官方说法：
work_mem (integer)
Specifies the amount of memory to be used by internal sort operations and hash tables before writing to temporary disk files. The value defaults to four megabytes (4MB). Note that for a complex query, several sort or hash operations might be running in parallel; each operation will be allowed to use as much memory as this value specifies before it starts to write data into temporary files. Also, several running sessions could be doing such operations concurrently. Therefore, the total memory used could be many times the value of work_mem; it is necessary to keep this fact in mind when choosing the value. Sort operations are used for ORDER BY, DISTINCT, and merge joins. Hash tables are used in hash joins, hash-based aggregation, and hash-based processing of IN subqueries.
声明内部排序操作和Hash表在开始使用临时磁盘文件之前使用的内存限制。 缺省数值是4兆字节(4MB)。请注意对于复杂的查询， 可能会并发行若干排序或者散列表操作；每个都会被允许使用这个参数获得这么多内存， 然后才会开始求助于临时文件。同样，好几个正在运行的会话可能会同时进行排序操作。 因此使用的总内存可能是work_mem的好几倍。 当选择这个值的时候，必须记住这个事实。 ORDER BY, DISTINCT和融合连接都要用到排序操作。 Hash表在散列连接、散列为基础的聚合、散列为基础的IN子查询处理中都要用到。
生成一百万条记录
[postgres@sht-sgmhadoopdn-04 ~]$ perl -e '@c=("a".."z","A".."Z",0..9); print join("",map{$c[rand@c]}10..20+rand(40))." " for 1..1000000' > /tmp/random_strings [postgres@sht-sgmhadoopdn-04 ~]$ ls -lh /tmp/random_strings -rw-r--r-- 1 postgres dba 31M Nov 21 22:44 /tmp/random_strings
创建对应表结构并导入数据
edbstore=# CREATE TABLE test (id serial PRIMARY KEY, random_text text ); CREATE TABLE edbstore=# d test Table "public.test" Column | Type | Modifiers -------------+---------+--------------------------------------------------- id | integer | not null default nextval('test_id_seq'::regclass) random_text | text | Indexes: "test_pkey" PRIMARY KEY, btree (id) edbstore=# d List of relations Schema | Name | Type | Owner --------+-------------+----------+---------- public | tb1 | table | postgres public | test | table | postgres public | test_id_seq | sequence | postgres (3 rows) edbstore=# copy test (random_text) FROM '/tmp/random_strings'; COPY 1000000 edbstore=# select * from test limit 10; id | random_text ----+------------------------------------------------- 1 | CKQyHTYH5VjeHRUC6YYLF8H5S 2 | G22uBhFmrlA17wTUzf 3 | ey6kX7I6etknzhEFCL 4 | 8LB6navSS8VyoIeqbJBx9RqB3O4AI8GIFExnM7s 5 | bvYt4dKGSiAun6yA5Q7owlKWJGEgD0nlxoBRZm8B 6 | qk1RfhXHwo2PNpbI4 7 | rnPterTw1a3Z3DoL8rhzlltUKb5 8 | l2TrrbDsBkAa5V5ZBKFE59k4T7sDKA58yrS0mJNssl7CJnF 9 | xM9HPgq6QMRsx1aOTqM0LPRQRYkQy50uV 10 | viSJ4p1i3O0dY8tKei3x (10 rows)
通过每次获取不通的数据量来观察每次explain的执行方式
edbstore=# show work_mem; work_mem ---------- 1MB (1 row) edbstore=# EXPLAIN analyze SELECT * FROM test WHERE id <= 10 ORDER BY random_text ASC; QUERY PLAN ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sort (cost=8.73..8.75 rows=9 width=35) (actual time=0.188..0.202 rows=10 loops=1) Sort Key: random_text Sort Method: quicksort Memory: 25kB -> Index Scan using test_pkey on test (cost=0.42..8.58 rows=9 width=35) (actual time=0.018..0.037 rows=10 loops=1) Index Cond: (id <= 10) Planning time: 1.435 ms Execution time: 0.294 ms (7 rows) edbstore=# EXPLAIN analyze SELECT * FROM test WHERE id <= 100 ORDER BY random_text ASC; QUERY PLAN ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sort (cost=13.50..13.75 rows=100 width=35) (actual time=0.870..1.027 rows=100 loops=1) Sort Key: random_text Sort Method: quicksort Memory: 34kB -> Index Scan using test_pkey on test (cost=0.42..10.18 rows=100 width=35) (actual time=0.022..0.218 rows=100 loops=1) Index Cond: (id <= 