RDF System Management Manual

Table Of Contents
Introducing RDF
HP NonStop RDF System Management Manual524388-003
1-25
Purger Process
Purger Process
The updaters apply all audit records to their data volumes regardless of whether the
associated transaction has committed, has aborted, or is still in progress.
The purging of redundant image trail files is based on transaction information.
Specifically, the receiver process maintains general information on what transactions
might be in each image file. This information is system-wide, not specific to any
particular image trail. The reasons for this pertain to performance.
First, if the receiver had to maintain specific information about what transactions were
actually represented in each image file on each image trail, the extractor-receiver
performance rate would be seriously degraded. Therefore, the receiver keeps general
information about all transactions it has seen across all trails.
Second, because considerable checking must be done across all trails to determine
what files can be purged based on what transactions might be represented in the
various files on the various image trails, the purger process performs this task.
The purger process is a restartable process pair that runs on the backup system (it is
started during START RDF and runs even when the updaters are stopped; image files
are purged, however, only when updating is enabled).
No image file in a given image trail can be purged until it is absolutely clear that all
updaters configured to the trail will no longer require that file for an UNDO pass during
a takeover or stop-update-to-time operation. RDF automatically keeps track of which
range of transactions is represented in each image trail file. The purger process can
therefore always determine with confidence when a particular image trail file can be
purged.
For example, assume the following:
There are two image trails.
Five updaters are assigned to each trail.
A long-running transaction (T1000) involves all five updaters on one trail, but none
on the other.
T1000 became active when the current image file in each trail was AA000002, and
is still active.
The receiver is currently writing to image file AA000015 in both trails.
All updaters are currently reading audit records from AA000015.