speed of querry?

I must be missing something important, because I am just not seeing why this
query is slower on a 4 processor 8 gig machine running redhat AS4.

The SQL:
explain analyze SELECT a.clientnum, a.associateid, a.associatenum,
a.lastname, a.firstname, jt.value AS jobtitle, l.name AS "location",
l.locationid AS mainlocationid, l.divisionid, l.regionid, l.districtid,
(a.lastname::text || ', '::text) || a.firstname::text AS assocname,
a.isactive, a.isdeleted
   FROM tblassociate a
   left JOIN tbljobtitle jt ON a.jobtitleid = jt.id AND jt.clientnum::text =
a.clientnum::text AND 1 = jt.presentationid
   JOIN tbllocation l ON a.locationid = l.locationid AND l.clientnum::text =
a.clientnum::text
where a.clientnum = 'SAKS';

Machine 1 my desktop:
"Merge Join  (cost=74970.51..75975.46 rows=8244 width=113) (actual
time=5141.000..6363.000 rows=160593 loops=1)"
"  Merge Cond: ("outer".locationid = "inner".locationid)"
"  ->  Sort  (cost=656.22..657.11 rows=354 width=49) (actual
time=16.000..16.000 rows=441 loops=1)"
"        Sort Key: l.locationid"
"        ->  Index Scan using ix_location on tbllocation l
(cost=0.00..641.23 rows=354 width=49) (actual time=0.000..0.000 rows=441
loops=1)"
"              Index Cond: ('SAKS'::text = (clientnum)::text)"
"  ->  Sort  (cost=74314.29..74791.06 rows=190710 width=75) (actual
time=5125.000..5316.000 rows=160594 loops=1)"
"        Sort Key: a.locationid"
"        ->  Merge Right Join  (cost=0.00..52366.50 rows=190710 width=75)
(actual time=16.000..1973.000 rows=177041 loops=1)"
"              Merge Cond: ((("outer".clientnum)::text =
("inner".clientnum)::text) AND ("outer".id = "inner".jobtitleid))"
"              ->  Index Scan using ix_tbljobtitle_id on tbljobtitle jt
(cost=0.00..244.75 rows=6622 width=37) (actual time=0.000..16.000 rows=5690
loops=1)"
"                    Filter: (1 = presentationid)"
"              ->  Index Scan using ix_tblassoc_jobtitleid on tblassociate a
(cost=0.00..50523.83 rows=190710 width=53) (actual time=0.000..643.000
rows=177041 loops=1)"
"                    Index Cond: ((clientnum)::text = 'SAKS'::text)"
"Total runtime: 6719.000 ms"

Test Linux machine:
"Merge Join  (cost=48126.04..49173.57 rows=15409 width=113) (actual
time=11832.165..12678.025 rows=160593 loops=1)"
"  Merge Cond: ("outer".locationid = "inner".locationid)"
"  ->  Sort  (cost=807.64..808.75 rows=443 width=49) (actual
time=2.418..2.692 rows=441 loops=1)"
"        Sort Key: l.locationid"
"        ->  Index Scan using ix_location on tbllocation l
(cost=0.00..788.17 rows=443 width=49) (actual time=0.036..1.677 rows=441
loops=1)"
"              Index Cond: ('SAKS'::text = (clientnum)::text)"
"  ->  Sort  (cost=47318.40..47758.44 rows=176015 width=75) (actual
time=11829.660..12002.746 rows=160594 loops=1)"
"        Sort Key: a.locationid"
"        ->  Merge Right Join  (cost=24825.80..27512.71 rows=176015
width=75) (actual time=8743.848..9750.775 rows=177041 loops=1)"
"              Merge Cond: ((("outer".clientnum)::text =
"inner"."?column10?") AND ("outer".id = "inner".jobtitleid))"
"              ->  Index Scan using ix_tbljobtitle_id on tbljobtitle jt
(cost=0.00..239.76 rows=6604 width=37) (actual time=0.016..11.323 rows=5690
loops=1)"
"                    Filter: (1 = presentationid)"
"              ->  Sort  (cost=24825.80..25265.84 rows=176015 width=53)
(actual time=8729.320..8945.292 rows=177041 loops=1)"
"                    Sort Key: (a.clientnum)::text, a.jobtitleid"
"                    ->  Index Scan using ix_associate_clientnum on
tblassociate a  (cost=0.00..9490.20 rows=176015 width=53) (actual
time=0.036..1071.867 rows=177041 loops=1)"
"                          Index Cond: ((clientnum)::text = 'SAKS'::text)"
"Total runtime: 12802.019 ms"

I tried to remove the left outer thinking it would speed it up, and it used
a seq search on tblassoc and ran 2 times slower.


Joel Fradkin

Wazagua, Inc.
2520 Trailmate Dr
Sarasota, Florida 34243
Tel.  941-753-7111 ext 305

jfradkin@wazagua.com
www.wazagua.com
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