Planet DB2

Playing around with db2diag

2010-02-09T10:48:00Z

Over the past few days I have been playing with db2diag. It is the log analysis tool and it allows you to search, filter, and format the DB2 diagnostic logs. One of the simple examples is that I wanted to see when errors or warnings were produced on my test system. I could do that by calling: db2diag -l Error,Warning -fmt "%ts %level %db" This would only print the timestamp, the "error" level,

Q Replication Dashboard - v9.7.1

2010-02-09T01:20:51Z

Be sure to upgrade to the latest version of the Q Replication Dashboard v9.7.1. More flexibility is provided - including monitoring Oracle Q Replication sources. Check the link for all of the details.

DRDA Performance for Q Replication ASNTDIFF Utility on DB2 for z/OS

2010-02-09T01:02:29Z

As you know, I work with IBM’s Q Replication technology - a lot. Q Replication functionality is delivered in InfoSphere Replication Server. The challenges are amplified when working on DB2 for z/OS with *really* large tables. One financial institution at which I am working has tables with over 1 billion rows and hundreds of partitions. Of course, DB2 for z/OS can manage tables of that size, but what about the tooling?

Q Replication comes with a utility called ASNTDIFF. ASNTDIFF compares a checksum of rows in the source and target tables being replicated to validate that there are no discrepancies. Challenge #1 is that when replicating between DB2 for z/OS subsystems, ASNTDIFF runs under Unix Systems Services (USS) that provides the Unix APIs enabled in z/OS. There are considerations for USS applications that will form the basis for another post.

Challenge #2 is that ASNTDIFF retrieves the rows from the remote system (Application Server or AS) using a three-part-name query across a Distributed Relational Database Architecture (DRDA) connection. For example:

SELECT * FROM ..

where location is found in the DRDA Communications Database (CDB) portion of the DB2 for z/OS Application Requestor (AR) catalog tables. You typically run the ASNTDIFF utility on the replication target DB2 for z/OS server. That’s because the CDB has probably already been configured to support cursor-based loading of the target tables. Why is this a challenge? Well, a three-part-name query across a DRDA pipe against a 1 billion row table ran for about 18 hours. Ouch!

So the basic problem is: how can I get three-part-name queries running across a DRDA connection between DB2 for z/OS subsystems to run faster? I asked a couple of IBMers and Jim Pickle pointed me in the direction of exploiting OPTIMZE FOR n ROWS. There’s a good explanation of this in “Limiting the number of DRDA network transmissions”. Right now the ASNTDIFF utility adds OPTIMIZE for 1000 ROWS and FOR READ ONLY to every ASNTDIFF query. We’re experiementing with the recommendations in the “Limiting…” document to see if we need to override this hardcoded parameter. I’ll keep you posted as to our findings.

POWER7: What’s in it for the free DB2 Express-C?

2010-02-09T00:54:54Z

Earlie today without much pomp or ceremony IBM announced the new POWER7 microprocessor architecture and the 4 new SYSTEM p servers that utilize the new architecture. POWER7 is the next step in the IBM POWER roadmap and as far as next steps go it is a very significant one. I don’t intend to do a blow by blow account of everything that is new in POWER7 and what it really means. For those that are interested, I recommend attending one of the POWER 7 launch events/webcasts.

If you …

Recommendations

2010-02-08T23:29:38Z

One thing about IBM is that there is NO shortage of options for you to choose to increase your skills and learn about IBM products and technologies! You can find options that are free and easily accessible to custom designed courses to suit the specific learning needs of your employees.

Why are there so many options? Learning is one of the most important things you will do in your lifetime and is something that you do from the day you are born until you die. We don't all learn the same way though, so having a choice of options is very important so that you can find the learning method that is best for you.

Here are articles and white papers that I've read that emphasize the importance of continued learning:

Whitepaper The Value of Training shows that by cutting skills development and training budgets in the hopes of improving gross margins will cause higher attrition, higher support costs, and the risk of falling behind in technological advances.

Article 5 surefire ways to get fired by Denise Dubie shows that the best way to KEEP your job is by continually growing your skills.

Whitepaper DBA Certification: Is It Worth It? by Howard Fosdick compares the costs to the benefits of earning a DBA certification. This white paper is a few years old, but the message is still valid.

