Here is a test case. To set up, run the "test_setup.sql" script once; then launch two copies of the "test_run.sql" script. (For those of you with more than two CPUs, see whether you need one per CPU to make trouble, or whether two test_runs are enough.) Check that you get a nestloops-with-index-scans plan shown by the EXPLAIN in test_run.
In isolation, test_run.sql should do essentially no syscalls at all once it's past the initial ramp-up. On a machine that's functioning per expectations, multiple copies of test_run show a relatively low rate of semop() calls --- a few per second, at most --- and maybe a delaying select() here and there. What I actually see on Josh's client's machine is a context swap storm: "vmstat 1" shows CS rates around 170K/sec. strace'ing the backends shows a corresponding rate of semop() syscalls, with a few delaying select()s sprinkled in. top(1) shows system CPU percent of 25-30 and idle CPU percent of 16-20. I haven't bothered to check how long the test_run query takes, but if it ends while you're still examining the behavior, just start it again. Note the test case assumes you've got shared_buffers set to at least 1000; with smaller values, you may get some I/O syscalls, which will probably skew the results. regards, tom lane
drop table test_data; create table test_data(f1 int); insert into test_data values (random() * 100); insert into test_data select random() * 100 from test_data; insert into test_data select random() * 100 from test_data; insert into test_data select random() * 100 from test_data; insert into test_data select random() * 100 from test_data; insert into test_data select random() * 100 from test_data; insert into test_data select random() * 100 from test_data; insert into test_data select random() * 100 from test_data; insert into test_data select random() * 100 from test_data; insert into test_data select random() * 100 from test_data; insert into test_data select random() * 100 from test_data; insert into test_data select random() * 100 from test_data; insert into test_data select random() * 100 from test_data; insert into test_data select random() * 100 from test_data; insert into test_data select random() * 100 from test_data; insert into test_data select random() * 100 from test_data; insert into test_data select random() * 100 from test_data; create index test_index on test_data(f1); vacuum verbose analyze test_data; checkpoint;
-- force nestloop indexscan plan set enable_seqscan to 0; set enable_mergejoin to 0; set enable_hashjoin to 0; explain select count(*) from test_data a, test_data b, test_data c where a.f1 = b.f1 and b.f1 = c.f1; select count(*) from test_data a, test_data b, test_data c where a.f1 = b.f1 and b.f1 = c.f1;
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