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DB2 Clients

So there are a few topics I wanted to cover relating to DB2 clients and how Commerce uses them.

Type 2 vs. Type 4 drivers

So strictly speaking, this is referring to the JDBC driver being used. Type 2 JDBC drivers are the traditional kind that require having a DB2 client installed, and the databases properly cataloged within that DB2 client.… Read the rest

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How to restore a 64-bit database into a 32-bit instance using a compressed backup

This one seems to baffle some, though like redirected restores, it’s something that is only tough the first few times. If you attempt to restore a 64-bit database on a 32-bit instance using a compressed backup image, you get this scary error message:

SQL2570N  A database cannot be restored on a platform that does not match the
platform on which the backup image was created.
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Mass Cleanup of Guest Users

By special request, I’m going to share some details on how to do a one-time offline clean up of guest users.

PLEASE NOTE: Following are suggestions only – it is critical to thoroughly test this before doing  this in production. This is one of the most tested and still most failed changes I do.… Read the rest

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Locks – Timeout vs. Deadlock

So questions in this area most often come from DBAs from other RDBMS’s or from developers. I’ll probably write other posts on locks, but here are the basics on deadlocks vs. timeouts.

Why we get them confused at all

Ah the wisdom that went into grouping these under a single error code with different return/reason codes.… Read the rest

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Managing db2 transaction log files

Logging method

There are two methods of logging that DB2 supports: Circular and Archive. I believe Oracle has similar modes.

Circular

To my extreme disgust, the default that Commerce uses if you don’t change anything is Circular logging. Circular logging is more often appropriate for databases where you don’t care about the data (seen it for databases supporting Tivoli and other vendors) or for a Data Warehousing and Decision Support databases where you have extremely well defined data loading processes that can easily be re-done on demand.… Read the rest

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Commerce 7.0 Build: IBM DB2 Universal Database may not be installed

This was a new one to me, and it took some time of some top level experts to find the tech note on it, so I thought I’d post it here so others can hopefully find it more easily.

The scenario was a new install of Commerce with experienced client DBAs doing the DB2 install, instance creation, and database creation, including installing the DB2 client on the app servers (3 tier environment).… Read the rest

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DB2 vs. Oracle – handling dates

So as I may have mentioned before, I’m learning Oracle. I’ve always been a DB2 DBA, having started out as strictly a Physical/Systems DBA. Thus SQL is a skill I’ve built very slowly, over time. I thought the hardest test for DB2 certification was the ‘Family Fundamentals’ one, because it focused so heavily on SQL and other things I didn’t do day-in and day-out at the time.… Read the rest

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