Customized Customer Grid causing MySQL table scans and filesorts aka slow performance

Question

Magento Enterprise. 1.10.1.1. The data set of customers and addresses are semi-large (125k+) CSRs are often on this grid (sometimes 25+ concurrent users at a time).

Here is the code snippet were the collection is being generated in the Customer Grid.php Block file. Nothing fancy or out of ordinary, simply adding attributes to the collection mainly.

$collection = Mage::getResourceModel('customer/customer_collection')
    ->addNameToSelect()
    ->addAttributeToSelect('email')
    ->addAttributeToSelect('group_id')
    ->addAttributeToSelect('prod_codes')
    ->addAttributeToSelect('last_called_date')
    ->addAttributeToSelect('time_zone')
    ->addAttributeToSelect('salesrep')
    ->addAttributeToSelect('do_not_call')
    ->addAttributeToSelect('club_member')
    ->addAttributeToSelect('call_back_date')
    ->addAttributeToSelect('marketing_code_outcome')
    ->joinAttribute('billing_postcode', 'customer_address/postcode', 'default_billing', null, 'left')
    ->joinAttribute('billing_city', 'customer_address/city', 'default_billing', null, 'left')
    ->joinAttribute('billing_telephone', 'customer_address/telephone', 'default_billing', null, 'left')
    ->joinAttribute('billing_region', 'customer_address/region', 'default_billing', null, 'left');

$this->setCollection($collection);

Generates this query, which is misbehaving causing very long load times while in the customer grid:

SELECT 
    e . *,
    _table_prefix.value AS prefix,
    _table_firstname.value AS firstname,
    _table_middlename.value AS middlename,
    _table_lastname.value AS lastname,
    _table_suffix.value AS suffix,
    CONCAT(IF(_table_prefix.value IS NOT NULL AND _table_prefix.value != '',
                CONCAT(TRIM(_table_prefix.value), ' '),
                ''),
            TRIM(_table_firstname.value),
            IF(_table_middlename.value IS NOT NULL AND _table_middlename.value != '',
                CONCAT(' ', TRIM(_table_middlename.value)),
                ''),
            ' ',
            TRIM(_table_lastname.value),
            IF(_table_suffix.value IS NOT NULL AND _table_suffix.value != '',
                CONCAT(' ', TRIM(_table_suffix.value)),
                '')) AS name,
    _table_default_billing.value AS default_billing,
    _table_billing_postcode.value AS billing_postcode,
    _table_billing_city.value AS billing_city,
    _table_billing_telephone.value AS billing_telephone,
    _table_billing_region.value AS billing_region
FROM
    customer_entity AS e
        LEFT JOIN
    customer_entity_varchar AS _table_prefix ON (_table_prefix.entity_id = e.entity_id) AND (_table_prefix.attribute_id = '4')
        LEFT JOIN
    customer_entity_varchar AS _table_firstname ON (_table_firstname.entity_id = e.entity_id) AND (_table_firstname.attribute_id = '5')
        LEFT JOIN
    customer_entity_varchar AS _table_middlename ON (_table_middlename.entity_id = e.entity_id) AND (_table_middlename.attribute_id = '6')
        LEFT JOIN
    customer_entity_varchar AS _table_lastname ON (_table_lastname.entity_id = e.entity_id) AND (_table_lastname.attribute_id = '7')
        LEFT JOIN
    customer_entity_varchar AS _table_suffix ON (_table_suffix.entity_id = e.entity_id) AND (_table_suffix.attribute_id = '8')
        LEFT JOIN
    customer_entity_int AS _table_default_billing ON (_table_default_billing.entity_id = e.entity_id) AND (_table_default_billing.attribute_id = '13')
        LEFT JOIN
    customer_address_entity_varchar AS _table_billing_postcode ON (_table_billing_postcode.entity_id = _table_default_billing.value) AND (_table_billing_postcode.attribute_id = '29')
        LEFT JOIN
    customer_address_entity_varchar AS _table_billing_city ON (_table_billing_city.entity_id = _table_default_billing.value) AND (_table_billing_city.attribute_id = '25')
        LEFT JOIN
    customer_address_entity_varchar AS _table_billing_telephone ON (_table_billing_telephone.entity_id = _table_default_billing.value) AND (_table_billing_telephone.attribute_id = '30')
        LEFT JOIN
    customer_address_entity_varchar AS _table_billing_region ON (_table_billing_region.entity_id = _table_default_billing.value) AND (_table_billing_region.attribute_id = '27')
WHERE
    (e.entity_type_id = '1')
ORDER BY CONCAT(IF(_table_prefix.value IS NOT NULL AND _table_prefix.value != '',
            CONCAT(TRIM(_table_prefix.value), ' '),
            ''),
        TRIM(_table_firstname.value),
        IF(_table_middlename.value IS NOT NULL AND _table_middlename.value != '',
            CONCAT(' ', TRIM(_table_middlename.value)),
            ''),
        ' ',
        TRIM(_table_lastname.value),
        IF(_table_suffix.value IS NOT NULL AND _table_suffix.value != '',
            CONCAT(' ', TRIM(_table_suffix.value)),
            '')) desc
LIMIT 20 OFFSET 60

