# Patent

## Title
Database system having a service level goal responsive regulator

## Abstract

A database system includes a regulator subsystem that is configured to attempt to satisfy service level goals of multiple workloads that are executing in the database system. The regulator subsystem is configured to monitor execution of a particular request belonging to a particular workload and to assign, at plural event intervals, corresponding priority levels to the particular request based on the monitored execution.

## Background
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 11/027,896, filed Dec. 30, 2004 (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0026179), which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 10/730,348, filed Dec. 8, 2003 (U.S. Pat. No. 7,395,537), which are each hereby incorporated by reference.


TECHNICAL FIELD
The invention relates generally to a database system having a service level goal (SLG)-responsive regulator to monitor and regulate performance of requests to automatically meet SLGs.
BACKGROUND
A database is a collection of logically related data arranged in a predetermined format, such as in tables that contain rows and columns. To access the content of a table in the database, queries according to a standard database query language (such as the Structured Query Language or SQL) are submitted to the database. A query can also be issued to insert new entries into a table of a database (such as to insert a row into the table), modify the content of the table, or to delete entries from the table. Examples of SQL statements include INSERT, SELECT, UPDATE, and DELETE.
There can be diverse types of workloads that can execute in a database management system. Some workloads may include low priority requests, such as background load requests or reporting requests. Another type of workload can include requests that are relatively complex. Yet other workloads include requests that have short durations but very high priorities. Yet another type of workload includes continuous or batch requests, which run for a relatively long time.
Conventional database management systems do not properly respond to various internal or external events that may impact performance of the various different types of workloads that may be concurrently running in the database management system. Examples of such internal or external events include unforeseen events (e.g., request volume surge, exhaustion of shared resources, component outages) or even planned situations (e.g., systems maintenance or data load). Also, conventional database management systems fail to properly consider the impact of inaccurate estimates provided by an optimizer in the database system on whether or not the database management system would be able to meet service level goals associated with the workloads.
SUMMARY
In general, according to an embodiment, a database system includes a regulator that regulates to achieve defined service level goals (SLGs). The regulator is configured to monitor execution of a particular request belonging to a particular workload and to assign, at plural event intervals, corresponding priority levels to the particular request based on the monitored execution and based on an SLG.
Other or alternative features will become apparent from the following description, from the drawings, and from the claims.



BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary database system that includes a regulator subsystem in accordance with an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of a process of regulating workloads, in accordance with an embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a graph illustrating adjustments, by a micro-regulator in the regulator subsystem, of priority levels that are assigned to a particular request, in accordance with an embodiment.



