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SWARUG Meeting: May 8, 2019

The Spring 2019 SWARUG meeting will take place on Wednesday, May 8, 2019 from 10:00am to 2:00pm. The meeting is being sponsored by CA, who will be providing lunch for the meeting.

The meeting is being held at IBM’s offices in Phoenix, located at 2929 N Central Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85012. We will be meeting in Room 534.

Pre-Registration is Required to Attend.  If you like to attend, please pre-register by visiting https://ti.to/dataproxy/swarug-may-2019 Pre-registration closes on May 6, 2019.

Agenda

10:00am – 10:15am

Introductions and Announcements Mark DePledge, CA Technologies

10:15am – 11:45am

“SQL PL – Creative Uses” David Simpson, Themis

→ Download Presentation

11:45am – 12:30pm

Lunch / Networking, Hosted by CA

12:30pm – 2:00pm

“Access Path Stability on Db2 for z/OS - Best Practices” David Simpson, Themis

→ Download Presentation

Thanks!

— Ian Bjorhovde

Presentation Abstracts

SQL PL – Creative Uses

The SQL PL language is useful for writing stored procedures, user defined functions (UDFs) and triggers.  The language is becoming more powerful with each release.  This session will cover the basics of the language and give you some samples to take home and try!

Overview of SQL PL

Strengths and Limitations of SQL PL

Sample stored procedures for use anywhere!

Sample user defined functions for use anywhere!

SQL PL and Triggers

Access Path Stability on Db2 for z/OS - Best Practices

DB2 has provided some great features for stabilizing performance through changes in the environment, particularly through a DB2 version upgrade.  In this session we will look at the evolution of access path stability over the last few releases and provide some thoughts on best practices for implementation.

Plan Management

Access Path Reuse

Comparing Access Paths

Bind Output Using APREUSE and APCOMPARE

Best Practices

About the Speakers

David Simpson is currently a Senior Technical Advisor at Themis Inc. He teaches courses on SQL, Application Programming, Database Administration as well as optimization, performance and tuning. He also installs and maintains the database systems used for training at Themis. Since 1993 David has worked as a developer and DBA in support of very large transactional and business intelligence systems. David is a certified DB2 DBA on both z/OS and LUW. David was voted Best User Speaker and Best Overall Speaker at IDUG North America 2006. He was also voted Best User Speaker at IDUG Europe 2006 and is a member of the IDUG Speakers Hall of Fame.  David is an IBM Gold Consultant.

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SWARUG Meeting: October 2, 2018

The Fall 2018 SWARUG meeting will take place on Tuesday, October 2, 2018 from 10:00am to 2:00pm. The meeting is being sponsored by CA, who will be providing lunch for the meeting.

The meeting is being held at Wells Fargo’s offices in Chandler, located at 2600 S. Price Road, Chandler, AZ 85286. We will be meeting in the Golden Nugget Room.

Pre-Registration is Required to Attend.  If you like to attend, please pre-register by visiting https://ti.to/dataproxy/swarug-october-2018 Pre-registration closes on September 27, 2018.

Agenda

10:00am – 10:15am

Introductions and Announcements Mark DePledge, CA Technologies

10:15am – 11:45am

“Db2 for z/OS Gets Agile: Data-as-a-Service and Database-as-a-Service” Robert Catterall, IBM

→ Download Presentation

11:45am – 12:30pm

Lunch / Networking, Hosted by CA

12:30pm – 2:00pm

“SQL Enhancements Delivered with Db2 12 for z/OS” Robert Catterall, IBM

→ Download Presentation

Thanks!

— Ian Bjorhovde

Presentation Abstracts

Db2 for z/OS Gets Agile: Data-as-a-Service and Database-as-a-Service

This session describes recent Db2 for z/OS enhancements that allow developers to respond to an organization's application requirements with greater speed and agility. Db2 capabilities related to both data-as-a-service (Db2's native REST interface, and its relation to z/OS Connect) and database-as-a-service (automated provisioning, automated deployment, strategic direction, and what it all means for developers and DBAs) are covered.