Article "Is certification valuable, or not? We have the definitive answer" by Linda Musthaleris says that companies need high-functioning teams that are able to transform and grow the business like never before. These teams consist of highly skilled professionals who have current and relevant knowledge. Certifications are designed to encourage people to keep learning and then to validate their skills.

The results of the IDC study in the November 2009 report by Cushing Anderson called "Impact of Training on Network Administration: Certification Leads to Operational Productivity" shows "a direct relationship between higher levels of certification and improved performance -- when team skills improve, organizational performance increases proportionally."

Here is a list of the learning options that are available for the Information Management products and technologies.

e-books - Many choices are available ... many are free, but you can also read books on electronic reading devices such as Kindle. See my blog entry "The Year of the e-Book".

IBM Redbooks - The PDF versions can be downloaded for free and books are available for a very wide range of topics. See the IBM Redbooks web page and my blog entry with a few IBM Redbook recommendations.

developerWorks - Tutorials, Demos, Skills Kits, Best Practices, e-kits - These are free and very popular.

Gaming - 3 games are available to help you learn SQL in a fun way.

White papers - A white paper is an authoritative report or guide that often addresses problems and how to solve them. White papers are used to educate readers and help people make decisions. For a list of whitepapers, google search "db2 whitepapers".

Podcasts - Chat with the Lab; DB2Night Show, DB2 for z/OS Webcasts On Demand

Online Communities - PlanetDB2; ChannelDB2; LinkedIN groups; developerWorks groups, Facebook

Virtual Conferences - Last year there were several virtual conferences that were run by IBM that allowed you to "attend" a conference via your computer. You can also find recorded conference sessions from the Information on Demand Conference, 2009.

Retail books -IBM Press, MC Press, McGraw-Hill, Apress, O'Reilly, Packt are the publishers who have invested in publishing about IBM products and technologies. For a listing of books by topic, see our bookstore website . For a list of books that were recently published, see my blog entry "Busy Publishing". I've created a group on Developerworks to keep track of all these books. Here is some additional information.

Conferences - IDUG holds amazing user-based conferences in various regions each year; IBM holds many conferences including the popular Information on Demand Conferences.

Instructor-Led Training (ITL) classes are traditional classroom courses where students are in the same room as the instructor who guides the students through classroom material and hands-on lab exercises. Students are able to interact with fellow students and the instructor and are provided with printed course material.

Instructor-Led Online (ILO) classes are equivalent to ILT classes in terms of classroom material, labs, instructor and fellow students, only you won't need to leave your home or office as you will connect to the classroom via your computer. See my blog entry about ILO classes.

Self-Paced Virtual Classes (SPVC) are for students who don't need the instructor or don't want to be tied to a class schedule. These classes are typically lower priced than ILO or ILT classes meaning that you save on travel and tuition costs. Content, labs and instructors are the same as ILO and ILT classes, but it is recorded so the class can be taken at your pace, where and when you want it. See my blog entry about SPVC.

Web-Based Training (WBT) are standalone courses on the web that provide 6-8 hours of instruction. These are typically voice over power-point format.

Custom Classes are available for companies that want training to take place on their premises with course material that is taken from multiple existing courses and changed to suit specific needs.

Just a reminder that I will cover this information and more in my upcoming webcast - Feb 12 at 11 am EST on

The DB2Night Show Episode #12- "The Wild Wonderful World of DB2 Resources"

Susan

IBM Authorized Training - Distance Learning

2010-02-08T22:52:12Z

I am happy to announce the return of distance learning to The Fillmore Group. Our team developed and implemented a proprietary distance learning tool, built using a combination of WebSphere and DB2, with the free RealPlayer plug-in providing the ability to deliver streaming instructor audio and video, after the events of 9/11 made traveling for DB2 training a challenge. Over the years we perfected the distance learning tool’s use and used it to deliver training to hundreds of people around the world - who would otherwise not have been able to attend classes.

A couple years ago IBM’s Information Management training group began evaluating distance learning technologies and limiting their use as they have been trying to find a methodology they can use consistently. But progress hasn’t been as fast as anyone hoped, so the training team has given us the approval to again offer the public classes we deliver for IBM via distance learning. Starting with the three classes below students can enroll in the IBM classes, use the same curriculum and lab exercise portal as the students in class, and “see and hear” the instructor lecture on the materials. If you don’t have a travel budget, you can still join us for class!

