To reduce the impact of database I/O without increasing the size of the buffer cache and without modifying SQL statements, you can use table compression. Among the given options,ROW STORE COMPRESS ADVANCEDis the most suitable form of table compression to satisfy this requirement.

Advanced row compression (ROW STORE COMPRESS ADVANCED) is designed to work well with all supported types of data, whether it's OLTP or data warehouse environments. It offers a higher level of compression than basic table compression (ROW STORE COMPRESS BASIC)without significant overhead during DML operations. This feature can help reduce the amount of I/O required to retrieve data by storing it more efficiently on disk.

• A, B, D:WhileCOLUMN STORE COMPRESS FOR QUERY HIGHandROW STORE COMPRESSare both valid compression types,COLUMN STORE COMPRESS FOR QUERY HIGHapplies to the In-Memory column store and is not available in all versions and editions, andROW STORE COMPRESSis less advanced thanROW STORE COMPRESS ADVANCED.

References:

• Oracle Database Concepts Guide:Table Compression
• Oracle Database Performance Tuning Guide:Row Compression

The execution plan shows a full table access for theSALEStable. To reduce the execution time, creating an index onSALES.TIME_IDwould be beneficial as it would allow the database to quickly sort and retrieve the most recent sales without the need to perform a full table scan, which is I/O intensive and slower. By indexingTIME_ID, which is used in theORDER BYclause, the optimizer can take advantage of the index to efficiently sort and limit the result set to the ten most recent sales.

• B (Incorrect):ReplacingFETCH FIRSTwithROWNUMwould not necessarily improve the performance unless there is an appropriate index that the optimizer can use to avoid sorting the entire result set.
• C (Incorrect):There is no indication that the current statistics are inaccurate; hence, collecting new statistics may not lead to performance improvement.
• D (Incorrect):While adaptive plans can provide performance benefits by allowing the optimizer to adapt the execution strategy, the main issue here is the lack of an index on theORDER BYcolumn.
• E (Incorrect):Creating an index onSALES.CUST_IDcould improve join performance but would not address the performance issue caused by the lack of an index on theORDER BYcolumn.

References:

• Oracle Database SQL Tuning Guide:Managing Indexes
• Oracle Database SQL Tuning Guide:Using Indexes and Clusters

When both a SQL Profile and a SQL Plan Baseline are in place, the SQL Profile has a stronger preference and the optimizer is more likely to choose the execution plan from the SQL Profile.

C. A SQL Profile is generally more influential than a SQL Plan Baseline because it contains additional statistics and directives that help the optimizer to generate a more efficient execution plan. If both exist, the optimizer will use the profile's plan unless the baseline's plan is proven to be better through the SQL performance monitoring process.

E. SQL Plan Baselines must be accepted before they can be used by the optimizer. If a SQL Plan Baseline is not accepted, it will not be considered for generating the execution plan. Therefore, the presence of an unaccepted SQL Plan Baseline will not automatically force the optimizer to use its plan.

References:

• Oracle Database SQL Tuning Guide, 19c
• Oracle Database Administrator’s Guide, 19c

When importing objects that used the In-Memory (IM) column store in their source database using Oracle Data Pump, the following statements are true:

• D (Correct):TheTRANSFORMclause can be used to alter object creation DDL during import operations. This can include adding theINMEMORYclause to tables that were not originally using the IM column store.
• F (Correct):The import operation can preserve theINMEMORYattributes of tables as they were at the time of export, effectively replicating the IM column store settings from the source database.

The other statements are not accurate in the context of Data Pump import:

• A (Incorrect):Data Pump does not give preference to the IM column store clauses at the tablespace level over table-level definitions unless explicitly specified by theTRANSFORMclause.
• B (Incorrect):While Data Pump can transport existingINMEMORYattributes, it is not mandatory. It is controlled by theINCLUDEorEXCLUDEData Pump parameters or theTRANSFORMclause.
• C (Incorrect):TheINMEMORY_CLAUSEparameter is not part of the Data Pump Export utility. To modify the IM column store clauses, you would use theTRANSFORMparameter during import, not export.
• E (Incorrect):Data Pump does not ignore the IM column store clause unless specifically instructed to do so via theEXCLUDEparameter.

References:

• Oracle Database Utilities:Data Pump Export
• Oracle Database Utilities:Data Pump Import

A high buffer cache hit ratio typically indicates that the database is effectively using the buffer cache and does not often need to read data from disk. However, this metric alone is not a reliable indicator of the I/O performance of the database for several reasons:

• Full table scans and fast full index scans (A) can bypass the buffer cache by design if the blocks are not deemed reusable shortly, which can impact the cache hit ratio.
• A high cache hit ratio (B) can be misleading if the database performance is poor due to other factors, such as inefficient queries or contention issues.
• The buffer cache advisory (C) is a more valuable tool for understanding the potential impact of different cache sizes on the database's I/O performance. It simulates scenarios with different cache sizes and provides a more targeted recommendation.
• The RECYCLE and KEEP buffer caches (D) are specialized caches designed for certain scenarios. While high hit ratios can be beneficial, they are not universally required; some workloads might not be significantly impacted by lower hit ratios in these caches.
• A lower cache hit ratio (E) does not necessarily mean poor I/O performance. In some cases, a system with a well-designed storage subsystem and efficient queries might perform well even with a lower cache hit ratio.

References

• Oracle Database 19c Performance Tuning Guide - Buffer Cache Hit Ratio
• Oracle Database 19c Performance Tuning Guide - v$db_cache_advice

When sessions concurrently insert data into a table with an LOB column and one session needs to allocate a new extent because it cannot find available space, the wait event associated with this contention is "enq: HW - contention". The HW stands for High Water Mark which is related to space allocation in the database segment. When asession needs to allocate a new extent, it may raise this wait event in other sessions that are also attempting to allocate space in the same LOB segment.

References

• Oracle Database 19c Reference Guide - enq: HW - contention

The AWR excerpt points to excessive physical reads on the SALES table and index, suggesting the need for optimizing table storage and access.

Partitioning the SALES table (A) can reduce 'db file sequential read' waits by breaking down the large SALES table into smaller, more manageable pieces. This can localize the data and reduce the I/O necessary for query operations.

Compressing the SALES table (D) can also help reduce I/O by minimizing the amount of data that needs to be read from disk. This can also improve cache utilization and reduce the 'db file sequential read' waits.

References:

• Oracle Database VLDB and Partitioning Guide, 19c
• Oracle Database Administrator’s Guide, 19c

These changes are recommended based on Oracle's best practices for managing large tables and reducing I/O waits, ensuring better performance and efficiency.