IBM DB2 and IMS Tools

Susan Lawson reports on ways to comply with the onslaught of regulatory issues faced by IT staff in today's computing environment. Susan, an independent consultant for YL&A, takes an in-depth look at these challenges and discusses how a suite of tools from IBM can help you accomplish some tedious tasks that have taken on new priorities. This report covers the importance of encrypting and protecting sensitive data as well as auditing data to find out who did what, where and when.

Susan Lawson, independent consultant for YL&A, Inc., discusses the business need from an application perspective for tools that assist with test data generation and data archiving and retrieval. Generating test data can be a cumbersome task that never gets done despite being essential to the verification process. With data archival, the problem is how to address the challenges that come from working with large data stores. In this report, Susan looks at the viability of dealing with these requirements at the application level, and explores how two tools from IBM can help accomplish this easily and effectively.

In this report, author Ian Bramley takes a good, long look at the Mainframe. His analysis offers a comprehensive view of IBM's mainframe software strategy and showcases recent offerings made available to customers. Additionally, this report highlights how IBM's strategy has altered the competitive landscape over the last 3 years.

RedMonk analyst James Governor declares that IBM's Tools strategy accelerates the mainframe renaissance while lowering IT costs. Read his views on the value that IBM Tools bring to customers who want to save money without sacrificing performance.

This Gartner report looks at the state of the DBA software market through year-end 2001 and covers the effect of IBM's entry into the Data Management Tools market. Gartner concludes that the majority of customers are better off after IBM split off DBA tools from the DBMS on the mainframe.

This Aberdeen Group Profile discusses the latest IBM Data Management Tools and utilities for IMS and DB2 for z/OS, noting the expansion of the DB2 tools to UNIX, Windows, and Informix platforms. In addition to comprehensive data administration support, other reasons cited for customers to consider IBM DM Tools include their low price-point, timely integration with new IBM database releases, scalability, and automation to increase database administrator productivity.

This report features an article by Susan Lawson and Klaas Brant, "IBM DB2 Version 7 Utilities: Cool Features and Hot Performance," which provides the technical details necessary to help you make informed decisions about your utility choices.

Learn how an Australian freight and transport conglomerate built a usable production support SAP R3 DB2 environment from a point-in-time copy of the production environment taken using HDS ShadowImage. The customer had a solution in place but it was taking more than 12 hours to build the region. With the implementation of IBM DB2 Cloning Tool, the customer now has a process that allows for rapid cloning and easy access to target DB2 subsystem data with minimal delay or impact to business units. The process is repeatable and provides the highest level of integrity. DB2 Cloning Tool is able to perform the complete SAP cloning function in approximately 15 minutes.

See how this German bank increased productivity and improved customer service without driving up costs. The combination of System z9, DB2 and DB2 Data Archive Expert reduced the time it takes the bank to run an average query by up to 10 percent. DB2 Data Archive Expert automates and manages the bank's data archiving policy, allowing older data to be removed and stored without costly manual intervention and giving the bank increased speed of computation and better control over archived data.

This animation tells how Bundesministerium fuer Inneres (BM.I) (Austrian Ministry of Interior) migrated to DB2 for z/OS, Version 8 to meet the challenges of increased system usage and security requirements. BM.I also achieved greater efficiency by replacing several home grown tools with DB2 Administration Tool. [Video][3.2 MB]

Allianz Lebensversicherungs AG, a subsidiary of The Allianz Group, one of the world's largest insurers with services in life, health, property, and casualty insurance, turned to IBM for timely support of DB2 upgrades. Read how Allianz protected its investment and got the most out of its DB2 UDB platform, while lowering overall costs by licensing a suite of DB2 Tools for z/OS. Allianz plans to migrate to Version 8 of DB2 UDB for z/OS later this year - a move that would not have been possible without their conversion to IBM DB2 Tools.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee speaks to the value of IBM Tools. In this animation, the customer discusses how the tools helped BCBS 'leapfrog the vendors' that were replaced and helped the company achieve cost savings and a flexible schedule.