Coming up soon are the following courses:

CE821, Using InfoSphere Data Architect, starting March 1

CF602, DB2 Connect for z/OS with DRDA, starting March 8

DW352, InfoSphere Warehouse Components, starting March 15

For course outlines and registration information go to www.ibm.com/training

DB2 LUW Performance: Scalability, Availability, and Disaster Recovery

2010-02-08T20:03:45Z

IBM is generating a lot of buzz with DB2 pureScale, and there is plenty of press to read on Database and Hardware wars. The DB2Night Show™ Episode #4 featured special guests from the IBM Toronto Lab who gave us an outstanding introduction to DB2 pureScale - catch the WMV replay if you missed it. On the heels of DB2 9.7 Oracle enablement, DB2 pureScale is an exciting response to Oracle RAC. But is pureScale right for your organization, or should you be considering Xkoto GRIDSCALE instead? First and foremost, IBM DB2 PureScale is NOT a Disaster Recovery solution, but Xkoto GRIDSCALE is. How else are these technologies different?

DB2 Security chat on February 25

2010-02-08T16:33:00Z

The next DB2 Chat with the Lab is on February 25th:

DB2 for LUW Security Primer

2010-02-25
11:30 - 13:00 EST (GMT-05:00)

This presentation will quickly refresh your understanding of the DB2 9.5 security capabilities and then bring you up to speed on the latest addi…

db2top Feature of the Day – Command Line Options (-u and -p)

2010-02-08T14:00:30Z

Today’s topic is the -u option and its partner, the -p option. You’ll see how they can be combined with the -n option when you need db2top to connect with a user ID and password.

The -u and -p options are meant to be used together. The -u option takes one argument, the user name, and the -p option takes one argument, the password. Failure to specify the argument for either results in the usual error message about the missing argument.

If you remember from an earlier blog posting, the -n argument lets you specify the node name, which is useful in certain circumstances. The -u and -p options are only useful in combination with the -n option. Otherwise, they are ignored. As long as you did not specify a -n option, you could specify an invalid user to -u and/or an invalid password to -p and db2top would still load correctly. Here is an example of what happens if you specify the -n option and specify an invalid user to the -u option:

db2top -n node1 -u baduser -p badpass

*** Attaching to node1

SQL30082N Security processing failed with reason "24" ("USERNAME AND/OR PASSWORD INVALID"). SQLSTATE=08001

Exiting...

If you specify a value for the -u option without specifying the -p option, you get prompted to enter the password before db2top will start. This prompt does not echo the characters you type.

When you create a .db2toprc file using db2top (a topic for another day), the database, node name, and user, among other things, are saved to the file. The password you specified when prompted or via the -p option is also written to the .db2toprc file, except that it is encrypted.

Can database tuning do enough to reduce costs?

2010-02-08T11:59:24Z

The majprity of customers have significant potential for reducing resource consumption through tuning. This is especially true for those with older applications that haven’t been actively maintained for a while or who have lost some of their deep DB2 skills through retirement or redundancy. By implementing key tuning procedures, ongoing software costs can be reduced and [...]

BJC HealthCare Improves Clinical Research with DB2 pureXML

2010-02-08T05:57:51Z

In my previous post I talked about XML in the data warehouse. While using XML in a data warehouse may seem like a very novel idea to some database professionals, it is already a reality for others.

One example can be found at BJC Healthcare, one of the largest non-profit health care organizations in the USA. To give you an idea of the size of their operation: they run 13 hospitals, multiple community health facilities, and they have more than 26,000 employees and a net revenue of $3.2 billion. Their challenges and goals included improving the data collection required for grant applications, identifying suitable patients for medical studies, and improving patient treatment. The IT solution had to protect patient privacy and provide adequate performance and scalability to handle the increasing amounts of data.

Given the diverse and evolving nature of medical data, BJC decided to use XML as the format for patient medical records, lab results, and other clinical information. This decision provides two key benefits to their application. First, XML provides the flexibility that is required to handle variable data and future schema evolution. Second, the use of XML has allowed BJC to design a simple and intuitive database schema with less than 10 tables. Storing the same information in a fully relational database schema would have required over 100 tables and many queries would have to join 20 or more tables, which is complex and can often be inefficient.

