Oracle-Wait Events and Potential Causes

Wait Events and Potential Causes

Wait Event	General Area	Possible Causes	Look for / Examine
buffer busy waits	Buffer cache, DBWR	Depends on buffer type. For example, waits for an index block may be caused by a primary key that is based on an ascending sequence.	Examine V$SESSION while the problem is occurring to determine the type of block in contention.
free buffer waits	Buffer cache, DBWR, I/O	Slow DBWR (possibly due to I/O?) Cache too small	Examine write time using operating system statistics. Check buffer cache statistics for evidence of too small cache.
db file scattered read	I/O, SQL statement tuning	Poorly tuned SQL Slow I/O system	Investigate V$SQLAREA to see whether there are SQL statements performing many disk reads. Cross-check I/O system and V$FILESTAT for poor read time.
db file sequential read	I/O, SQL statement tuning	Poorly tuned SQL Slow I/O system	Investigate V$SQLAREA to see whether there are SQL statements performing many disk reads. Cross-check I/O system and V$FILESTAT for poor read time.
enqueue waits (waits starting with enq:)	Locks	Depends on type of enqueue	Look at V$ENQUEUE_STAT.
library cache latch waits:library cache, librarycache pin, and librarycache lock	Latch contention	SQL parsing or sharing	Check V$SQLAREA to see whether there are SQL statements with a relatively high number of parse calls or a high number of child cursors (column VERSION_COUNT). Check parse statistics in V$SYSSTAT and their corresponding rate for each second.
log buffer space	Log buffer, I/O	Log buffer small Slow I/O system	Check the statistic redo buffer allocation retries inV$SYSSTAT. Check configuring log buffer section in configuring memory chapter. Check the disks that house the online redo logs for resource contention.
log file sync	I/O, over- committing	Slow disks that store the online logs Un-batched commits	Check the disks that house the online redo logs for resource contention. Check the number of transactions (commits + rollbacks) each second, from V$SYSSTAT.