Home > Workload Solutions > SQL Server > Best Practices > Intel-Based SQL Server Best Practices on Dell PowerEdge R750xs and PowerStore 5000T > Consolidated Best Practices > Red Hat Enterprise Linux: Last Accessed Time (atime)
In this best practice we changed the default Linux XFS mount option per Red Hat Enterprise Linux guidelines.
Overview
The Linux operating system tracks the last time a file was accessed, a specification referred to as atime. For example, when the Linux operating system reads data from a data file, the access time is updated. Database frequently access data files and updating the access time with each access represents an overhead on the operating system possibly impacting performance.
It is possible to specify no access time (noatime), meaning the Linux operating system will not update the access time for files. The goal of this best practice was to reduce associated overhead and increase efficiency by setting the operating system to noatime.
Implementation Steps
To set noatime:
Note: A remount of the file system is required.
Additional resources
Red Hat Customer Portal: Optimizing RHEL 8 for Real Time for low latency operation