Univar USA migrates from Oracle to IBM DB2 V8 and DB2 Tools for z/OS.

The DB2 Web Query Tool gives SBC employees access to mainframe and distributed data via a Web browser, without sacrificing security. By implementing the tool in a Linux environment, SBC leveraged existing developer skills while building a cost-effective foundation for future projects.

OGIS Research Institute, based in Osaka, Japan, replaced ISV software tools with IBM tools for security management, development support and data management. OGIS realized a reduction in licensing and maintenance costs in addition to an increase in productivity and improvements in performance. The suite of tools in use includes: IMS High Performance Unload, IMS Index Builder, and DB2 High Performance Unload as well as IBM File Manager, IBM Fault Analyzer, and IBM Security Server RACF.

EBSCO Information Services, based in Birmingham, Alabama, migrated to IBM tools and reduced TCO by 20 percent, while increasing system performance and improving productivity. EBSCO's end-to-end solution was cost effective and resulted in faster time to market. The suite of tools in use includes: DB2 Performance Expert, DB2 Log Analysis Tool, DB2 Query Monitor, and DB2 SQL Performance Analyzer, along with Breeze for SCLM, z/OS SCLM Suite, Debug Tool, Fault Analyzer, and File Manager.

Needing to standardize on a database platform that would enable it to grow while saving costs, Generali USA turned to IBM DB2 Univeral Database and DB2 Tools. See how DB2 Administration Tool helps automate tasks, while DB2 High Performance Unload quickly moves data--adding up to overall cost reduction.

Learn how AFLAC projects increases in DBA productivity from using such tools as DB2 Administration Tool and DB2 Object Comparison Tool, along with DB2 Automation Tool, DB2 High Performance Unload, and DB2 Log Analysis Tool. Read why AFLAC thinks DB2 Tools are "excellent in terms of value, performance, and the way they work together as an integrated suite."

Read about Boscov's Department Stores implementation of a data warehouse using DB2 OLAP Server and a suite of DB2 Tools for z/OS. See how Boscov's uses DB2 Administration Tool, DB2 Object Comparison Tool, DB2 SQL Performance Analyzer, and DB2 Query Monitor to make informed business decisions and keep database performance at peak levels.

Learn how the State of Alaska moved to DB2 V7 and the DB2 Utilities Suite to gain an advantage.

Learn how Amica Mutual Insurance Company reduced staff training time and enhanced DBA productivity with a suite of DB2 Tools supporting an enterprise-wide solution.

Authors: Rick Buckley and Bob Dickson, Amica; Mary Petras, IBM. This story describes Amica's successful use of DB2 Automation Tool as part of a solution that automated execution of utilities and freed DBAs to handle other tasks.

This article written by Andrew Kulig, Dominic Tam, Dave Cameron, and Ralph Spadafora, all of Royal Bank of Canada, describes RBC's successful use of IMS Connect as part of an innovative solution that transformed a legacy system to an online system for e-business using WebSphere Application Server.

Displaying performance-related information about specific queries is the traditional use for DB2 Query Monitor. But, as reader Tom Glaser from AT&T points out, its full capabilities go way beyond the expected. Here are the first five of Glaser's top 10.

Compliance is driving big changes in the way companies do business. DB2 Tools Business Executive Tom Ramey overviews IBM DB2 Audit Management Expert, the newest addition to IBM's suite of regulatory compliance tools for z/OS® that help you retain and protect sensitive data.

Ed Woods discusses the architecture and functionality of OMEGAMON® XE for IMS™ history components, the performance information provided, and the optimal way to use each facility. Read his advice on the best way to configure OMEGAMON XE for IMS historical data collection, and his other recommendations based on proven best practices.

Get the scoop on the upcoming release and learn how you can prepare yourself for higher transaction volumes and the growing demand for data warehousing while holding the line on costs from IBM Distinguished Engineer Jeff Josten.

