altMethod R is a fast, effective, commonsense approach to optimizing a system. It was first documented in the book Optimizing Oracle Performancealt by Method R founding members Cary Millsap and Jeff Holt.

Method R prescribes four simple steps:

  1. Identify the task that's the most important to you.
  2. Measure its response time (R). In detail.
  4. Repeat until your system is economically optimal.

Method R was first described in courseware written in 1999 through 2002 by Method R founder Cary Millsap and chief scientist Jeff Holt, before they finished the bookalt in 2003, for which Cary and Jeff were named Oracle Magazine 2004 Author of the Year. Method R is described in Chapter 1.

Method R has been used extensively at Oracle sites throughout the 2000s, with tremendous success.

Although Method R was first documented in an Oracle context, its usefulness extends far beyond that Oracle context. In fact, the definition of Method R does not refer specifically to Oracle, databases, or even computers.