Monitoring Database Size

You can use your Vertica database until the columnar data reaches the maximum raw data size that the license agreement specifies. In this context, raw data means the uncompressed data stored in a single database. The raw data size is estimated as if the data had been exported from the database in text format, rather than as compressed data.

The database uses statistical sampling to calculate an accurate estimate of the raw data size of your database. This approach allows Vertica to estimate the database size without significantly affecting database performance.

Some data is not included when calculating the database size:

If your database size approaches your licensed usage allowance, you see warnings in the Administration Tools and vsql. You have two options to eliminate these warnings:

If your database continues to grow, after a grace period, Vertica displays additional warnings in more parts of the system.

If your database size exceeds your licensed data allowance, all successful queries from ODBC and JDBC clients return with a status of SUCCESS_WITH_INFO instead of SUCCESS. The result contains a warning about your database size. Your ODBC and JDBC clients should be prepared to handle these messages instead of assuming that successful requests always return SUCCESS.

If you need a more accurate database size estimate than statistical sampling can provide, use the AUDIT function. The AUDIT function has parameters that allow you to tune its execution to minimize the impact on database performance.

For more information, see: