Data warehouse administrators have a difficult job. They are responsible for keeping users happy by maintaining optimal database performance at all times, even as the number and size of workloads and queries ebbs and flows. At the same time, they are required to maintain strict security controls, perform upgrades and add new data sources—with little to no downtime. And let’s not forget the politics involved. Data warehouse administrators are the ones that have to explain to the CEO that no, his or her ad hoc query can’t take precedence over mission critical workloads.
At Pivotal, we know your job as a data warehouse administrator is hard enough, so we’re always looking for ways to make your job as easier and more enjoyable. That’s why I’m thrilled to announce the next major release of Pivotal Greenplum Command Center, GPCC 3.0. We’ve redesigned and rebuilt the app from the ground up and we think you’re going to love it.
For those of you not familiar with it, GPCC is a web-based monitoring tool and administration interface for Pivotal Greenplum. It’s the tool administrators use to review query performance metrics, view queries currently running in the system, and perform issue troubleshooting and reporting. Put simply, GPCC is the place Pivotal Greenplum administrators spend a good bit of their time, so it’s extremely important that it provides a delightful and fully featured experience.
GPCC 3.0 marks a new beginning for how you monitor and manage Pivotal Greenplum everyday. With this release we have created a modern foundation for rapid iteration. Enhancements include:
- The addition of the PivotalUI framework, which brings a consistent look, feel, and behaviors to GPCC, similar to other Pivotal user interfaces.
- No more Adobe Flash! GPCC 3.0 does away with Flash, insteading using the much more secure and user-friendly HTML 5.
- A test-driven codebase, which allows Pivotal to develop new features for GPCC much more quickly.
So What Does This Mean For You?
Metrics visualizations are clearer and crisper, and look great on your big monitor on the wall. With the synchronized playhead it’s now easier to see correlations between charts.
GPCC’s most anticipated new feature is the interactive query and metrics history browser. You can now explore your historical data for any period of time, at the appropriate granularity. Set your timeframe. Zoom in on areas of interest. Cross-reference queries with metrics. It’s a whole new way of troubleshooting and reporting on your Pivotal Greenplum cluster.
And it’s easier than ever to upgrade and keep current as we continue to improve. GPCC 3.0 is available to all Pivotal Greenplum administrators and requires just a few steps to install and migrate your existing instances. No server downtime, no reconfiguration. Click here for more details on how to upgrade.
And that’s just what we’re releasing today. The team is already at work on 3.1 and beyond. In the not too distant future, we’re planning to integrate common database maintenance tasks, enable workload management, and enhance existing query detail and history views in GPCC. You too can shape the future of GPCC. Tell us what you want us to tackle next by taking our 2-minute GPCC Roadmap Prioritization Survey.
Want more? Check out the video embedded at the end of this post for a hands-on tour of GPCC 3.0.
We hope you enjoy the new GPCC. We may not be able to help with that conversation with the CEO, but hopefully GPCC 3.0 makes the rest of your job a little bit easier and a whole lot more enjoyable.
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