When statistics are loaded into a database created solely for performing “what-if” analysis on queries, the following steps must be performed first:
The database named in the input file must exist; it can be as small as 2MB. Since the database name occurs only once in the input file, you can change the database name, for example, from production to test_db.
All tables and indexes included in the input file must exist, but the tables do not need to contain data.
All caches named in the input file must exist. They can be the smallest possible cache size, 512K, with only a 2K pool. The simulated statistics provide the information for pool configuration.