DETAILED DESCRIPTION
In accordance with some embodiments, a database management system (or more simply, “database system”) receives performance goals (service level goals or SLGs for each request) for workloads as inputs (these inputs can be user defined) and dynamically adjusts the database system's performance knobs, such as by allocating database system resources using the SLGs as a guide. In one example, the performance knobs are referred to as priority scheduler knobs. When the priority scheduler knobs are adjusted, priority settings (resource access rates) assigned to a request are changed. Adjusting how these priorities are assigned modifies the way shared CPU (central processing unit), disk storage, memory, queue, cache, and/or network resources are allocated among requests.
An ‘SLG” or “service level goal” refers to a predefined set of one or more performance criteria that are to be satisfied during execution of a request. The SLG can be defined by a database administrator, for example. In some examples, an SLG can be any one or more of the following: a target response time; a target service level; an enforcement policy, and so forth. In a more specific example, the SLG for requests of a particular workload group can be “≦1 second @ 95,” which means that each such request should execute within one second 95% of the time. Another example SLG can be “1,000 queries per hour.”
The term “request” refers to a database query (e.g., Structured Query Language or SQL query) that is processed by the database system to produce an output result. Alternatively, a “request” can refer to a utility, such as a load utility to perform loading of data from a source to a target. A “workload” (or alternatively “workload group”) is a set of requests that have common characteristics, such as an application that issued the requests, a source of the requests, type of query, priority, response time goals, throughput, and so forth. A workload group is defined by a workload definition, which defines characteristics of the workload group as well as various rules associated with the workload group. A “multi-class workload” is an environment with more than one workload.
The workload groups may be divided into workload groups of different priorities. A low priority workload group may include low priority requests such as background load requests or reporting requests. Another type of workload group includes requests that have short durations but high priorities. Yet another type of workload group includes continuous or batch requests, which run for a relatively long time.
Automatically managing and adjusting assignment of database system resources (CPU, disk storage, memory, queue, cache, network, and so forth) to achieve a set of per-workload response time goals for a complex multi-class workload is challenging because of the inter-dependence between workloads that result from their competition for shared resources.
In accordance with some embodiments, a database system is provided with a regulator subsystem in a “closed-loop” workload management architecture to satisfy a set of workload-specific goals. The closed-loop workload management architecture is an automated goal-oriented workload management system capable of supporting complex workloads and capable of self-adjusting to various types of workloads. The database system's operation has four major phases: (1) assigning incoming requests to workload groups, and assigning goals (called service level goals or SLGs) to the workload groups; (2) monitoring the execution of the workload groups against their goals; (3) regulating (adjusting and managing) the workload flow and priorities to achieve the service level goals; and (4) correlating the results of workloads and taking action to improve performance.
The regulator subsystem according to some embodiments performs phases (1)-(3) identified above. Phase (4) can be accomplished in several ways: (1) through performance tuning recommendations such as the creation or modification of index definitions or other supplements to table data, or to recollect statistics, or other performance tuning actions, (2) through capacity planning recommendations (e.g., increasing system power), (3) through utilization of results to enable optimizer self-learning, and (4) through recommending adjustments to service level goals of one workload to better complement the SLGs of another workload that might be impacted. All or some of the above actions can either be enacted automatically, or after “consultation” with a database administrator (“DBA”).
The regulator subsystem according to some embodiments includes a macro-regulator and a micro-regulator. In some implementations, the goal of the macro-regulator is to attempt to satisfy service level goals of all workloads (or stated differently, to achieve a “simultaneous solution” for all workloads), while the goal of the micro-regulator is to attempt to find a solution for every individual request in a workload independently while avoiding solutions for one workload that prohibits solutions for other workloads. Such an approach significantly simplifies the problem, finds solutions relatively quickly, and discovers a reasonable simultaneous solution in a large number of cases. While the macro-regulator provides control over response times at a coarse level (at the workload level), the micro-regulator will focus on individual requests.
The micro-regulator initially assigns, to a particular request, a first priority level that corresponds to a particular workload group to which the particular request belongs. Subsequently, at intermittent event intervals (or steps), the micro-regulator is to able to change the priority level assigned to the particular request based on a monitored execution of the particular request and whether the particular request is anticipated to meet a service level goal. The event intervals can be time intervals or other types of intervals, such as operational event intervals (where the micro-regulator can change priority levels in response to certain events occurring during operation of the system), system health intervals (where the micro-regulator can change priority levels in response to certain health conditions of the system), user-defined event intervals, and so forth. In some embodiments, to increase the likelihood that the particular request will meet the service level goal, the micro-regulator is able to dynamically increase or decrease the priority level assigned to the particular request based on the micro-regulator determining whether or not execution of the particular request is meeting the service level goal. “Dynamically” increasing or decreasing (adjusting) the priority level assigned to the particular request means that the adjustment is made based on receiving feedback regarding the execution of the request and whether or not the service level goal will be met. In a more specific embodiment, the micro-regulator can exponentially increase (or otherwise adjust) the priority level assigned to the particular request if the micro-regulator determines that execution of the particular request is struggling to meet the service level goal. “Exponentially” increasing the priority level assigned to a request means that a priority level is assigned according to the following relationship:

Priority Level=c·bi,

where c is a predefined constant, b is a base (which can be the exponent e or a positive real number), and i is an adjustable number increased by the micro-regulator to exponentially increase the priority level assigned to the request.