100) Planning time: 0.286 ms Execution time: 1.248 ms (7 rows) edbstore=# EXPLAIN analyze SELECT * FROM test WHERE id <= 1000 ORDER BY random_text ASC; QUERY PLAN ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sort (cost=92.57..95.10 rows=1011 width=35) (actual time=8.846..10.251 rows=1000 loops=1) Sort Key: random_text Sort Method: quicksort Memory: 112kB -> Index Scan using test_pkey on test (cost=0.42..42.12 rows=1011 width=35) (actual time=0.027..2.474 rows=1000 loops=1) Index Cond: (id <= 1000) Planning time: 0.286 ms Execution time: 11.584 ms (7 rows) edbstore=# EXPLAIN analyze SELECT * FROM test WHERE id <= 10000 ORDER BY random_text ASC; QUERY PLAN ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sort (cost=1049.39..1074.68 rows=10116 width=35) (actual time=144.963..160.943 rows=10000 loops=1) Sort Key: random_text Sort Method: external merge Disk: 448kB -> Index Scan using test_pkey on test (cost=0.42..376.45 rows=10116 width=35) (actual time=0.063..22.225 rows=10000 loops=1) Index Cond: (id <= 10000) Planning time: 0.149 ms Execution time: 173.841 ms (7 rows) edbstore=# EXPLAIN analyze SELECT * FROM test WHERE id <= 100000 ORDER BY random_text ASC; QUERY PLAN -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sort (cost=17477.39..17727.70 rows=100122 width=35) (actual time=1325.789..1706.516 rows=100000 loops=1) Sort Key: random_text Sort Method: external merge Disk: 4440kB -> Index Scan using test_pkey on test (cost=0.42..3680.56 rows=100122 width=35) (actual time=0.088..214.490 rows=100000 loops=1) Index Cond: (id <= 100000) Planning time: 0.147 ms Execution time: 1822.008 ms (7 rows) edbstore=# EXPLAIN analyze SELECT * FROM test WHERE id <= 1000000 ORDER BY random_text ASC; QUERY PLAN ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sort (cost=202426.34..204926.34 rows=1000000 width=35) (actual time=8703.143..10160.421 rows=1000000 loops=1) Sort Key: random_text Sort Method: external merge Disk: 44504kB -> Seq Scan on test (cost=0.00..20732.00 rows=1000000 width=35) (actual time=0.024..1021.491 rows=1000000 loops=1) Filter: (id <= 1000000) Planning time: 0.316 ms Execution time: 10577.464 ms (7 rows)
| row | Sort Method | Execution time |
| 10 | quicksort Memory: 25kB | 0.294 ms |
| 100 | Sort Method: quicksort Memory: 34kB | 1.248 ms |
| 1000 | Sort Method: quicksort Memory: 112kB | 11.584 ms |
| 10000 | Sort Method: external merge Disk: 448kB | 173.841 ms |
| 100000 | Sort Method: external merge Disk: 4440kB | 1822.008 ms |
| 1000000 | Sort Method: external merge Disk: 44504kB | 10577.464 ms |
通过上图我们可以看到，当sort的数据大于一万条时，explain显示排序方法从 quicksort in memory, 到external merge disk method，说明此时的work_mem的大小不能满足我们在内存的sort和hash表的需求。此时我们将work_mem参数的值调大
edbstore=# set work_mem="500MB"; SET edbstore=# EXPLAIN analyze SELECT * FROM test WHERE id <= 1000000 ORDER BY random_text ASC; QUERY PLAN ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sort (cost=120389.84..122889.84 rows=1000000 width=35) (actual time=6232.270..6884.121 rows=1000000 loops=1) Sort Key: random_text Sort Method: quicksort Memory: 112847kB -> Seq Scan on test (cost=0.00..20732.00 rows=1000000 width=35) (actual time=0.015..659.035 rows=1000000 loops=1) Filter: (id <= 1000000) Planning time: 0.125 ms Execution time: 7302.621 ms (7 rows)
| row | Sort Method | Execution time |
| 1000000 | quicksort Memory: 112847kB | 6887.851 ms |
可以发现sort method从merg disk变成quicksort in memory。
https://www.depesz.com/2011/07/03/understanding-postgresql-conf-work_mem/