SQL Enhancements Delivered with Db2 12 for z/OS

Every version of DB2 for z/OS introduces new SQL-related capabilities, and DB2 12 is no exception. In this session, I will describe new SQL features delivered with DB2 12, including temporal enhancements, the native REST interface, the new-and-improved MERGE statement, piece-wise DELETE, result set pagination, advanced triggers, "real" Unicode columns in EBCDIC tables, global variable enhancements, new built-in functions, and more.

About the Speakers

Robert Catterall is a Senior Consulting Db2 for z/OS Specialist with IBM. He started his IT career with IBM in 1982, and worked throughout the 1990s as a member of the Company's Db2 for z/OS National Technical Support team. From 2000 to 2007, Robert worked as a database technology strategist for CheckFree (now part of Fiserv). After working for three years as an independent Db2 consultant, he rejoined IBM in 2010. Robert is a past President of IDUG, a member of IDUG's Speakers Hall of Fame, and was one of IBM's inaugural Information Champions. He presents frequently at conferences, and blogs about Db2 for z/OS at http://robertsdb2blog.blogspot.com/

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SWARUG Meeting: April 4, 2018

The Spring 2018 SWARUG meeting will take place on Wednesday, April 4, 2018 from 10:00am to 2:00pm. The meeting is being sponsored by IBM, who will be providing lunch for the meeting.

The meeting is being held at Wells Fargo’s offices in Chandler, located at 2600 S. Price Road, Chandler, AZ 85286. We will be meeting in the Golden Nugget Room.

Agenda

10:00am – 10:15am

Introductions and Announcements Ian Bjorhovde, DataProxy LLC Clif Burnes, IBM

10:15am – 11:30am

“Db2 12 for z/OS Optimizer Update” Terry Purcell, IBM → Download Presentation

11:30am – 12:30pm

Lunch / Networking, Hosted by IBM

12:30pm – 1:45pm

“Runstats Challenges for Optimal Query Performance” Terry Purcell, IBM

→ Download Presentation

Pre-Registration is Required to Attend.  If you like to attend, please pre-register by visiting https://ti.to/dataproxy/swarug-april-2018  Pre-registration closes on March 27, 2018.

Thanks!

— Ian Bjorhovde

Presentation Abstracts

Db2 12 for z/OS Optimizer Update Db2 12 for z/OS had already delivered outstanding performance and scalability improvements from UNION ALL and outer join performance improvements, sort optimizations, improved predicate indexability and tighter integration of the Optimizer and RUNSTATS. This presentation will help you understand these and other updated enhancements - where they apply, and how to maximize the performance of your Db2 12 implementation.

Runstats Challenges for Optimal Query Performance In Db2 development, we see many customers that are NOT following RUNSTATS collection "Best Practices". But what are those best practices? The largest contributor to poor query performance is insufficient or misleading RUNSTATS. Improving the availability of pertinent and accurate statistics is a huge opportunity for customers to improve Db2 performance and reduce instability of access paths.

What are the most common RUNSTATS collection mistakes and how to avoid them?

How do I identify the right default statistics?

In this session, we'll answer these questions and more as we discuss various runstats challenges and misconceptions.

About the Speakers

Terry Purcell is the lead designer for the Db2 for z/OS Optimizer at IBM's Silicon Valley Lab, and is recognized worldwide for his expertise in query optimization and performance with Db2 for z/OS.

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SWARUG Meeting: September 19, 2017

The Fall 2017 SWARUG meeting will take place on Tuesday, September 19, 2017 from 10:00am to 2:00pm. The meeting is being sponsored by CA, who will be providing lunch for the meeting.

The meeting is being held at IBM’s offices in Phoenix, located at 2929 N. Central Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85012. We will be meeting in room 540, located on the 5th Floor.

