. (Hardware failure is the most common.) It takes persistence to ensure maximum system availability. Exercising this persistence is precisely the role of the database administrator.

When determining the source of a problem, the first question asked is: What has changed? If you are monitoring your system, you can determine if there is a difference in the amount of work (reads, writes, commits) being done, the number of users on the system, or if the system is consuming more resources than usual.

The monitoring of resources is extremely important; if you know how fast you are using additional resources, you can determine when you will run out. Monitoring also allows you to plan for growth and avoid potential problems within the database and at the system level. On most systems, disk capacity and database storage areas are the most dynamic areas in terms of growth.