At the beginning of the project, BJC evaluated DB2 as well as other databases that support XML data. BJC chose DB2 for a variety of reasons, including ease of use of the pureXML features in DB2 as well as a very short time to get up and running with a prototype.

The DB2 pureXML database at BJC currently holds about 2.5 terabytes worth of medical records in XML format. The browser-based application interface allows users to define complex analytical search requests that are automatically translated into XQuery and SQL/XML statements and submitted to DB2.

Read the full BJC case study for more details.

Red Hat, British Airways, SAS, TIBCO sued for Data Integration Software Patent Infringement

2010-02-08T00:49:28Z

Red Hat, Office Depot and British Airways show up in a data integration software patent infringement lawsuit filed by JuxtaComm.

DB2mag Winter 2009

2010-02-08T00:00:00Z

Hi DB2 user,

Winter 2009 issue of DB2mag is available on line:

- DB2mag Winter 2009 (digital version: interactive PDF)
- DB2mag Fall 2009 (digital version: interactive PDF)
-

What's new this week (Optim) 02/05/2010 (a guest blog post)

2010-02-05T18:54:19Z

Well, it's Friday and continuing on with my latest tradition, it's once again time to publish Kathy's guest blog post covering the latest and greatest Optim news... please enjoy!!!!

pureQuery performance results for DB2 for Linux, UNIX and Windows!

2010-02-05T17:08:28Z

Hi, everyone.

I'm the performance architect for, among other things, the pureQuery platform. My team has the responsibility for not just ensuring that our products perform well, but also to help produce verifiable performance numbers that we can share with confidence.

I'm happy to say that we are ready to share our performance numbers for pureQuery access to DB2 for Linux, UNIX and Windows. (We already have some great numbers published for z/OS for both Java and .NET).

The goal of this particular performance test was to measure throughput improvement using static SQL execution, which is possible to do even for existing JDBC applications with no change to the application source code. The increased throughput comes mainly as a result of saving the cost of preparing the SQL when using static vs dynamic SQL. We typically don't see the same level of interest in static execution from DB2 for LUW customers as we do from DB2 for z/OS customers because the LUW platform does not have the same memory constraints as z/OS -- and therefore LUW customers might be more likely to throw hardware at the problem to achieve greater dynamic cache hit ratios and hence improve throughput.

However, static SQL also provides predictable performance because the access plan is pre-determined and I often find users are happier with predictable response times rather than ultra-fast response which can deteriorate over time.

Static SQL execution also provides much more than predictable performance. By using it, you can significantly improve problem determination and traceability. You can also reduce the risk of static SQL injection from dynamically executing applications. You can read about some of those benefits in this article. And there are additional benefits to pureQuery usage such as literal consolidation or the ability to make emergency fixes to application SQL without changing the application, which you can read about in Sonali's article on 2.2 features.

OK, now that I've hopefully convinced you that there are many, many reasons to consider pureQuery and static SQL execution for DB2 LUW environments, I would like to go ahead and share our performance results.

The measurement environment

Our measurements were done with a typical 3-tier environment of a client, application server, and database server as shown here.

A word about the "ERWW" application we use. ERWW is an OLTP application based on an order entry and tracking system that is designed to exercise the database tier much more than the application tier (that is to say, there is not a lot of business logic in the application). The ERWW workload models a wholesale supplier managing orders, and consists of seven transaction types. The frequency of transactions is set to simulate a realistic scenario; the mix used in the benchmark environment was 47 percent update transactions, 53 percent read-only transactions. The workload is triggered by a Java client program which generates HTTP requests for the required transaction mix.

Results

Before I go into our results, I have to offer up the standard disclaimer that any of you who are familiar with performance work are used to hearing. The tests that we ran were done in a controlled environment where we were able to carefully control extenuating factors that can influence the results. In particular, the type of application you run can significantly affect the results in terms of the mix of database-intensive work versus application-intensive work. The ERWW workload is a very database intensive workload and most of the work is done by the database server processing SQL requests. Therefore, by using pureQuery to optimize the database server side processing, we are in fact optimizing a large chunk of the workload. Consequently the performance gains for this workload are significant. We chose ERWW because it was readily available to us, and not because we thought it would give us the best results. I guess what I am trying to say is that your results will vary.

