Data collector functions

The Vertica Data Collector is a utility that extends system table functionality by providing a framework for recording events. It gathers and retains monitoring information about your database cluster and makes that information available in system tables, requiring few configuration parameter tweaks, and having negligible impact on performance.

Collected data is stored on disk in the DataCollector directory under the Vertica /catalog path. You can use the information the Data Collector retains to query the past state of system tables and extract aggregate information, as well as do the following:

• See what actions users have taken

• Locate performance bottlenecks

• Identify potential improvements to Vertica configuration

Data Collector works in conjunction with an advisor tool called Workload Analyzer, which intelligently monitors the performance of SQL queries and workloads and recommends tuning actions based on observations of the actual workload history.

By default, Data Collector is on and retains information for all sessions. If performance issues arise, a superuser can disable Data Collector by setting set configuration parameter EnableDataCollector to 0.