dynamic-tracing0 pages

ORACLE DATA SHEET
ORACLE SOLARIS DTRACE
INCREASED PERFORMANCE
THROUGH COMPLETE SOFTWARE
OBSERVABILITY
KEY FEATURES
• Designed for use on production systems
to find performance bottlenecks
• Provides a single view of the software
stack—from kernel to application—
leading to rapid identification of
performance bottlenecks
• Dynamically instruments the kernel and
instructions in any application with a
near-infinite number of probe points,
improving ability to service software
• Enables maximum resource utilization
and application performance, as well as
precise quantification of resource
requirements
• Fast and easy to use, even on complex
systems with multiple layers of software
Oracle Solaris DTrace is a dynamic tracing framework for troubleshooting
systemic problems in real time on production systems. DTrace is designed to
quickly identify the root cause of system performance problems. DTrace safely
and dynamically instruments the running operating system (OS) kernel and
running applications without rebooting the kernel and recompiling—or even
restarting—applications. Furthermore, when not explicitly enabled, DTrace
has zero effect on the system. DTrace is available on all supported Oracle
Solaris platforms.
Designed for Use on Production Systems
DTrace is absolutely safe for use on production systems. It has little impact when running, and
no impact on the system when not in use. Unlike other tools, it can be initiated dynamically
without rebooting the system, using special modes, restarting applications, or making any
other changes to the kernel or applications.
DTrace provides accurate and concise information in real time. Questions are answered
immediately, eliminating the need to collect large amounts of data for later analysis. DTrace
can also highlight patterns and trends. This makes it easier and faster to identify bottlenecks, a
task that can be difficult and time consuming with many other tools. By employing
speculative tracing, DTrace can record and report (or discard) trace data based on
nonsimultaneous events, enabling quick identification of transient problems and reducing the
need for postprocessing. In addition, DTrace can be used across Oracle Solaris Containers to
quickly correlate events and find bottlenecks on distributed applications such as Web
applications. All of this leads to increased performance and service availability, while system
downtime is reduced.
Provides a Single View of the Software Stack
With DTrace, system administrators, integrators, and developers can really see what the
system is doing, as well as how the kernel and applications interact with each other. It enables
users to formulate arbitrary questions and get concise answers, allowing them to find
performance bottlenecks on development, pilot, and production systems. More generally,
DTrace can be used to troubleshoot virtually any systemic problem—often finding problems
that have been plaguing a system for years.
Many customers use DTrace to find previously undiagnosable system performance problems.
Instead of spending long periods of time analyzing data or creating custom code for
instrumentation, administrators can now spend time developing hypotheses to explain unusual
system behavior.