OK, now that that's out of the way. We measured static execution using both client optimization of an existing JDBC application and also as a 'new' version of the application written in pureQuery annotated method style. The performance is reported in Normalized Throughput Rate - Transactions Per Second (ITR). The ITR is the notional throughput rate assuming that the CPUs are 100 percent busy. For example, consider an application with a transaction rate of 200 transactions per second at 75 percent CPU consumption. The ITR for this application would be 200 * 100/75 = 267 tps. This is the notional transaction rate that could be achieved if the CPUs were 100 percent busy, and no other bottleneck is hit first.

We measured the JDBC workload with both 90% and 95% package cache hit ratios. To achieve a 90% package cache hit ratio with the ERWW workload, the DB2 Package Cache (PCKCACHESZ) was sized to 180 x 4k pages, and for a 95% hit ratio it was sized to 210 x 4k pages.

Here are the results with a 90% cache hit ratio. The results are shown on the vertical axis as the database ITR improvements over the baseline of JDBC.

As you can see, client optimization almost doubled throughput over the existing JDBC application. The new application that uses pureQuery method style API more than doubled the database transaction throughput.

The results with a 95% cache hit ratio are shown here.

Note that we achieved significant throughput improvements even with a high package cache hit ratio.

In summary, pureQuery and static execution can offer many benefits, one of which may be improving the performance of your data servers with your applications. By changing the dynamic SQL to static SQL, pureQuery should help you either achieve better throughput on your existing hardware, or reduce CPU consumption of your existing hardware, allowing you to load more tasks onto it. I highly recommend that you also check out the bigger picture around Java acceleration (including the other benefits I mention) as shown in this video.

Simon Harris

Technorati Tags: purequery,performance,throughput,harris

Jonathan Schwartz resigns as SUN CEO with a tweet

2010-02-05T17:03:39Z

“Today’s my last day at Sun. I’ll miss it. Seems only fitting to end on a #haiku. Financial crisis/Stalled too many customers/CEO no more”

Jonathan Schwartz - Best Leader no more

These are the parting words of Jonathan Schwartz on Twitter. No multi-page letter like Scott McNealy did when he resined this post.

I am constantly amazed at just how much the social media phenomenon has changed the corporate attitude in just a coup…

db2top Feature of the Day – Command Line Options (-n)

2010-02-05T14:00:52Z

Continuing with the command line options from the last post, we have the -n option that takes one argument which is the node name or instance name. This becomes useful when you want to pass to the -d option the name of a database that exists under a different node than the default node.

For example, say you have a database named sample under a node named thekguy and your $DB2INSTANCE environment variable is set to thekguy. Say you catalog another node node1 and catalog the sample database under that node with a new alias data1 as follows:

db2 catalog local node node1
db2 catalog db sample as data1 at node node1

If you attempt to run db2top with a -d data1 option and do not specify the -n option, it fails with a message like the following:

SQL1428N The application is already attached to "THEKGUY" while the command issued requires an attachment to "NODE1" for successful execution.

Exiting...

If instead, you specify db2top with the -d data1 and the -n node1 options, db2top loads successfully.

If you specify the -n option without an argument, you get the following message:
*************************************************************************
*** ***
*** Error: -n needs a node name ***
*** ***
*************************************************************************

If you specify a node name that does not exist, you get an error message, as below:

db2top -d sample -n nonexist

*** Attaching to nonexist

SQL1097N The node name was not found in the node directory. SQLSTATE=42720

Exiting...

Electrocardiography (ECG), Health Checks, Performance Expert, DB2, and Oracle

2010-02-05T09:04:00Z

Earlier today I wrote about a 24 hour ECG. That got me thinking. Did you know that IBM Information Management Services actually offer health checks? You can have a "health" specialist (in this case not a physician!) look over your database installation. Like you would expect, if there are findings, recommendations are given and maybe a prescription is handed over. Similar to the 24 hour ECG,

Electrocardiography (ECG), Twitter, and Databases

2010-02-05T06:39:00Z

Someone in my family currently is having a 24 hour electrocardiography (ECG). Basically, the heart region is fully wired and connected to a "wearable" mini-computer/database and data is collected over a 24 hour period. That part of the 24 h ECG is fully automated. The person in question gets wired, the computer set up, and everything is ready to go. The more complicated part is keeping an

eReaders; my personal perspecitve - Part 1

2010-02-04T22:51:19Z

Let me start out by saying I'm a bit out of my element here. Although I'm a big time gadget man, I am by no means an expert on eReaders. What I thought I would do today is tell my personal experience with an eReader. What prompted this? I mentioned I was interested in purchasing one and have been getting questions ever since. Now I realize I have gotten into trouble in the past by voicing my opinion here. However, as many of you know, I'm a slow learner... (smile)...

