Docs-Performance: JVM choice & Data Types

h2/src/docsrc/html/performance.html

@@ -384,6 +384,16 @@ following profiling data (results vary):
 <br /><a name="database_performance_tuning"></a>
 <h2>Database Performance Tuning</h2>
 
+<h3>Use the Most Modern JVM</h3>
+<p>
+Older JVMs are not as good at optimizing Java bytecode for quick execution.  Upgrading to the latest version
+of your JVM can provide a "free" boost to performance, particularly if your JVM is more than one major version 
+out of date. This is especially a problem on Apple systems, many of which still use the 1.5 JVM.  When available, 
+the database engine also takes advantage of features in the latest Sun JREs to improve performance. 
+On the Windows platform, switching from the default Client JVM to the Server JVM 
+using the -server command-line option improves performance  at the cost of a slight increase in start-up time. 
+</p>
+
 <h3>Virus Scanners</h3>
 <p>
 Some virus scanners scan files every time they are accessed.
@@ -492,6 +502,18 @@ By default the cache size of H2 is quite small. Consider using a larger cache si
 the second level soft reference cache. See also <a href="features.html#cache_settings">Cache Settings</a>.
 </p>
 
+<h3>Data Types</h3>
+<p>
+Each data type has different storage and performance characteristics:
+<ul><li>The DECIMAL/NUMERIC type is slower and requires more storage than the REAL and DOUBLE types. 
+</li><li>Text types are slower to read, write, and compare than numeric types and generally require more storage.
+</li><li>See <a href="advanced.html#large_objects">Large Objects</a> for information on BINARY vs. BLOB and VARCHAR vs. CLOB performance.
+</li><li>Parsing and formatting takes longer for the TIME, DATE, and TIMESTAMP types than
+ the numeric types.
+</li><li>SMALLINT/TINYINT/BOOLEAN are not significantly smaller or faster to work with than INTEGER in most modes. 
+ </li></ul>
+</p>
+
 <br /><a name="fast_import"></a>
 <h2>Fast Database Import</h2>
 <p>