What brings db2 Mirror for I to IBMi that we didn’t had before? Let me explain why it looks like a new milestone in the IBMi availability.
IBMi V7R4 : db2 Mirror for i
With my experience db2 Mirror for I, this looks like a new millstone in the IBMi availability.
So far there where three available technologies to allow:
- Replication
- Failover and failback
- Automation
These technologies where known as:
- Software replication : Quick-EDD/HA, Mimix, iTera, …..
- Storage replication : Metro Mirror (MM), Global Mirror (GM), Global Mirror with changed Volumes (GMCV)
- IBMi replication with PowerHA and XSM Based on iASP
Most of the time customers combine High Availability project with Disaster Recovery project because of the financial impact of buying a tree site infrastructure with network topology.
However, as we all know, none of them were really “High Availability” in the way the customer would like to see it:
- Continuous availability
- Load balanced workload
- Simple to monitor
- Simple to Failover and to Failback
- Confident in replicating the information
- Active to Active
- Upgradable without downtime : Version and Release upgrade, CUM and Group PTF’s Maintenance.
- And many other things ….
So, what brings db2 Mirror for I to IBMi that we didn’t have before ?
The answer is: the real foundation blocks build into IBMi db2 for an environment who will never be down unless a Site disaster of course. For this last situation, a DR project will still be necessary.
Of course, this has a price and needs “some” prerequisites:
- V7R4 : db2 Mirror for I is only available from V7R4 and higher
- Power8 or Power9 systems. Only Power9 allows to virtualize the RoCE card
- Ethernet RoCE cards / features
- 5770SS1 Option 3 (Extended Base Directory Support)
- 5770SS1 Option 12 (Host Servers)
- 5770SS1 Option 22 ( ObjectConnect
- 5770SS1 Option 26 (DB2® Symmetric Multiprocessing) Optional
- 5770SS1 Option 30 ( Qshell )
- 5770SS1 Option 34 (Digital Certificate Manager)
- 5770SS1 Option 41 (High Availability Switchable Resources)
- 5770SS1 Option 48 (IBM Db2Mirror)
- 5770JV1 *BASE (IBM Developer Kit for Java)
- Option 16 (Java SE 8 32 bit)
- Option 17 (Java SE 8 64 bit)
- 5733SC1 *BASE(IBM Portable Utilities for i )
- Option 1 (OpenSSH, OpenSSL, zlib
- 5770DG1 *BASE (IBM HTTP Server for i
- 5770DBM *BASE (IBM Db2 Mirror for i )
- Option 1 (Db2 Mirror Enablement)
As an owner of the IBM Db2 Mirror for i Practitioner (Level 1) badges, I will summarize the installation, the setup and the monitoring process in my next publication.
