Re: Running update in chunks?

Richard Huxton <dev@archonet.com>

From: Richard Huxton <dev@archonet.com>
To: Tim Uckun <timuckun@gmail.com>
Cc: Jeff Janes <jeff.janes@gmail.com>, Kevin Grittner <kgrittn@mail.com>, "pgsql-general@postgresql.org" <pgsql-general@postgresql.org>
Date: 2013-01-25T09:23:07Z
Lists: pgsql-general
On 25/01/13 08:57, Tim Uckun wrote:
>> What if you do:
>> alter table cars.imports set (fillfactor=50);
>> Before the vacuum full, and then try the update again?
>
> This makes a dramatic difference when combined with a vacuum.
>
> UPDATE 98834
> Time: 3408.210 ms
>
> Ten times faster!
That suggests (to me, at least) that it is related to index updating. 
Again, your GIN index seems primary candidate.

A fillfactor of 50% means row updates probably stay on the same 
disk-block as their previous version. This implies less index updates.

Try running iostat (I think that's available on a Mac) with/without the 
fillfactor and with/without the GIN index while you do the updates. It's 
possible your SSD is just behaving oddly under stress.

--
   Richard Huxton
   Archonet Ltd