Database Problems

Databases are powerful tools that provide users with the ability to efficiently manage large quantities of data. It really does not matter how well a database is initially developed, because it will more than likely experience some sort of decline in performance over time. When this occurs, the cause of the problem can generally be attributed to changes in the applications and to the database environment.

The constant addition of new data, users, and functionality eventually diminishes the system's response time. This can result in a condition called contention. Contention occurs when two or more components are vying for a single resource in a conflicting way.

The more contention you have in the system the slower the application's response time becomes. To overcome the database problems associated with contention, the first impulse of many troubleshooters is to upgrade the hardware. However using faster computers or I/O devices will not alleviate the most common problems associated with system slowdowns.

Most Common Problems

According to the Software Concepts International, the one of the most common database problem is excessive lock conflicts. Locking occurs when a process is blocked from accessing a record because another process has the record locked and in this situation a faster computer will not measurably increase the application's response time. Other frequent causes of bottlenecks are unnecessary storage area utilization, inadequately designed databases or applications, plus poorly allocated and insufficient hardware.