an EXPLAIN on the query shows, NOTE the Extra on table e, Using temporary and Using filesort:

*************************** 1. row ***************************
           id: 1
  select_type: SIMPLE
        table: e
         type: ref
possible_keys: IDX_ENTITY_TYPE
          key: IDX_ENTITY_TYPE
      key_len: 2
          ref: const
         rows: 55556
        Extra: Using temporary; Using filesort
*************************** 2. row ***************************
           id: 1
  select_type: SIMPLE
        table: _table_prefix
         type: eq_ref
possible_keys: IDX_ATTRIBUTE_VALUE,FK_CUSTOMER_VARCHAR_ATTRIBUTE,FK_CUSTOMER_VARCHAR_ENTITY,IDX_VALUE
          key: IDX_ATTRIBUTE_VALUE
      key_len: 6
          ref: prod.e.entity_id,const
         rows: 1
        Extra:
*************************** 3. row ***************************
           id: 1
  select_type: SIMPLE
        table: _table_firstname
         type: eq_ref
possible_keys: IDX_ATTRIBUTE_VALUE,FK_CUSTOMER_VARCHAR_ATTRIBUTE,FK_CUSTOMER_VARCHAR_ENTITY,IDX_VALUE
          key: IDX_ATTRIBUTE_VALUE
      key_len: 6
          ref: prod.e.entity_id,const
         rows: 1
        Extra:
*************************** 4. row ***************************
           id: 1
  select_type: SIMPLE
        table: _table_middlename
         type: eq_ref
possible_keys: IDX_ATTRIBUTE_VALUE,FK_CUSTOMER_VARCHAR_ATTRIBUTE,FK_CUSTOMER_VARCHAR_ENTITY,IDX_VALUE
          key: IDX_ATTRIBUTE_VALUE
      key_len: 6
          ref: prod.e.entity_id,const
         rows: 1
        Extra:
*************************** 5. row ***************************
           id: 1
  select_type: SIMPLE
        table: _table_lastname
         type: eq_ref
possible_keys: IDX_ATTRIBUTE_VALUE,FK_CUSTOMER_VARCHAR_ATTRIBUTE,FK_CUSTOMER_VARCHAR_ENTITY,IDX_VALUE
          key: IDX_ATTRIBUTE_VALUE
      key_len: 6
          ref: prod.e.entity_id,const
         rows: 1
        Extra:
*************************** 6. row ***************************
           id: 1
  select_type: SIMPLE
        table: _table_suffix
         type: eq_ref
possible_keys: IDX_ATTRIBUTE_VALUE,FK_CUSTOMER_VARCHAR_ATTRIBUTE,FK_CUSTOMER_VARCHAR_ENTITY,IDX_VALUE
          key: IDX_ATTRIBUTE_VALUE
      key_len: 6
          ref: prod.e.entity_id,const
         rows: 1
        Extra:
*************************** 7. row ***************************
           id: 1
  select_type: SIMPLE
        table: _table_default_billing
         type: eq_ref
possible_keys: IDX_ATTRIBUTE_VALUE,FK_CUSTOMER_INT_ATTRIBUTE,FK_CUSTOMER_INT_ENTITY,IDX_VALUE
          key: IDX_ATTRIBUTE_VALUE
      key_len: 6
          ref: prod.e.entity_id,const
         rows: 1
        Extra:
*************************** 8. row ***************************
           id: 1
  select_type: SIMPLE
        table: _table_billing_postcode
         type: eq_ref
possible_keys: IDX_ATTRIBUTE_VALUE,FK_CUSTOMER_ADDRESS_VARCHAR_ATTRIBUTE,FK_CUSTOMER_ADDRESS_VARCHAR_ENTITY,IDX_VALUE
          key: IDX_ATTRIBUTE_VALUE
      key_len: 6
          ref: prod._table_default_billing.value,const
         rows: 1
        Extra:
*************************** 9. row ***************************
           id: 1
  select_type: SIMPLE
        table: _table_billing_city
         type: eq_ref
possible_keys: IDX_ATTRIBUTE_VALUE,FK_CUSTOMER_ADDRESS_VARCHAR_ATTRIBUTE,FK_CUSTOMER_ADDRESS_VARCHAR_ENTITY,IDX_VALUE
          key: IDX_ATTRIBUTE_VALUE
      key_len: 6
          ref: prod._table_default_billing.value,const
         rows: 1
        Extra:
*************************** 10. row ***************************
           id: 1
  select_type: SIMPLE
        table: _table_billing_telephone
         type: eq_ref
possible_keys: IDX_ATTRIBUTE_VALUE,FK_CUSTOMER_ADDRESS_VARCHAR_ATTRIBUTE,FK_CUSTOMER_ADDRESS_VARCHAR_ENTITY,IDX_VALUE
          key: IDX_ATTRIBUTE_VALUE
      key_len: 6
          ref: prod._table_default_billing.value,const
         rows: 1
        Extra:
*************************** 11. row ***************************
           id: 1
  select_type: SIMPLE
        table: _table_billing_region
         type: eq_ref
possible_keys: IDX_ATTRIBUTE_VALUE,FK_CUSTOMER_ADDRESS_VARCHAR_ATTRIBUTE,FK_CUSTOMER_ADDRESS_VARCHAR_ENTITY,IDX_VALUE
          key: IDX_ATTRIBUTE_VALUE
      key_len: 6
          ref: prod._table_default_billing.value,const
         rows: 1
        Extra:
11 rows in set (0.00 sec)