Agenda

10:00am – 10:15am

Introductions and Announcements Ian Bjorhovde, DataProxy LLC Shri Shrimali, IBM → Download Presentation

10:15am – 11:30am

"DB2 12…It’s Not the End, It’s the Beginning” Adrian Burke, IBM → Download Presentation

11:30am – 12:30pm

Lunch / Networking, Hosted by CA

12:30pm – 1:45pm

“Lessons Learned from 360 Studies” Adrian Burke, IBM

→ Download Presentation

If you’d like to attend, please RSVP by sending an email to swarugrsvp@gmail.com that includes your name, email and the company that you work for.

Thanks!

— Ian Bjorhovde

Presentation Abstracts

DB2 12…It’s Not the End, It’s the Beginning DB2 12 will usher in a new era of DB2 for z/OS migration, functionality, and flexibility. With the uptake of agile development the internal development as well customer adoption of DB2 features is shifting. DB2 12 embraces the concept of continuous delivery to ship valuable functionality through the maintenance stream without the burden of adopting a new release in the process. DB2 12 continues to focus on our key precepts of reliability, availability, and security as well as CPU reduction through the exploitation of central storage. This release will shift the previous boundaries around data sharing, table space size/definition, buffer pools, as well throughput. Tell your friends you are coming to learn about the ORIGINAL enterprise level, on-premise, cloud data server…

Lessons Learned from 360 Studies During many trips domestically and abroad the DB2 SWAT team notices patterns in the issues experienced by our customers. Trends in technology and newer releases of DB2 can lead customers into situations that would not have appeared just a few years prior. Currently topics such as real storage control, online release migration, zIIP capacity, preventative service, distributed access, and mass data recovery have garnered the attention of our team, and warrant a further discussion.

About the Speakers

Adrian Burke is an Open Group Master Certified IT Specialist on the DB2 SWAT team based out of the Silicon Valley Lab, lead by John Campbell. In this role as a technical advocate for DB2 for z/OS Adrian conducts consulting and educational workshops, DB2 health checks, and availability studies for DB2 for z/OS customers. Previously, as a DB2 Advisor, Adrian supported hundreds of DB2 for z/OS customers from a technical sales perspective delivering consultative and educational workshops. Adrian has spoken at numerous DB2 Regional User Groups both in the U.S. and abroad as well as presented at IDUG, SHARE, and IOD. He is also a published Redbook author on material dealing with DB2 performance.

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SWARUG Meeting: June 20, 2017

The Spring Summer 2017 SWARUG meeting will take place on Tuesday, June 20, 2017 from 10:00am to 2:00pm. The meeting is being sponsored by CA, who will be providing lunch for the meeting.

The meeting is being held at IBM’s offices in Phoenix, located at 2929 N. Central Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85012. We will be meeting in room 539, located on the 5th Floor.

Agenda

10:00am – 10:15am

Introductions and Announcements Ian Bjorhovde, DataProxy LLC Clif Burnes, IBM

10:15am – 11:30am

"DB2 for z/OS Utilities Update” Craig Friske, IBM

→ Download Presentation

11:30am – 12:30pm

Lunch / Networking, Hosted by CA

12:30pm – 1:45pm

“DB2 12 Focus on Availability and Reliability Features” Craig Friske, IBM

→ Download Presentation

If you’d like to attend, please RSVP by sending an email to swarugrsvp@gmail.com that includes your name, email and the company that you work for.

Thanks!

— Ian Bjorhovde

Presentation Abstracts

DB2 for z/OS Utilities Update DB2 11 and 12 for z/OS are releases filled with many useful features for DB2 utilities. This presentation covers utility enhancements which improve the use, availability, and performance of individual utilities in the last several years. This includes some highlights from DB2 12, but it also covers many significant enhancements delivered in the last couple years within the DB2 11 service stream that you may have missed.