Authors Paul Kenney and Matthias Tschaffler delve into the benefits of IBM Tivoli OMEGAMON XE for DB2 Performance Expert on z/OS, a product which converges the technology of OMEGAMON XE for DB2 and DB2 Performance Expert into one product that retains the best features of both. Read how this performance analysis and tuning tool helps ensure that your DB systems performs at its best in your On Demand business environment

This article discusses the importance of good encryption techniques. Authors Tom Vogel and Geoff Jackson look at how Data Encryption Tool for IMS and DB2 Databases can help customers meet compliance requirements. Scroll to page 4 of the newsletter.

Author Charles Garry looks at how autonomic computing is changing technology and the opportunity this represents for DBAs to reshape their roles. This article includes an interview with Dan Wardman, IBM Vice President of DB2 and IMS Tools, in which he discusses how tooling can make life easier for DBAs and why autonomics will not cost them their jobs.

See what makes Tom Glaser, Senior Systems Manager at SBC, say that "Once you've installed and configured (DB2 Web Query Tool), maintenance is quite easy. In fact, I've never found an easier tool to support." SBC wanted a tool that would provide read/write access to the data, import and export to various formats, and compare DB2 structures as well as data. They also wanted to connect to and query other JDBC-compliant data sources, including Informix and Oracle. Enter DB2 Web Query Tool. With its ability to minimize application maintenance by leveraging the Intranet or Internet for DB2 connectivity, DB2 WQT gives SBC employees access to mainframe and distributed data via a Web browser, without sacrificing security. By implementing the tool in a Linux environment, SBC leveraged existing developer skills while building a cost-effective foundation for future projects, including a federated database.

Solve problems with very little programming. Jim Ruddy tells you how to be a hero using DB2 Utilities in his latest article in DB2 Magazine's 3Q2004 issue.

This article describes the process and benefits of archiving data that's rarely accessed, while holding onto the data that is needed and keeping DB2 performing at top speed. Authored by Bryan F. Smith and Thomas A. Vogel.

This article describes the benefits of using DB2 utilities. Before you write another INSERT or DELETE program, take a look at DB2 utilities. Authored by Jim Ruddy.

Authored by John R. Phelps.

Author Deni Connor discusses the impact the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) has on health care organizations as they comply with requirements to provide secure, private medical records.

Authored by Sam S. Lightstone, Guy M. Lohman, Bryan F. Smith, Randy Horman, and Jim Teng.

IMS is the preferred database management system for many enterprise applications that require high performance and high availability. These critical applications depend on IMS databases that respond quickly and are always available. Cloning IMS systems provides opportunities to offload some business and data management processes from production IMS systems to cloned copies. The offloaded processes can be run in parallel without affecting production IMS systems and applications.

In today's on-demand world, the ability to adapt and respond quickly to system performance issues is crucial to the continued success of your business. Performance problems are often erratic in nature and generally occur when you least expect them. They can cause poor application response time that could result in low customer satisfaction experiences and missed service level agreements.

This whitepaper demonstrates the business value that IBM¡¯s IMS database recovery solution can deliver. Specifically, this paper demonstrates the major role that IMS Tools from IBM can play in reducing your systems¡¯ downtime and potential loss of revenue in the face of an outage and, in turn, improve the return on your investment (ROI).

For some, the fact that DB2 on z/OS resides in a well protected RACF environment constitutes sufficient control and auditing is not required.

RACF is the industry leading security product for z/OS and does an excellent job in protecting access to secured assets on DB2 on z/OS. However, it does little in the way of access and activity reporting. IBM DB2 Audit Management Expert is an extremely robust tool which can collect and report on activity performed in DB2 on z/OS with relatively low overhead.

