Tuning for CLOB usage

Oracle 9iR2

We have recently implemented a new way of generating web pages from our app (mod_plsql) which involves storing the basic page template in a CLOB and then replacing "place holders" with data from the application's tables.

We have noticed that, since using this new approach, the execution time has increased significantly. When there is some concurrency, as each call is taking longer to execute, we are finding that the server is running low on resources occasionally maxing out on sessions.

As I see it there are three possibilities:

1) make the code more efficient
2) tune Oracle 
3) allocate more hardware

My question today is: are there some parameters in Oracle that should be examined that might have a significant impact on its ability to effectively handle a greater number of CLOB-related activities?

Thanks for your time.

-- 
jeremy



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   ENVIRONMENT:                                             
   Oracle 9iR2 / Oracle HTTP Server / mod_plsql / Solaris 8 


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