More generally, the micro-regulator is able to increase (or otherwise adjust) the priority level assigned to a request in a non-linear manner to increase the likelihood of a request meeting a service level goal. Another example of non-liner increases of priority levels involves an im relationship, where m>1, and i is increased to non-linearly increase the assigned priority level. Note that if m is equal to one, then adjusting i to increase the assigned priority level would result in a linear increase. In other embodiments, other types of dynamic variation of priority levels can be performed.
FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary database system 100 in which some embodiments of the invention can be incorporated. The database system 100 can include multiple nodes 105 (just one node depicted in FIG. 1). Each node 105 includes one or more processing modules 110 connected to a network 115. The processing modules 100 manage the storage and retrieval of data in respective data-storage facilities 120. Each of the processing modules 110 may be one or more physical processors or may be a virtual processor, with one or more virtual processors running on one or more physical processors.
Each processing module 110 manages a portion of a database that is stored in a corresponding one of the data-storage facilities 120. Each data-storage facility 120 includes one or more disk drives or other types of storage devices. The nodes 105 of the database system are interconnected by the network 115.
As depicted in FIG. 1, a table 125 is distributed across the data-storage facilities 120, where different rows 127 of the table 125 can be distributed across the data-storage facilities. In response to a request, one or more of the processing modules 110 can be instructed to retrieve corresponding rows from the table 125 to provide a result to the querying client (which can be one of the client systems 140).
The node 105 also includes a parsing engine 130, which has a parser 132 and a dispatcher 134. The parser 132 receives database queries (such as those submitted by client systems 140 over a network 142), parses each received query, and generates executable steps for the parsed query. The parser 132 includes an optimizer 136 that generates query plans in response to a query, selecting the most efficient from among the plural query plans. The dispatcher 134 sends the executable steps of the query plan generated by the parser 132 to multiple processing modules 110 in the node 105. The processing modules 110 execute the steps. If the query specifies retrieval of data from the table 125, then the retrieved data is sent back by the database system 100 to the querying client system 140 for storage or display at the client system 140 (which can be a computer, personal digital assistant, etc.).
The dispatcher 134 includes a regulator subsystem 138 according to an embodiment. Note that parts of the regulator subsystem 138 can also be in the processing modules 110 (not depicted), since the regulator subsystem 138 also monitors execution of requests, as discussed below. The regulator subsystem has a macro-regulator 150 and a micro-regulator 152. Note that each of the macro- and micro-regulators can be implemented with one or more software modules. In some cases, a particular software module can perform both tasks of the macro-regulator 150 and the micro-regulator 152
In embodiments with multiple parsing engines, each parsing engine can have a regulator subsystem.
Operation of the regulator subsystem 138 is illustrated in more detail in FIG. 2. The regulator subsystem 138 dynamically monitors workload characteristics (defined by the optimizer 136) using request level metrics within a workload based on past and current performance of the system that guide two feedback mechanisms. The regulator subsystem 138 controls performance of execution of requests to achieve service level goals both before a request begins execution and at periodic intervals during query execution (the SLG-responsive element of the micro-regulation).
Prior to query execution, an incoming request is examined (at 202) by the optimizer 136. In generating query plans and selecting an optimal one of the query plans for submission to the processing modules 110 for execution, the optimizer 136 can generate an estimate of the response time (elapsed time) that provides an indication of how long the request should execute in the database system. Note that estimates can also be generated for every individual step of the request, and a sum of the estimates for the individual steps provides the estimate of the entire request Moreover, in accordance with some embodiments, the optimizer 136 can generate resource estimates, including estimates of CPU usage, input/output (I/O) usage, and network usage, for each step of the request. The optimizer can produce the estimates of CPU usage, I/O usage, and network usage based on a cost model. For example, the optimizer 136 can retrieve information relating to the CPU capacity, which can be expressed in terms of millions of instructions per second (MIPS). Also, the optimizer 136, as part of its normal optimization tasks, can estimate the cardinalities of tables and intermediate spool files that are involved in execution of the request. Based on the estimated cardinalities and the CPU capacity, the optimizer 136 is able to estimate the CPU usage that is expected for execution of the request. The CPU usage can be performed on a per-step basis for each step of the query plan. Note that different steps can access different tables or different parts of tables across different access modules in the system.
Similarly, the optimizer 136 can also retrieve information regarding memory size (size of high-speed memory that can be used to temporarily store data). Based on the memory size and the expected accesses of data in base tables and intermediate tables that will be involved in each step of a query plan, the optimizer 136 is able to estimate the expected I/O usage for each step. The I/O usage includes I/O accesses of disk storage (e.g., the number of block I/Os to read from or write to a table or index).
