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Question and Answer

Connor McDonald

Thanks for the question, Gaurav.

Asked: March 14, 2023 - 10:20 am UTC

Last updated: April 14, 2023 - 2:27 am UTC

Version: Oracle Database 19.17

Viewed 1000+ times

You Asked

Problem Statement:-

We were able to see that Oracle/Grid Processes were consuming CPU In a kernel space instead of User Space via top/vmstat/sar.

OS:- Solaris, Database 19C.

RCA:- As per mine analysis during the incident there were many session who were login into a database 300+ Oauth Calls in a 1 minute.

Wait Events:- Library Cache Lock, Latch MGA Heap.

But Why it was in Kernel Space?

Most Probably because client_statistics_level=True in 19C by default and is related with such behavior.

and Connor said...

I assume that Oauth Calls most likely means OAUTH in the context of V$TOPLEVELCALL, rather than Open Authorization https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OAuth in this instance. Given the wait events and symptoms, then the most likely explanation is a connection storm, with the high level of kernel activity being due to a high frequency of system calls when creating new foreground processes which then need to map the SGA and so on. A high level of kernel activity during a connection storm isn't specific to Solaris or Oracle Database 19c. In most cases, the best recommendation is to find and fix whatever triggered the storm, rather than focusing on what happened when the storm was well-established.

Thanks to Mike Hallas for his assistance here.

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