Re: I/O on select count(*)

Alvaro Herrera wrote:

> pg_clog is allocated in pages of 8kB apiece(*). On allocation, pages are
> zeroed, which is the bit pattern for "transaction in progress". So when
> a transaction starts, it only needs to ensure that the pg_clog page that
> corresponds to it is allocated, but it need not write anything to it.

Of course, in 8.3 it's not when the transaction starts, but when the Xid
is assigned (i.e. when the transaction first calls a read-write
command). In previous versions it happens when the first snapshot is
taken (i.e. normally on the first command of any type, with very few
exceptions.)

--
Alvaro Herrera http://www.CommandPrompt.com/
The PostgreSQL Company - Command Prompt, Inc.