Question: I see that  access to the AWR tables requires a license for the Oracle diagnostic pack, and I was wondering if I could save license costs by using STATSPACK instead of AER.  What the the perils of not using the diagnostic pack and using STATSPACK for time series data collection?

Answer:  STATSPACK was the precursor to AWR, originally a free tool for performing time-series analysis.  Starting in Oracle 10g an extra-cost version of STATSPACK called Automated workload Repository (AWR) was created and bundled into the Oracle diagnostic pack, an extra-cost feature.

For shops using standard edition (SE) or the 12c standard edition 2 (SE2), STATSPACK provides 95% of the data that can be found in AR and it is 100% free to install and use.

Oracle SE shops routinely use STATSPACK for time-series data analysis with great results.  STATSPACK also can be used in-lieu of the 12c AR warehouse features in 12c:

Oracle 12c AWR warehouse

There are two Oracle Press books on STATSPACK, one for 8i (2001) and one for 9i (2002)

- Oracle High Performance Tuning  with STATSPACK

- Oracle9i High Performance Tuning with STATSPACK

However, remember that STATSPACK remains alive and well in 12c.

Diagnostic pack licenses and AR

The Oracle Diagnostic pack consists of these extra-cost features:

• Automatic Workload Repository
• Automatic Database Diagnostic Monitor (ADDM)
• Active Session History (ASH)
• Event notifications: notification methods, rules, and schedules
• Event history and metric history (database and host)

STATSPACK vs. AWR tables

The table names are deliberately similar, making it easy to convert AWR scripts to STATSPACK.  This makes it very easy to convert a AR script into a STATSPACK script.

DBA HIST VIEW	WRH$TABLE	STATSPACK TABLE
dba_hist_event_summary	wrh$_bg_event_summary	stats$bg_event_summary
dba_hist_buffer_pool_statistics	wrh$_buffer_pool_statistics	stats$buffer_pool_statistics
dba_hist_filestatxs	wrh$_filestatxs	stats$filestatxs
dba_hist_latch	wrh$_latch	stats$latch
dba_hist_latch_children	wrh$_latch_children	stats$latch_children
dba_hist_librarycache	wrh$_librarycache	stats$librarycache
dba_hist_rowcache_summary	wrh$_rowcache_summary	stats$rowcache_summary
dba_hist_sgastat	wrh$_sgastat	stats$sgastat
dba_hist_sql_summary	wrh$_sql_summary	stats$sql_summary
dba_hist_sysstat	wrh$_sysstat	stats$sysstat
dba_hist_system_event	wrh$_system_event	stats$system_event
dba_hist_waitstat	wrh$_waitstat	stats$waitstat

In terms of licensing, the diagnostic pack fees represent a small percentage of the total costs:

For yearly maintenance fees, the diagnostic pack would be 22% of the first-time diagnostic pack charges.

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