In my blog, I want to discuss Db2 management and administration including the newer facilities that make Db2 work simpler, faster and better.
I have helped a number of start-ups with their implementations of Db2. These small companies see the value of having a commercial DBMS to store their valuable data. IBM has the most experience in turning out software with operational capabilities that makes it possible to take a business from startup into large scale production.
When starting out in today’s DevOps environments, almost every developer can create tables, maintain data and retrieve data. This works well in the beginning at business startup, but as the business starts to succeed and grow, the database starts to have issues unless various issues are understood and addressed. This is when I get called to help.
What started as a simple design often expands, gets cloned with (minor) modifications for new clients, backup schema are left in the database and sometimes even development and production environments cohabitate the same database. Soon after, mistakes are made and a lot of time and effort is necessary to unravel the mess.
All of the topics within database administration are known to experienced DBAs, but in the era of DevOps, many topics need to be revisited. This includes the regular care and feeding of the DBMS environment including security, utility scheduling, and naming standards. Other topics such as recovery planning and migration become more involved. This is before we get to the usual Db2 problem areas of design and performance, and there will always be a need for tuning.
Another aspect of DevOps is the inevitable nature of this change. DevOps is a substantial change from traditional development methodologies, and the DBA can be seen either as helping or as a roadblock to developmental progress. The smart DBA will work to manage the Db2 environment and work beside developers as they build systems. Any controls that slow progress might be ignored or cause friction between the DBA and development team.
About Martin Hubel
I was an early adopter of DB2. In 1985, the company where I worked bought Db2 on the first day of availability and I was encouraged to get involved with the Db2 user community in a leadership position. It is amazing to me how those few words influenced my career!
In 1993, IBM made the wise decision to move Db2 LUW development to my home town of Toronto. It seemed like a very good idea to learn this version of Db2, and so I did.
My Db2 industry activities include being the host of the Db2Night Show, a member of the IDUG Volunteer Hall of Fame, an active IDUG speaker with over 50 presentations given, a panelist, an author, and a member on the executive of the Central Canada Db2-IMS Users Group.
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