Expert Indexing in Oracle Database 11g is about the one database structure at the heart of almost all performance concerns: the index. Database system performance is one of the top concerns in information technology today. Administrators struggle to keep up with the explosion of access and activity driven by the proliferation of computing into everything from phones to tablets to PCs in our increasingly connected world. At the heart of any good-performing database lies a sound indexing strategy that makes appropriate use of indexing, and especially of the vendor-specific indexing features on offer.



Few databases fully exploit the wealth of data access mechanisms provided by Oracle. Expert Indexing in Oracle Database 11g helps by bringing together information indexing and how to use it into one, convenient and blissfully short volume that you can read quickly and have at your fingertips for reference. Learn the different types of indices available and when each is best applied. Recognize when queries aren’t using indices as you intend. Manage your indexing for maximum performance. Let Expert Indexing in Oracle Database 11g be your guide to deep mastery of the most fundamental performance optimization structure in Oracle Database.

• Explains how indices work, how they help, and how they hinder
• Demystifies the various index choices
• Describes the database administration chores associated with indices

What you’ll learn

• Create an overall indexing strategy to guide your decisions
• Choose the correct indexing mechanisms for your applications
• Manage and maintain indices to avoid degradation and preserve efficiency
• Take better advantage of underused index types such as index-organized tables
• Choose the appropriate columns to index, with confidence
• Blend partitioning and materialized views into your indexing strategy

Who this book is for

Expert Indexing in Oracle Database 11g is for all levels of database administrators and application developers who are struggling with the database performance and scalability challenge. Any database administrator involved with indexing, which is any database administrator period, will appreciate the wealth of advice packed into this gem of a book.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction to Oracle Indexes
2. B-Tree Indexes
3. Bitmap and Bitmap-join Indexes
4. Index-organized Tables
5. Specialized Indexes
6. Partitioned Indexes
7. Index Tuning
8. Index Maintenance
9. Oracle Tuning Advisor
10. Oracle Access Advisor
11. Indexes and Table Clustering