Moreover, the optimizer 136 is able to determine which data-storage facilities 120 store data involved in the execution of the request. For each step of the query plan, the optimizer 136 is able to estimate how much inter-processor module or inter-node traffic is expected—this will allow the optimizer 136 to estimate the network usage (usage of the network 115 of FIG. 1) is expected for each step.
Based on the response time estimate, and/or based on the resource estimates (CPU usage, I/O usage, and network usage), and/or based on other classification criteria for the workload, the micro-regulator 152 assigns (at 204) the request to one of the multiple workload groups that have been defined. The assignment is based on accessing workload group rules 205 (as defined by workload definitions) to match characteristics of the request as identified by the optimizer 136 with various workload definition rules. The workload group corresponding to the workload definition rules most closely matching the characteristics of the request is identified, where the incoming request is assigned to the identified workload group.
Next, the macro-regulator 152 performs throttling (at 206), where the macro-regulator 152 determines whether or not an incoming request is to be immediately scheduled for execution or whether the incoming request should be held for later execution. As part of the throttling performed at 206, the macro-regulator 152 can also consider concurrency levels—the maximum number of concurrent executing requests from each workload group. The macro-regulator 152 monitors the concurrency levels of the workload groups, and if the concurrency level of the corresponding workload group (that the incoming request is assigned to) is above a predefined threshold (which means that there are too many concurrent executing requests for this workload group), then the incoming request for that workload group waits in a queue for later execution until the concurrency level for this workload group subsides below the defined threshold.
If an incoming request can be scheduled for immediate execution, the macro-regulator places (at 208) the incoming request into one of multiple workload group buckets 210 (as defined by corresponding workload definitions). The “buckets” 210 can be execution queues that contain requests scheduled for execution.
Next, the micro-regulator performs SLG-responsive micro-regulation (at 212) at the request level. The micro-regulator 152 selects a request from one of the buckets 210, in an order determined by the enforcement priority associated with each of the workload groups, and executes (214) the selected request.
The SLG-responsive micro-regulation task 212 performed by the micro-regulator 152 includes adjusting the assignment of system resources for an individual request by adjusting a priority level (also referred to as a “resource access rate”) of the request. In this way, service level impacts for requests that are part of high priority workload groups can be reduced. Increasing the resource access rate for a request means that the request would be granted more frequent access to one or more database system resources (e.g., CPU, I/O, network, etc.).
The SLG-responsive micro-regulation 212 can also include lowering the priority level (resource access rate) of an individual request based on its workload group assignment and associated service level goal to free up system resources.
As part of the SLG-responsive micro-regulation 212, the micro-regulator 152 monitors execution of the request and reports (at 215) progress information, for example, for each request and for each workgroup, to an SLG-responsive resource monitoring module 216 (which is also part of the regulator subsystem 138 of FIG. 1). The SLG-responsive resource monitoring module 216 performs (at 224) feedback detection and adjustment, which includes comparing the progress information from the micro-regulator 152 with workload rules 205 and stores any exceptions (e.g., throughput deviations from the workload rules) in an exception log/queue 218. Based on the comparison, the SLG-responsive resource monitoring module 216 provides (at 226) priority level (resource access rate) adjustments to the SLG-responsive micro-regulation task 212, which adjusts system priority (resource access rates) accordingly. Note that the part of the SLG-responsive resource monitor 216 that considers the progress information and provides the priority adjustments can be considered to be part of the micro-regulator 152.
The feedback detection and adjustment 224 is performed at a subsystem level, wherein a “subsystem” can refer to the part of the database system 100 corresponding to one dispatcher 134 (FIG. 1). In addition, further feedback detection and adjustment 230 performed by the SLG-responsive resource monitor 216 can also be performed at the system level (where “system” refers to the entire database system in one embodiment). The system feedback detection and adjustment 230 also provides (at 232) priority level adjustments to the micro-regulation task 212. The system detection and adjustment 230 also provides (at 234) data regarding workload performance (at the system level) against workload rules back to the throttling task 206.
The micro-regulator 152 is able to make a decision to assign a particular priority level (in response to the adjustment information provided at 226 and 232 by the SLG-responsive resource monitoring module 216) at each of multiple time intervals. In other words, at periodic or intermittent time intervals (e.g., one second or less, such as milliseconds or microseconds), the micro-regulator 152 is able to adjust the priority level of the request. By setting the intermittent time intervals relatively short, more frequent adjustment of priority levels during execution of a particular request can be performed. For example, as depicted in FIG. 3, a curve 300 represents the relationship between the assigned resource access rate (or priority level) to a particular request over time. Each diamond on the curve 300 represents an assigned priority level. A vertical dashed line 302 represents the service level goal (expressed in terms of total execution time) of the particular request that is being executed.
