GSI Commerce Problems:

• Nightly process used to update merchandise database was not performing.
• Recent implementation of Oracle upgrade was root of the problem.
• With peak online shopping season approaching, service levels were in jeopardy.
• Standard Oracle tools did not provide enough detail to pinpoint problem.

Confio Ignite Solution:

• Within 24 hours, GSI DBA team had installed, monitored, identified and fixed problem.
• Ignite identified specific SQLs and I/O bottlenecks causing problems.
• Ignite showed exactly why RAC configuration was contributing to slowdown.

Confio Ignite Benefits:

• Allowed DBAs to change Oracle configuration to accommodate applications.
• Merchandising batch jobs returned to normal operation.
• GSI Commerce's platform was ready to handle peak online shopping season.
• Reduced the number of processors assigned to merchandising database.

Customer Description - GSI Commerce

GSI Commerce is a leading provider of e-commerce solutions that enable retailers, branded manufacturers, entertainment companies and professional sports organizations to operate e-commerce businesses. On an outsourced basis, GSI Commerce provides a comprehensive, integrated and centralized e-commerce platform, which includes technology, logistics and customer care and marketing services.

As a service-based business supporting thousands of simultaneous transactions, response times are critical to GSI Commerce, its e-commerce retailing partners, and in turn, to the partners’ online customers. GSI Commerce uses proprietary technology for its core e-commerce engine. This engine is built on a J2EE application driven by an Oracle database. Customer applications are hosted on this common, three-tiered Web/Java/Oracle infrastructure. To the base solution, GSI Commerce adds customized applications and services to meet the unique needs of each partner’s e-commerce business.

Customer Challenge: One Week Deadline

Before Thanksgiving 2005, GSI Commerce noticed that a nightly process it used to update its merchandise databases was not performing as needed. This is a critical operation for the company as this process updates the product information that is made available to online shoppers. It was determined that GSI Commerce’s recent implementation of an Oracle upgrade was at the root of the issue. Customer service levels were in jeopardy, and with the year’s peak online shopping days fast approaching, the GSI Commerce database administration (DBA) team had one week to find and fix the issue.

DBAs at GSI Commerce had used standard Oracle tools in attempting to find the problems, but these traditional approaches did not provide enough detail to isolate the exact cause of the bottlenecks. Attention was focused on a four-node Oracle RAC cluster running the merchandising database, but the specific queries causing the delays could not be identified.

Ignite Solution

To get to the answer, GSI Commerce turned to Ignite™ for Oracle. Within 24 hours, the DBA team had installed, monitored, identified, and fixed the issue. Ignite identified the specific SQLs and the I/O bottlenecks causing the delays. It showed exactly why the RAC configuration was contributing to the slowdown. And it allowed the DBAs to change the Oracle configuration to accommodate the application, rather than forcing a long and expensive set of development changes to the e-commerce application.

Results

After tuning the RAC configuration to accommodate the I/O demands of the identified SQLs, the merchandising batch jobs returned to normal operation. GSI Commerce’s platform barely missed a beat and was ready to handle the peak online shopping season for the online stores it operates on behalf of more than 50 partners.

Not only did Ignite allow GSI Commerce to meet its immediate service level commitments, Ignite enabled the DBA team to complete the upgrade to Oracle RAC and reduce the number of processors assigned to the merchandising database.

To capitalize on the demonstrated benefits across the broader infrastructure, GSI Commerce invested in Ignite for Oracle and Ignite for Java for the hundreds of servers that make up its e-commerce operation. As a result, all of GSI Commerce’s databases are now watched by Ignite, making it the primary monitoring and performance management tool used by the company’s DBAs.

“Without the use of Ignite, solving the performance issues and completing the upgrade would have been extraordinarily difficult for our team to do on its own, particularly when you consider the severe time constraints we faced. Confio's Ignite quickly pinpointed the issues and helped us get up to optimal performance for peak season. Ignite is now a major part of our performance and monitoring strategy and helps us maintain a quality user experience for our partners and customers.”

John McGivern, VP IT Operations, GSI Commerce