No indexes have been modified other than the default ones from Magento themselves for 1.10.1 See Structure of 1.5.1 (CE) here: http://www.magereverse.com/index/magento-sql-structure/version/1-5-1-0

Here is the alias table referred to AS e. on the scan:

CREATE TABLE `customer_entity` (
    `entity_id` INT(10) UNSIGNED NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
    `entity_type_id` SMALLINT(8) UNSIGNED NOT NULL DEFAULT '0',
    `attribute_set_id` SMALLINT(5) UNSIGNED NOT NULL DEFAULT '0',
    `website_id` SMALLINT(5) UNSIGNED NULL DEFAULT NULL,
    `email` VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL DEFAULT '',
    `group_id` SMALLINT(3) UNSIGNED NOT NULL DEFAULT '0',
    `increment_id` VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL DEFAULT '',
    `store_id` SMALLINT(5) UNSIGNED NULL DEFAULT '0',
    `created_at` DATETIME NOT NULL DEFAULT '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
    `updated_at` DATETIME NOT NULL DEFAULT '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
    `is_active` TINYINT(1) UNSIGNED NOT NULL DEFAULT '1',
    PRIMARY KEY (`entity_id`),
    INDEX `FK_CUSTOMER_ENTITY_STORE` (`store_id`),
    INDEX `IDX_ENTITY_TYPE` (`entity_type_id`),
    INDEX `IDX_AUTH` (`email`, `website_id`),
    INDEX `FK_CUSTOMER_WEBSITE` (`website_id`),
    CONSTRAINT `FK_CUSTOMER_ENTITY_STORE` FOREIGN KEY (`store_id`) REFERENCES `core_store` (`store_id`) ON UPDATE CASCADE ON DELETE SET NULL,
    CONSTRAINT `FK_CUSTOMER_WEBSITE` FOREIGN KEY (`website_id`) REFERENCES `core_website` (`website_id`) ON UPDATE CASCADE ON DELETE SET NULL
)

So the question is how can I get this query to perform better and not cause the temporary tables being created and scanned.

I'm not exactly sure what I can index to improve this queries performance, and I don't want to dig too much into modifying Magento's ORM.

Answer 1

I'm not familiar with Magento Enterprise, but from MySQL point of view I'd look for a way to replace this

ORDER BY CONCAT(IF(_table_prefix.value IS NOT NULL AND _table_prefix.value != '',
            CONCAT(TRIM(_table_prefix.value), ' '),
            ''),
        TRIM(_table_firstname.value),
        IF(_table_middlename.value IS NOT NULL AND _table_middlename.value != '',
            CONCAT(' ', TRIM(_table_middlename.value)),
            ''),
        ' ',
        TRIM(_table_lastname.value),
        IF(_table_suffix.value IS NOT NULL AND _table_suffix.value != '',
            CONCAT(' ', TRIM(_table_suffix.value)),
            '')) desc

with pre-calculated value of name. This will remove double calculation.