This white paper describes IBM’s DB2 Audit Management Expert for z/OS, a product that pulls together disparate data sources from different systems into a central repository with a simple-to-use interface, giving auditors a complete view of the business activity collected without reliance on the technical personnel they need to monitor. Collecting data with an auditing software product enables the product repository to also be audited to provide integrity and prevent audit data tampering.

This white paper describes IBM DB2 Recovery Expert for z/OS, Version 2.1, a tool that introduces System Backup and Restore Services that allow you to back up and restore entire DB2 subsystems by using the advanced techniques that are provided by storage subsystems. System Backup and Restore Services uses the DB2 BACKUP SYSTEM utility, IBM FlashCopy?facilities, or TimeFinder/Mirror and TimeFinder/Snap facilities to provide full backups of DB2 data and logs on a DB2 subsystem.

This whitepaper discusses the business value that is associated with IBM’s IMS database reorganization solutions. Specifically how IMS Parallel Reorganization for z/OS, and IMS Online Reorganization Facility for z/OS contribute to reducing the overall total cost of ownership (TCO) of IMS and, in turn, improve the return on investment (ROI) for IMS customers.

This collection of papers helps you with installing and customizing OMEGAMON XE for DB2 Performance Expert and Performance Monitor on z/OS, Version 4.1.0. This collection is intended to help you customize the product step-by-step.

As the demand for DB2 clones continues to increase, DBAs need to address how to meet challenges related to cloned data access. Providing DB2 subsystem clones in a timely fashion and from the same image is key. This White Paper provides information on automating DB2 subsystem data cloning, explains the role that fast copy tools play in the automation process, and covers various considerations related to cloning. It examines how cloning automation software provides access to the cloned volumes from the same image in minutes versus hours or days needed with traditional utilities.

This white paper describes how you can use OMEGAMON XE for DB2 Performance Expert on z/OS to analyze the performance of a DB2 database in a typical DB2 Content Manager environment.

This white paper features a variety of hints and tips for using facilities, setting parameters, modeling statements, comparing estimates to actuals, influencing the cost algorithm, and using realistic catalog statistics and configuration parameters of DB2 SQL PA.

This white paper focuses on the typical and most important performance issues that occur in Business Intelligence environments and discusses how DB2 Performance Expert for Multiplatforms can be used to analyze and fix them. The first part introduces DB2 PE and the features that are most relevant to Business Intelligence systems. The second part contains a set of helpful and detailed scenarios that show you how to use DB2 PE to monitor and tune a Business Intelligence environment.

This paper provides an introduction to information integration and the benefits that can result from information provided as a service, regardless of its location, its complexity, or the diversity of data sources within the enterprise. You will learn to recognize the information integration requirements associated with six critical business initiatives: master data management, business intelligence, infrastructure rationalization, risk and compliance, business transformation, and corporate portals. You will also learn about the fundamental capabilities of the IBM Information Integration platform, which include connecting to any data or content, wherever they reside; and understanding and analyzing information--its meanings, relationships and lineage.

This white paper, written by DB2 expert Howard Goldberg, helps you learn best practices for tuning federated queries and turning them into optimal performers using WebSphere?Information Integrator (formerly DB2?Information Integrator). You'll find out how to determine which functional issues in a query can prevent push down processing and how to minimize network traffic with queries that tell the DB2 II server to perform tasks locally. Mr. Goldberg is a vice president at Merrill Lynch, a member of IBM's Information Integration Leadership Board.

This white paper by Karen Durward shows you how WebSphere II Classic Federation can reduce the likelihood of returning invalid results in IMS by relying only on API interfaces as well as maximize query throughout from IMS while minimizing the operational footprint. The tool accesses IMS databases using a standard efficient scaleable multiuser interface. Ms. Durward is the z/OS Offerings Manager in the IBM WebSphere Information Integrator Strategy team, specializing in mainframe data integration.

This white paper is intended to help Content Management system adminstrators use IBM DB2 Performance Expert for Multiplatforms V2.2, to monitor and analyze the performance of Content Manager DB2 database. This white paper provides guidelines for using Performance Expert in different DB2 Content Manager performance monitoring and analyzing tasks.

