It might well be checkpoints. Have you tried cranking up checkpoint segments to something like 100 or more and seeing how it behaves then?
No I haven't, althugh it certainly make sense - watching the process run, you get this sense that the system occaisionally pauses to take a deep, long breath before returning to work frantically ;D
Checkpoint_segments are currently set to 64. The DB is large and is on a constant state of receiving single-row updates as multiple ETL and refinement processes run continuously.
Would you expect going to 100 or more to make an appreciable difference, or should I be more aggressive?
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