DB2 12 Focus on Availability and Reliability Features One of the key focus areas for DB2 12 for z/OS is to improve application and data availability and scalability. This session will explain what is delivered, why, and how to take advantage of these great new features. The release greatly simplifies table partition management with several new features, as well as adding improvements to utilities for exploitation of those features, and added health checking.

About the Speakers

Craig Friske has over 25 years of development experience with DB2 for z/OS at the Silicon Valley Lab. He has led or worked on numerous utility projects including statistics gathering enhancements, partition independence, data compression, and online utilities (REORG, CHECK and REBUILD). Craig has also worked on many availability enhancements for Online Schema Evolution. His most recent endeavor was leading the implementation of Partition by Range Relative Page Numbering table spaces in DB2 12 for z/OS.

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SWARUG Meeting: October 5, 2016

The fall 2016 SWARUG meeting will take place from 10:00am to 2:00pm on Wednesday, October 5, 2016. The meeting is being sponsored by IBM, who will be providing lunch for the meeting.

The meeting is being held at IBM’s offices in Phoenix, located at 2929 N. Central Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85012. We will be meeting in room 540, located on the 5th Floor.

The morning session will be focused on z/OS, but the afternoon session, “Fun with SQL,” is applicable to both z/OS and LUW.  It’s especially good for developers and users who need to learn and polish their SQL skills.

Agenda

10:00am – 11:30am

“DB2 12 for z/OS Technology Preview” June Lundstrom, IBM

11:30am – 12:30pm

Lunch / Networking, Hosted by UBS Hainer

12:30pm – 2:00pm

Fun with SQL Ian Bjorhovde, IDUG

If you’d like to attend, please RSVP by sending an email to swarugrsvp@gmail.com that includes your name, email and the company that you work for.

Thanks!

— Ian Bjorhovde

Presentation Abstracts

DB2 12 for z/OS Technology Preview DB2 12 for zOS is currently in the Early Support Program. This presentation will present the highlights of the anticipated new release of DB2 z/OS, including real memory enhancements, changes to the migration process, and next generation application support.

Fun with SQL A group of developers (and/or DBAs and Sysprogs) gather together and are individually and randomly assigned to teams. A single computer is used on a display with a portable keyboard and mouse to present a series of programming challenges. Teams are chosen randomly, and each team is given just a few minutes to solve the programming challenge. If the team solves the programming challenge, they move on to the next one; if they don’t solve the challenge before their time runs out, the same challenge (including previous teams’ unfinished work) moves on to the next randomly selected team. Once a team has been selected their number immediately goes back into the pool, and so they could be selected many times during the dojo and must stay engaged. Now comes the real fun; not only does a participant get to meet and work with other people in their group, but participants are also welcome to shout suggestions to the team working on the challenge in an effort to help them out. This can result in a very active and funny discussion with a timer running out, multiple people shouting out suggestions, and the team racing to implement the solution and beat the clock. The result is a fun and cooperative event.

About the Speakers

June Lundstrom is an IBM DB2 Advisor for z/OS. She has been working with DB2 for z/OS since Version 2, first as a customer and later working for IBM. For the last 10 years and more, June has been helping customers with their migrations and transitions to new versions of DB2. It is always exciting to be able to present the features and capabilities of a new version.

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SWARUG Meeting: March 9, 2016

The spring 2016 SWARUG meeting will take place from 10:00am to 2:00pm on Wednesday, March 9, 2016. The meeting is being sponsored by UBS Hainer, who will be providing lunch for the meeting.

The meeting is being held at IBM’s offices in Phoenix, located at 2929 N. Central Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85012. We will be meeting in room 534, located on the 5th Floor.

For this meeting we will have one morning session that’s useful for both DB2 on z/OS and DB2 LUW.  In the afternoon, there will be concurrent presentations for DB2 on z/OS, and DB2 LUW.