Develop a Java application that uses pureQuery annotated methods, Part 2 of 3

2010-02-04T22:15:25Z

Part 2: Modify and test the interface

This three-part demo series introduces you to some of the features in Optim™ Development Studio available to develop a Java™ application that uses pureQuery annotated methods. The demo series uses the GSDB sample database, which is the sales database for a fictional company called Great Outdoors. In this second demo, learn how to modify the generated interface, test it, and use the SQL Outline to navigate between the Java source code and SQL.

Part 1: http://www.channeldb2.com/video/develop-a-java-application

Part 2: http://www.channeldb2.com/video/develop-a-java-application-1

Part 3: http://www.channeldb2.com/video/develop-a-java-application-2

Resources:

Article: Introducing pureQuery annotated method style: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/data/library/techarticle/dm-0804lamb/

GSDB sample database: http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/idm/v2r2/topic/com.ibm.sampledata.go.doc/topics/download.html

pureQuery tutorial in the Information Center: http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/idm/v2r2/topic/com.ibm.datatools.javatool.welcome.doc/topics/pdqwelcometop.html

Community space (includes links to trial downloads): http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/spaces/optim/

Integrated Data Management solutions page: http://www.ibm.com/software/data/optim/

Develop a Java application that uses pureQuery annotated methods, Part 3 of 3

2010-02-04T22:13:26Z

Part 3: Gather performance data and bind the SQL

This three-part demo series introduces you to some of the features in Optim™ Development Studio available to develop a Java™ application that uses pureQuery annotated methods. The demo series uses the GSDB sample database, which is the sales database for a fictional company called Great Outdoors. In this demo, learn how to gather SQL performance data, view it in the SQL Outline, and bind the SQL for static execution.

Part 1: http://www.channeldb2.com/video/develop-a-java-application

Part 2: http://www.channeldb2.com/video/develop-a-java-application-1

Part 3: http://www.channeldb2.com/video/develop-a-java-application-2

Resources:

Article: Introducing pureQuery annotated method style: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/data/library/techarticle/dm-0804lamb/

GSDB sample database: http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/idm/v2r2/topic/com.ibm.sampledata.go.doc/topics/download.html

pureQuery tutorial in the Information Center: http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/idm/v2r2/topic/com.ibm.datatools.javatool.welcome.doc/topics/pdqwelcometop.html

Community space (includes links to trial downloads): http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/spaces/optim/

Integrated Data Management solutions page: http://www.ibm.com/software/data/optim/

Develop a Java application that uses pureQuery annotated methods, Part 1 of 3

2010-02-04T22:12:08Z

Part 1: Create a Java project and generate code

This three-part demo series introduces you to some of the features in Optim™ Development Studio available to develop a Java™ application that uses pureQuery annotated methods. The demo series uses the GSDB sample database, which is the sales database for a fictional company called Great Outdoors. This first demo shows you how to create a pureQuery-enabled Java project in Optim Development Studio, add support for pureQuery, and generate code and SQL directly from a database table.

Part 1: http://www.channeldb2.com/video/develop-a-java-application

Part 2: http://www.channeldb2.com/video/develop-a-java-application-1

Part 3: http://www.channeldb2.com/video/develop-a-java-application-2

Resources:

Article: Introducing pureQuery annotated method style: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/data/library/techarticle/dm-0804lamb/

GSDB sample database: http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/idm/v2r2/topic/com.ibm.sampledata.go.doc/topics/download.html

pureQuery tutorial in the Information Center: http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/idm/v2r2/topic/com.ibm.datatools.javatool.welcome.doc/topics/pdqwelcometop.html

Community space (includes links to trial downloads): http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/spaces/optim/

Integrated Data Management solutions page: http://www.ibm.com/software/data/optim/

Recommendations

2010-02-04T21:52:53Z

One thing I neglected to mention in my blog posting yesterday about the value of Certification is the Take it Again program that is active again this year.

Earning IBM Professional Certification is a smart career move. But many of us are nervous when taking the certification exam. Our “Take it Again” promo can help build your confidence. If you don’t pass an exam on your first attempt, you can retake it for no additional cost.

