Is it correct that "Online DDL operations are also imperceptible to performance monitoring"?

Note:
This topic has been translated from a Chinese forum by GPT and might contain errors.

Original topic: “”Online DDL操作对性能监控也是无感知的“是否正确?

| username: yytest

I would like to ask everyone where the mistake is in the following sentence?
“Online DDL operations refer to DDL operations that do not affect online business and are also imperceptible to performance monitoring.”

| username: Jack-li | Original post link

“Online DDL operations aim to minimize the impact on online business, allowing data read and write operations to continue while performing database schema changes. However, these operations may have some impact on system performance, and these impacts are visible in performance monitoring.”

| username: Kongdom | Original post link

The focus should be on performance monitoring. DDL operations can still impact performance, but you can reduce this impact through the following optimizations.

| username: changpeng75 | Original post link

First of all, it definitely has an impact on performance.
Secondly, it only minimizes the impact on online business, rather than having no impact at all. Compared to traditional relational databases, OnlineDDL does not lock tables, preventing other transactions’ DML operations, but it is very likely to cause uncommitted DML operations to fail.

| username: TiDBer_QYr0vohO | Original post link

There will definitely be an impact on performance. Saying “unnoticeable” means that the impact on the business is relatively small, but there will be some impact on machine performance, with slight fluctuations in resources.

| username: 小于同学 | Original post link

It still has an impact on performance.

| username: 友利奈绪 | Original post link

It may have an impact; large batches might affect the overall server performance.

| username: jiayou64 | Original post link

It means that it has no impact on performance.

| username: Kongdom | Original post link

:yum: It does have an impact on performance~ can’t say there’s no impact at all.

| username: jiayou64 | Original post link

:call_me_hand: Yes, :call_me_hand:

| username: yytest | Original post link

“Online DDL operations” refer to performing Data Definition Language (DDL) operations in a database management system without locking the entire table, thereby allowing other operations (such as read and write) to continue. This ensures that online business operations are not disrupted and performance monitoring remains unaffected. This approach is typically used in large database systems to modify table structures without interrupting services 234.

However, it is important to note that not all DDL operations support Online DDL. Some operations, such as modifying column types or dropping primary keys, still require table reconstruction, which may cause brief performance degradation. Additionally, even for operations that support Online DDL, there may be some limitations, such as brief exclusive locks during execution or the need for additional disk space to store temporary data in certain cases 234.

Overall, Online DDL operations can significantly reduce the impact on online business and have a relatively small effect on performance monitoring, but they are not a panacea. The specific situation needs to be judged based on the actual database operations and system environment.

| username: Jack-li | Original post link

The impact will not be too significant.