Index ITL fix

Over the last year I’ve written a short collection of articles describing how a defect in the code for handling indexe leaf node splits can cause a significant waste of space in indexes that are subject to a high degree of concurrent inserts. Finally I can announce some good news – Oracle has a patch for the code.

The problem is described in MOS (the database formerly known as Metalink) under bug 8767925 which is reported as “fixed in version 12.1″.

Backports may become available – I’ve already asked for one for 11.1.0.7 on AIX for one of my clients (but’s it has been a little slow in arriving) and another client should have put in a bid for a backport to 10.2.0.4 (also on AIX) in the last couple of days.

[Further reading on Index ITL Explosion]