In the example of FIG. 3, it is noted that as the overall time of execution of the particular request approaches the to service level goal (SLG) time point (302), the priority level assigned to the priority request increases according to a generally exponential or other non-linear relationship, as explained above. The initial priority level that is assigned to the particular request (when the particular request is initially started for execution) can be set by the micro-regulator 152 at the priority level associated with the workload group to which the particular request belongs. Then, over time, the priority level can be adjusted. In the example of FIG. 3, each diamond point on the curve 300 represents a selection of a priority level made by the micro-regulator 152 at each corresponding time interval.
The ability to non-linearly (or otherwise dynamically) adjust the priority level of a request by the micro-regulator 152 improves the likelihood in the request meeting its associated service level goal, particularly when the execution of the request is struggling to meet the service level goal.
As part of the SLG-responsive micro-regulation task (212), if the micro-regulator 152 determines that the request will never meet the respective service level goal, then the micro-regulator 152 can make a decision to allow the request to miss the SLG. More generally, a prioritization can be provided of which requests get bumped out of their SLGs (are allowed to miss their SLGs), when insufficient processing budget exists.
If it is determined that, due to the current resource demands and mix of requests running in the database system, that all SLG-responsive requests cannot be met, then the prioritization noted above can dictate that requests associated with higher-enforcement-priority workloads will be less likely to miss their SLGs than those requests associated with lower-enforcement-priority workloads. This is because each request associated with an SLG-responsive workload begins with an access rate appropriate to its base enforcement priority, and is increased proportionally from that base in the event the SLG might be missed. Also, those workloads not subject to SLG-responsive prioritization would be more likely affected because their requests will not experience any access rate increases at all.
As can be seen in FIG. 2, the system provides two feedback loops, indicated by the circular arrows 220 and 222. The first feedback loop (220) includes the micro-regulator 152 and the SLG-responsive resource monitoring module 216. In this first feedback loop (220), the system monitors on a short-term basis the execution of requests (within a workload) to detect deviations greater than a short-term threshold from the defined service level for the workload group to which the requests were defined. If such deviations are detected, the regulator subsystem adjusts the assignment of priority level to requests.
The second feedback lop (222) includes the macro-regulator 150, the micro-regulator 152, and the SLG-responsive resource monitoring module 216. In this second feedback loop, the system monitors on a long-term basis to detect deviations from the expected level of service greater than a long-term threshold. If it does, the system adjusts the execution of requests, e.g., by changing to another workload group, delaying, swapping out or aborting requests, to better provide the expected level of service for those requests that legitimately require that level of service. Monitoring on a long-term basis may include logging the deviations greater than the long-term threshold in an error log (such as log 218 in FIG. 2) or to a system queue table for asynchronous communication.
Using a mechanism according to some embodiments, the database system will be able to accept performance goals (service level goals) for workload groups and dynamically adjust the database system's performance knobs using the goals as a guide. Given performance objectives for each request in a workload, the database system will be able to find a knob setting that achieves the goal for one workload and at the same time makes it possible to achieve the goal for the other workloads. In other words, the ability to dynamically manage workloads (dynamically manage and adjust system resources by workload demands) achieves a set of response time goals. A benefit provided by some embodiments is that consistent response times can be delivered to users.
The various tasks discussed above can be performed by software, such as software implementing the optimizer 136 and regulation subsystem 138 (FIG. 1). Instructions of such software are loaded for execution on a processor, which includes microprocessors, microcontrollers, processor modules or subsystems (including one or more microprocessors or microcontrollers), or other control or computing devices. A “processor” can refer to a single component or to plural components.
Data and instructions (of the software) are stored in respective storage devices, which are implemented as one or more computer-readable or computer-usable storage media. The storage media include different forms of memory including semiconductor memory devices such as dynamic or static random access memories (DRAMs or SRAMs), erasable and programmable read-only memories (EPROMs), electrically erasable and programmable read-only memories (EEPROMs) and flash memories; magnetic disks such as fixed, floppy and removable disks; other magnetic media including tape; and optical media such as compact disks (CDs) or digital video disks (DVDs).
While the invention has been disclosed with respect to a limited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art will appreciate numerous modifications and variations therefrom. It is intended that the appended claims cover such modifications and variations as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