Take It Again is a voucher program, offered worldwide, by IBM Professional Certification.
With Take It Again you may purchase specially priced vouchers so that in the event you do not pass an exam on your first attempt, you may quickly and easily retake the same exam for no additional costs.

Obtain your Take It Again voucher from the Prometric Take It Again Web Site.
Using the voucher number, schedule and pay for your initial exam.
(Note: To be eligible for the free retake, you must provide the TIA voucher number when scheduling this original testing appointment.)
Take the exam.
If you do not pass the exam you may register to take the same exam again using the same voucher.
(Note: After taking the original exam, please wait a minimum of one day before attempting to register for the retake. This will allow time for the original test results to be entered into the system.)
There is no additional charge for retaking the exam.

For further information and all the fine print... see "Take it Again" voucher promo.

For all the information you will need to get certified... see my blog entry: Certification: 101

Susan

By the way, I've been invited to be guest on Episode #12 of The DB2Night Show coming up this 12 February 2010 at 10am CST. Our theme for this show is "The Wild Wonderful World of DB2 Information Resources". Claim your free seat in our virtual studio audience by registering at http://www.DB2NightShow.com. I hope you can join Scott Hayes and I!

Is Hadoop = Cloud Computing?

2010-02-04T21:37:07Z

If I had a nickel for every time I heard people mention Hadoop or Map/Reduce in the same sentence with Cloud Computing, well … I would have a lot of nickels. If you are not familiar with Hadoop, the best way to understand what it does is to think of it as a method or a programming model for executing complex compute jobs on very large clusters of computers. These clusters can comprise hundreds and, sometimes, thousands of machines. What Hadoop does is break, or Map, these complex jobs i…

Welcome, Keith

2010-02-04T14:42:00Z

PlanetDB2 now aggregates Keith McDonald's DB2 posts.

If you'd like your blog included, please email us at join@planetdb2.com

Regards,

Leons Petrazickis
PlanetDB2 Admin

db2top Feature of the Day – Command Line Options (-h and -d)

2010-02-04T14:41:55Z

Today, I’m going to start writing about db2top command line options. There are many. I’ll start with -h (help) and -d (database). The -h option gives you the key to all the others:

db2top -h Licensed Materials - Property of IBM Copyright IBM Corp. 2005, 2006 All Rights Reserved.

Usage: db2top [-d dbname] [-n nodename] [-u username] [-p password] [-V schema] [-i interval] [-P ]

[-a] [-B] [-R] [-k] [-x] [-f file <+time> ] [-b options [-s ] [-D separator] <-X>] -o outfile]] [-C] [-m duration] db2top -h

-d : Database name (default DB2DBDFT) -n : Node name -u : User name -p : User password -V : Default explain schema -i : Interval in seconds between snapshots -b : background mode option: d=database, l=sessions, t=tablespaces, b=bufferpools, T=tables, D=Dynamic SQL, s=Statements, U=Locks, u=Utilities, F=Federation, m=Memory -X=XML Output, -L=Write queries to ALL.sql, -A=Performance analysis -o : output file for background mode -a : Monitor only active objects -B : enable bold -R : Reset snapshot at startup -k : Display cumulated counters -x : Extended display -P : Partition snapshot (number or current) -f : Replay monitoring session from snapshot data collector file, can skip entries when +seconds is specified -D : Delimiter for -b option -C : Run db2top in snapshot data collector mode -m : Max duration in minutes for -b and -C -s : Max # of samples for -b -h : this help

Parameters can be set in $HOME/.db2toprc, type w in db2top to generate resource configuration file

DB2 Interactive Snapshot Monitor V2.0 Build Jan 4 2010 17:37:09

Licensed Materials - Property of IBM Copyright IBM Corp. 2005, 2006 All Rights Reserved. US Government Users Restricted Rights Use, duplication or disclosure restricted by GSA ADP Schedule Contract with IBM Corp.

Now let’s look at the -d switch. It takes one argument, which is the name of the database that you want db2top to report on. All the switches are optional, even this one. If you do not specify the -d switch, db2top will look up the database name specified in your .db2toprc file in your home directory and report on that database as if you had specified it for the -d switch. If you do not have a .db2toprc file, db2top will look up the database name specified in the DB2DBDFT registry variable. If your DB2DBDFT registry variable also does not exist (check this using db2set -all), you will get the error message:

************************************************************************* *** *** *** Error: Can't find database name *** *** *** *************************************************************************

Otherwise, you will successfully start db2top.

documenting user defined indexes in sap abap systems.

