RE: Question about UDB on iSeries -- MIDRANGE-L

> Please keep in mind that I know **ZERO** about the iSeries and UDB. 
> We are considering a conversion from z/OS on zSeries to i5OS on 
> iSeries. The company doing the presentation basically said that 
> everything that we need, with a few exceptions, is integrated into 
> the i5OS on the iSeries. In particular UBD is integrated (so we 
> don't need to buy it). But I was wondering if any iSeries people out
> there have an opinion about the lack of requirement for any extra 
> software to support UDB on iSeries. Such as performance monitors, 
> reorganization utilities, anything at all? I'm confused (as usual) 
> about why UDB on iSeries does not require any such software while it
> appears, to me, that DB2 on z/OS really requires a lot of extra cost
> software. This is the whole reason that we are considering this 
> conversion. z/OS simply requires too much extra cost software 
> compared to other platforms.

I'm not sure about what kind of records you're keeping, or if you are
implementing a large third-party package, but by and large you can create
files with the right parameters and then forget about them.  Using the right
parameters for Access Path size/maintenance/recovery, Member Size initial
number of records/increment number of records/maximum number of increments
can go a long way to avoiding performance issues and controlling runaway
jobs.  By and large you can create files on the iSeries and not worry about
them.

One exception might be files that create a lot of deleted records.  Flagging
the file for Reuse of Deleted Records can help, but in many cases you may
find it necessary to run RGZPFM (Reorganize physical file member) to reclaim
the space wasted on "deleted" records.  RGZPFM is a command available within
CL.  Other commands can be used to retrieve the percentage of deleted
records for all files in a library, process the list and select those files
meeting your criteria to totally automate this process.  All of that is
included in the base operating system.  

In fact, a _lot_ can be done using CL.  Our facility uses nothing but a
third-party scheduling package and CL/RPG programs to handle 99% of saves,
file reorgs and regular processing.  In a similar vein, you can follow one
of the current topics to see the variety of options available for managing
performance.  We allow the system to handle it and run a small datamart, an
ERP package for ~275 users, EDI software, and a wide range of user created
queries (ODBC and native) with no problems.  

I'm not saying that you absolutely won't need anything else:  some things
aren't worth the trouble of doing yourself (Exit Control Programs comes to
mind...) and others do require help (High Availability comes to mind...).  I
just believe that you have a wider range of options on the iSeries before
you reach that point.