## Claims

1. A database system comprising:
at least one processor;
a regulator executable on the at least one processor to:
monitor execution of a particular request belonging to a particular one of plural workload groups and to assign, at plural event intervals, corresponding priority levels to the particular request based on the monitored execution and based on a service level goal (SLG) associated with the particular request, wherein the regulator is to initially assign, to the particular request, a first priority level that corresponds to the particular workload group, and wherein the regulator is to subsequently modify the priority level assigned to the particular request
decide to allow the particular request to miss the SLG in response to determining that it would not be possible for execution of the particular request to meet the SLG; and
establish a prioritization of which of multiple requests are allowed to miss their respective SLGs.

2. The database system of claim 1, wherein the regulator is to further:
send progress information collected based on the monitoring to a resource monitoring module to compare the progress information to predefined rules for the particular workload group;
receive adjustment information from the resource monitoring module in response to the comparing; and
use the adjustment information to adjust the priority level assigned to the particular request.

3. The database system of claim 1, wherein the regulator is responsive to feedback information based on the monitoring to modify the priority level dynamically to enhance a likelihood of execution of the particular request meeting the SLG.

4. The database system of claim 1, wherein the regulator is to further:
decide, based on determining available resources, whether or not to delay scheduling of new incoming requests associated with the workload groups.

5. The database system of claim 1, wherein the regulator is to further:
receive information regarding at least one characteristic of the particular request from an optimizer of the database system; and
based on the received information, assign the particular request to one of the workload groups.

6. The database system of claim 5, wherein the regulator is to further receive rules defined for the workload groups, wherein assigning the particular request to one of the workload groups is further based on the received rules.

7. The database system of claim 1, wherein establishment of the prioritization specifies that a given one of the multiple requests with a higher priority is less likely to miss its respective SLG than another of the multiple requests with a lower priority.

8. A database system comprising:
at least one processor;
a regulator executable on the at least one processor to:
monitor execution of a particular request belonging to a particular one of plural workload groups and to assign, at plural event intervals, corresponding priority levels to the particular request based on the monitored execution and based on a service level goal (SLG) associated with the particular request,
wherein the regulator is to initially assign, to the particular request, a first priority level that corresponds to the particular workload group, and wherein the regulator is to subsequently modify the priority level assigned to the particular request,
wherein the regulator is responsive to feedback information based on the monitoring to modify the priority level by increasing the priority level exponentially to enhance a likelihood of execution of the particular request meeting the SLG.

9. The database system of claim 8, wherein the regulator is to further decide to allow the particular request to miss the SLG in response to determining that it would not be possible for execution of the particular request to meet the SLG.

10. A method executed by at least one processor in a database system, comprising:
receiving an incoming request;
assigning the incoming request to one of a plurality of workload groups; and
regulating execution of workloads in the database system using a regulator subsystem, wherein regulating execution of the workloads comprises:
monitoring execution of the incoming request belonging to a particular one of the plurality of workload groups; and
assigning, at plural event intervals, corresponding priority levels to the incoming request based on the monitored execution, wherein the regulator subsystem initially assigns, to the incoming request, a first priority level that corresponds to the particular workload group, and wherein the regulator subsystem subsequently modifies the priority level assigned to the incoming request, wherein modifying the priority level comprises increasing the priority level exponentially to enhance a likelihood of execution of the incoming request meeting a service level goal associated with the incoming request.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising performing throttling to determine whether the incoming request is to be scheduled for execution or whether execution of the incoming request is to be delayed.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:
receiving information regarding at least one characteristic of the incoming request from an optimizer of the database system; and
wherein assigning the incoming request to one of a plurality of workload groups is based on the received information.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:
receiving rules defined for the plurality of workload groups, wherein assigning the particular request to one of the workload groups is further based on the received rules.

14. An article comprising at least one computer-readable storage medium containing instructions that when executed cause at least one processor in a database system to:
regulate execution of workloads in the database system using a regulator subsystem, wherein regulating execution of the workloads comprises:
monitoring execution of a particular request belonging to a particular one of a plurality of workload groups;
assigning, at plural event intervals, corresponding priority levels to the particular request based on the monitored execution, wherein the regulator subsystem initially assigns, to the particular request, a first priority level that corresponds to the particular workload group, and wherein the regulator subsystem subsequently modifies the priority level assigned to the particular request;
deciding to allow the particular request to miss a service level goal (SLG) associated with the particular request in response to determining that it would not be possible for execution of the particular request to meet the SLG; and
establishing a prioritization of which of multiple requests are allowed to miss their respective SLGs.

15. The article of claim 14, wherein modifying the priority level comprises dynamically adjusting the priority level to enhance a likelihood of execution of the particular request meeting a service level goal associated with the particular request.

16. The article of claim 14, wherein modifying the priority level comprises increasing the priority level non-linearly to enhance a likelihood of execution of the particular request meeting a service level goal associated with the particular request.

17. The article of claim 16, wherein increasing the priority level non-linearly includes increasing the priority level exponentially.

18. The article of claim 14, wherein establishment of the prioritization specifies that a given one of the multiple requests with a higher priority is less likely to miss its respective SLG than another of the multiple requests with a lower priority.