2010-02-04T04:33:40Z
years ago I realized that transaction's se11 index documentation features are insufficient...

IBM Manages the Data Lifecycle

2010-02-04T03:55:00Z
Data lifecycle is a somewhat new-ish term, at least in terms of what I plan to talk about in this blog posting. The data lifecycle – and data lifecycle management – deals with tracking, managing, and understanding data and metadata as it flows through organizations. From its inception…whether entered by a clerk or read via a feed or loaded from an external source, etc…through its various usages…whether to conduct business, analyze trends and patterns, and so on…tracked from system to system, app…

Recommendations

2010-02-03T19:14:15Z

The conclusion of an intensive IDC study and in Linda Musthaler's article "Is certification valuable, or not? We have the definitive answer" is YES certifications are important! Companies need high-functioning teams that are able to transform and grow the business like never before. These teams consist of highly skilled professionals who have current and relevant knowledge. Certifications are designed to encourage people to keep learning and then to validate their skills.

The results of the IDC study in the November 2009 report by Cushing Anderson called "Impact of Training on Network Administration: Certification Leads to Operational Productivity" shows "a direct relationship between higher levels of certification and improved performance -- when team skills improve, organizational performance increases proportionally."

Although the report doesn't specifically mention database or DB2 certifications, I would say that the same holds true. I've personally seen the performance of a team improving as a result of the entire team earning DB2 certifications. The DB2 program grew 29% in the past year and is expected to grow this year as well. Are you on board?

To help you navigate through this certification program, I've created the following entries:

1) Certification 101 that links to articles about the benefits, where to start, how to prepare, and what to do once you've passed.
2) Certification Checklist where you learn to use a checklist within developerWorks that leads you through the entire certification process.

Don't be left behind! Jump onto the Certification bandwagon so you can begin seeing the improvements in your skills and the skills of your teams.

Susan

PS. Don't forget that earning a certification benefits you personally as well. It can differentiate you from others, but will also give you the confidence that you do have the skills that you need to do your job!!

What does Hadoop have to do with Cloud?

2010-02-03T16:00:47Z

A few months back, Hamid Pirahesh and I were doing a roundtable with a customer of ours, on cloud and data. We got into a set of standard issues -- data security being the primary one (more on it in a later post), but when the dialog turned to hadoop, a person raised his hands and asked, "what has hadoop got to do with cloud?" I responded, somewhat quickly perhaps, "Nothing specific, and I am willing to have a dialog with you on hadoop in and out of the cloud context", but it got me thinking. Is there a relationship, or not? Let's look at typical cloud characteristics...
1. Spinup/Spindown. I would be very surprised if this is the model of hadoop adoption. I see the model being very close to the current "warehouse" deployment model, wherein a set of "servers" are dedicated to the warehouse environment, and the data are prepped and ready. And then a set of queries come and go. Similarly, we expect hadoop deployments to be a dedicated environment, where data resides (semi-) permanently, and hadoop (analytic) jobs come and go. This spinup/spindown model makes my head hurt, given the size of data involved. So a -1 cloud characteristic in this dimension.
2. Elasticity. A job can run on 100 nodes, but if it is not sufficient, it can use 200. Hadoop makes that happen nicely, because the data might be equally accessible from those 200 nodes (based on internal hdfs replication). So individual jobs can be elastic. The whole hadoop installation is not, but this is a good cloud characteristic, so a +1 on this dimension.
3. Flexibility of Schema. To me, this has zero to do with cloud. Just because some of the web jobs require this (or simpleDB like noSQL database), that does not make it cloud in any which way.
4. Reliability in the model of "loose coupling". Yes, hadoop has some good characteristics that make it scale resiliently in the presence of failures. However, as people begin to bet on the data that sits in hadoop (not just the computation), what kind of reliability will satisfy them? A web crawl can always be redone, but a set of clickstream data sitting in hadoop, what would make people comfortable? So a 0.5 in favor of the cloud dimension.
There you have it. Further analysis showed me that in hindsight I was right when I answered the customer :) :)
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