Hi. I just created partitioned table, n_traf, sliced by month (n_traf_y2007m01, n_traf_y2007m02... and so on, see below). They are indexed by 'date_time' column. Then I populate it (last value have date 2007-08-...) and do VACUUM ANALYZE ON n_traf_y2007... all of it.
Now I try to select latest value (ORDER BY date_time LIMIT 1), but Postgres produced the ugly plan: =# explain SELECT * FROM n_traf ORDER BY date_time DESC LIMIT 1; QUERY PLAN --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Limit (cost=824637.69..824637.69 rows=1 width=32) -> Sort (cost=824637.69..838746.44 rows=5643499 width=32) Sort Key: public.n_traf.date_time -> Result (cost=0.00..100877.99 rows=5643499 width=32) -> Append (cost=0.00..100877.99 rows=5643499 width=32) -> Seq Scan on n_traf (cost=0.00..22.30 rows=1230 width=32) -> Seq Scan on n_traf_y2007m01 n_traf (cost=0.00..22.30 rows=1230 width=32) -> Seq Scan on n_traf_y2007m02 n_traf (cost=0.00..22.30 rows=1230 width=32) -> Seq Scan on n_traf_y2007m03 n_traf (cost=0.00..22.30 rows=1230 width=32) -> Seq Scan on n_traf_y2007m04 n_traf (cost=0.00..1.01 rows=1 width=32) -> Seq Scan on n_traf_y2007m05 n_traf (cost=0.00..9110.89 rows=509689 width=32) -> Seq Scan on n_traf_y2007m06 n_traf (cost=0.00..32003.89 rows=1790489 width=32) -> Seq Scan on n_traf_y2007m07 n_traf (cost=0.00..33881.10 rows=1895510 width=32) -> Seq Scan on n_traf_y2007m08 n_traf (cost=0.00..25702.70 rows=1437970 width=32) -> Seq Scan on n_traf_y2007m09 n_traf (cost=0.00..22.30 rows=1230 width=32) -> Seq Scan on n_traf_y2007m10 n_traf (cost=0.00..22.30 rows=1230 width=32) -> Seq Scan on n_traf_y2007m11 n_traf (cost=0.00..22.30 rows=1230 width=32) -> Seq Scan on n_traf_y2007m12 n_traf (cost=0.00..22.30 rows=1230 width=32) (18 rows) Why it no uses indexes at all? ------------------------------------------- The simplier query goes fast, use index. =# explain analyze SELECT * FROM n_traf_y2007m08 ORDER BY date_time DESC LIMIT 1; QUERY PLAN ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Limit (cost=0.00..0.03 rows=1 width=32) (actual time=0.156..0.158 rows=1 loops=1) -> Index Scan Backward using n_traf_y2007m08_date_time_login_id on n_traf_y2007m08 (cost=0.00..39489.48 rows=1437970 width=32) (actual time=0.150..0.150 rows=1 loops=1) Total runtime: 0.241 ms (3 rows) Table n_traf looks like this: =# \d n_traf Table "public.n_traf" Column | Type | Modifiers -------------+-----------------------------+-------------------- login_id | integer | not null traftype_id | integer | not null date_time | timestamp without time zone | not null bytes_in | bigint | not null default 0 bytes_out | bigint | not null default 0 Indexes: "n_traf_login_id_key" UNIQUE, btree (login_id, traftype_id, date_time) "n_traf_date_time_login_id" btree (date_time, login_id) Foreign-key constraints: "n_traf_login_id_fkey" FOREIGN KEY (login_id) REFERENCES n_logins(login_id) ON UPDATE CASCADE ON DELETE CASCADE "n_traf_traftype_id_fkey" FOREIGN KEY (traftype_id) REFERENCES n_traftypes(traftype_id) ON UPDATE CASCADE Rules: n_traf_insert_y2007m01 AS ON INSERT TO n_traf WHERE new.date_time >= '2007-01-01'::date AND new.date_time < '2007-02-01 00:00:00'::timestamp without time zone DO INSTEAD INSERT INTO n_traf_y2007m01 (login_id, traftype_id, date_time, bytes_in, bytes_out) VALUES (new.login_id, new.traftype_id, new.date_time, new.bytes_in, new.bytes_out) n_traf_insert_y2007m02 AS ON INSERT TO n_traf WHERE new.date_time >= '2007-02-01'::date AND new.date_time < '2007-03-01 00:00:00'::timestamp without time zone DO INSTEAD INSERT INTO n_traf_y2007m02 (login_id, traftype_id, date_time, bytes_in, bytes_out) VALUES (new.login_id, new.traftype_id, new.date_time, new.bytes_in, new.bytes_out) n_traf_insert_y2007m03 AS ON INSERT TO n_traf WHERE new.date_time >= '2007-03-01'::date AND new.date_time < '2007-04-01 00:00:00'::timestamp without time zone DO INSTEAD INSERT INTO n_traf_y2007m03 (login_id, traftype_id, date_time, bytes_in, bytes_out) VALUES (new.login_id, new.traftype_id, new.date_time, new.bytes_in, new.bytes_out) n_traf_insert_y2007m04 AS ON INSERT TO n_traf WHERE new.date_time >= '2007-04-01'::date AND new.date_time < '2007-05-01 00:00:00'::timestamp without time zone DO INSTEAD INSERT INTO n_traf_y2007m04 (login_id, traftype_id, date_time, bytes_in, bytes_out) VALUES (new.login_id, new.traftype_id, new.date_time, new.bytes_in, new.bytes_out) n_traf_insert_y2007m05 AS ON INSERT TO n_traf WHERE new.date_time >= '2007-05-01'::date AND new.date_time < '2007-06-01 00:00:00'::timestamp without time zone DO INSTEAD INSERT INTO n_traf_y2007m05 (login_id, traftype_id, date_time, bytes_in, bytes_out) VALUES (new.login_id, new.traftype_id, new.date_time, new.bytes_in, new.bytes_out) n_traf_insert_y2007m06 AS ON INSERT TO n_traf WHERE new.date_time >= '2007-06-01'::date AND new.date_time < '2007-07-01 00:00:00'::timestamp without time zone DO INSTEAD INSERT INTO n_traf_y2007m06 (login_id, traftype_id, date_time, bytes_in, bytes_out) VALUES (new.login_id, new.traftype_id, new.date_time, new.bytes_in, new.bytes_out) n_traf_insert_y2007m07 AS ON INSERT TO n_traf WHERE new.date_time >= '2007-07-01'::date AND new.date_time < '2007-08-01 00:00:00'::timestamp without time zone DO INSTEAD INSERT INTO n_traf_y2007m07 (login_id, traftype_id, date_time, bytes_in, bytes_out) VALUES (new.login_id, new.traftype_id, new.date_time, new.bytes_in, new.bytes_out) n_traf_insert_y2007m08 AS ON INSERT TO n_traf WHERE new.date_time >= '2007-08-01'::date AND new.date_time < '2007-09-01 00:00:00'::timestamp without time zone DO INSTEAD INSERT INTO n_traf_y2007m08 (login_id, traftype_id, date_time, bytes_in, bytes_out) VALUES (new.login_id, new.traftype_id, new.date_time, new.bytes_in, new.bytes_out) n_traf_insert_y2007m09 AS ON INSERT TO n_traf WHERE new.date_time >= '2007-09-01'::date AND new.date_time < '2007-10-01 00:00:00'::timestamp without time zone DO INSTEAD INSERT INTO n_traf_y2007m09 (login_id, traftype_id, date_time, bytes_in, bytes_out) VALUES (new.login_id, new.traftype_id, new.date_time, new.bytes_in, new.bytes_out) n_traf_insert_y2007m10 AS ON INSERT TO n_traf WHERE new.date_time >= '2007-10-01'::date AND new.date_time < '2007-11-01 00:00:00'::timestamp without time zone DO INSTEAD INSERT INTO n_traf_y2007m10 (login_id, traftype_id, date_time, bytes_in, bytes_out) VALUES (new.login_id, new.traftype_id, new.date_time, new.bytes_in, new.bytes_out) n_traf_insert_y2007m11 AS ON INSERT TO n_traf WHERE new.date_time >= '2007-11-01'::date AND new.date_time < '2007-12-01 00:00:00'::timestamp without time zone DO INSTEAD INSERT INTO n_traf_y2007m11 (login_id, traftype_id, date_time, bytes_in, bytes_out) VALUES (new.login_id, new.traftype_id, new.date_time, new.bytes_in, new.bytes_out) n_traf_insert_y2007m12 AS ON INSERT TO n_traf WHERE new.date_time >= '2007-12-01'::date AND new.date_time < '2008-01-01 00:00:00'::timestamp without time zone DO INSTEAD INSERT INTO n_traf_y2007m12 (login_id, traftype_id, date_time, bytes_in, bytes_out) VALUES (new.login_id, new.traftype_id, new.date_time, new.bytes_in, new.bytes_out) Tables n_traf_y2007m... looks like these Table "public.n_traf_y2007m01" Column | Type | Modifiers -------------+-----------------------------+-------------------- login_id | integer | not null traftype_id | integer | not null date_time | timestamp without time zone | not null bytes_in | bigint | not null default 0 bytes_out | bigint | not null default 0 Indexes: "n_traf_y2007m01_date_time_login_id" btree (date_time, login_id) Check constraints: "n_traf_y2007m01_date_time_check" CHECK (date_time >= '2007-01-01'::date AND date_time < '2007-02-01 00:00:00'::timestamp without time zone) Inherits: n_traf Index "public.n_traf_y2007m01_date_time_login_id" Column | Type -----------+----------------------------- date_time | timestamp without time zone login_id | integer btree, for table "public.n_traf_y2007m01" Table "public.n_traf_y2007m02" Column | Type | Modifiers -------------+-----------------------------+-------------------- login_id | integer | not null traftype_id | integer | not null date_time | timestamp without time zone | not null bytes_in | bigint | not null default 0 bytes_out | bigint | not null default 0 Indexes: "n_traf_y2007m02_date_time_login_id" btree (date_time, login_id) Check constraints: "n_traf_y2007m02_date_time_check" CHECK (date_time >= '2007-02-01'::date AND date_time < '2007-03-01 00:00:00'::timestamp without time zone) Inherits: n_traf ... -- engineer ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- TIP 2: Don't 'kill -9' the postmaster