This white paper is the Installation and Migration chapter from an in-depth IBM RedBook that summarizes major changes to these processes in Version 8. The authors share best practices to ensure a smooth transition, such as:

• Defining valid CCIDs for ASCII, EBCDIC and Unicode
• Supplying a DSNHDECP module tailored to your system
• Setting up the new DSNHMCID data-only module for use with DB2 facilities that run in alliedta-only module for use with DB2 facilities that run in allied address spaces, such as attaches and utilities
• Defining new buffer pool sizes and stored procedures for Work Load Manager

This white paper, written by IBM consultant Rich Lewis, provides expert advice to help you migrate to IMS V9. You'll learn how to:

• Ensure seamless coexistence and compatibility of your databases, CQS, IRLM and data sharing environment across IMS versions and SPEs
• Exploit migration-related enhancements such as shared resource libraries; generic DFSVC000; dynamic resource cleanup module; export/import of IVP variables; and VSAM data set high-level qualifiers in IVP
• Smoothly implement your migration through detailed installation, update, evaluation, upgrade and execution tasks
• Benefit from IMS V7 and V8 migration recommendations for upgrading RECONs; combining resource libraries; using the resource cleanup module; migrating various exit routines; and more

Review the capabilities of WebSphere Information Integrator in this business level overview of the power and benefits of information integration -- including speeding time to market for new applications, getting more insight from existing investments, and controlling costs.

This white paper provides advice and guidance on the Best Practices for implementing IBM DB2 Query Monitor for z/OS Version 2 Release 1.

IMS Product Director Robert Gilliam reflects on the value IMS has brought to customers for 37 years, presents a look at the latest features in IMS Version 9, and offers a glimpse of what's next for IBM's premiere hierarchical database in an on demand world.

This paper previews new Q replication capabilities for WebSphere Information Integrator V8.2.

This white paper discusses how DB2 Performance Expert Client (workstation GUI), DB2 Performance Expert Agent (on the DB2 Connect Gateway), and the DB2 Performance Expert Server (on the DB2 for z/OS server) work together to give the user a single view of the connection from the application to the DB2 for z/OS server.

This International Technology Group report covers the choices SAP users have in choosing server platforms for SAP applications, and specifially examines the business case for deploying SAP solutions on IBM eServer z/Series mainframes.

In this white paper, Triton Consulting analyst Julian Stuhler discusses the business value that DB2 V8 can deliver and examines the business case for upgrading from V7. He provides a high-level overview of the major new features of IBM?DB2?UDB for z/OS?Version 8 from an IT executive's perspective, with the emphasis on the underlying business value that the new release can deliver. A customizable ROI model is included. Of particular interest is the story of Univar, a customer who migrated from Oracle on distributed to DB2 Version 8.

A second paper from IBM, "DB2 UDB for z/OS, Version 8: Now is the Time to Migrate," weighs the considerations of when and how to migrate and discusses features of significance to successful installation.

The newest edition of this white paper has added information about the new features in DB2 SQL Performance Analyzer V2.2.

This paper is an overview of the use of hardware data compression with IMS databases. It explains how you define compression exit routines and how IMS implements their use.

This white paper provides an overview of the alternatives available for creating image copies of IMS database data sets.

This white paper focuses on the versioning repository capability of DB2 Object Restore. While this is a quick procedure in most environments, sometimes the activity or size of the DB2 catalog makes the process of maintaining the repository quite long. This paper addresses the issues involved in improving the performance of the Repository Load job and reducing its execution time.

This white paper provides an overview of IMS Connect and its strategy for the future.

This white paper provides an overview of the alternatives available for creating image copies of IMS database data sets. These include multiple image copy utilities within the IMS product and the IMS tool, IMS Image Copy Extensions (ICE) for z/OS. The prerequisites, advantages, performance characteristics, and options available with each type of image copy are briefly described.