Agenda

10:00am – 11:30am

“Test Data Management - Concepts and Methods" Kai Stroh, UBS Hainer

11:30am – 12:30pm

Lunch / Networking, Hosted by UBS Hainer

12:30pm – 2:00pm

z/OS: “Analyzing DB2 Application Performance” Robert Andresen, CA

LUW: “DB2 BLU Acceleration Proof of Concept First Steps and Best Practices”  Burt Vialpando, IBM

If you’d like to attend, please RSVP by sending an email to swarugrsvp@gmail.com that includes your name, email and the company that you work for.

Thanks!

— Ian Bjorhovde

Presentation Abstracts

Test Data Management - Concepts and Methods We will discuss test data management and the issues that DBA's and staff must deal with to supply various DB2 environments with fresh data quickly, efficiently and in a way that saves resources, automates processes and improves data delivery times. Rapid data provisioning, propagation of daily deltas, data masking, and test data management topics with emphasis on DB2 z/OS will be addressed, as well as, supporting DB2 LUW, Oracle, SQL Server.

Analyzing DB2 Application Performance First, we’ll look at extracting performance data from your DB2 monitors. Thread data from SMF is useful for recent performance problems, but to really understand application performance and trending SQL performance data is more useful. Next, we’ll discuss building a performance warehouse. What are the factors you must consider in order to pick the best place to store this data? The data will be large and to be successful you will want to keep history going back over a year or more. What are good, low cost options? Then, how do we analyze the data by smoothing out the spikes. We’re looking for big trends, not individual anomalies. How do we smooth out the data while keeping usable metrics? Finally, we’ll see how to create baseline thresholds once “normal” behavior is determined. Then identify growth over time. Once we’ve see where you’ve been and we can predict where you’re going. We’ll see how to save the analyzed data to be able to repeat this process over again in the future.

DB2 BLU Acceleration Proof of Concept First Steps and Best Practices Many DBAs already know what BLU Acceleration is, but are unsure as to whether or not it will be affective with the analytic workloads in their own environment. So, they often want to do a BLU Proof of Concept on their own hardware and with their own data to determine it. This presentation will supply the details on the first steps to take and what you need to know before spending time on a BLU Acceleration Proof of Concept. In addition, it follows up with the things a DBA should and should not do during the BLU PoC itself. Along with the deck from this presentation, each attendee will receive a set of materials called the "BLU PoC Guide". These materials include a detailed guide book and a set of well worn scripts used in many other successful BLU PoCs. Note: this is an advanced BLU Acceleration lecture as it assumes you already know what BLU Acceleration is.

About the Speakers

Kai Stroh earned a Computer Science degree from the University of Darmstadt and is a mainframe software developer specializing in DB2 utilities for z/OS. He designs and builds innovative DB2 applications and utilities often working onsite or remotely with UBS’ international clients. He easily navigates his way around DB2 dumps and knows how to move data and definitions across DB2 versions, and this includes the unique in-house DB2 subsystems which each have their own little technical adaptations.

Robert Andresen is a Technology Specialist with CA. He has been working in performance management and monitoring for several software companies since 1997 and has been supporting mainframe systems since 1976 in various capacities including being a zOS/CICS/DB2 Systems Programmer. He is a co-author of the IBM Redbook: Linux on IBM @server zSeries and S/390: System Management. He has presented at IDUG, CMG, SHARE, the IBM zOS Conference and LinuxWorld as well as many local and regional user groups. He holds a degree in Mathematics from the Illinois Institute of Technology. He is certified as an IBM Certified Database Administrator, DB2 10 and 11 for z/OS, an IBM Certified SOA Associate and also is ITIL Foundation Certified.At CA he has been supporting their suite of DB2 for z/OS tools and our Big Data products. His areas of expertise include z/OS, DB2, CICS, UNIX/Linux, Windows and Hadoop.

Burt Vialpando is an IBM Executive IT Specialist, and has been in the database field for over 32 years. He has been with IBM 18 of those years, now working on the IBM Core Database Technical Sales team. He is an author and presenter for many IBM Proof of Technology assets, including ones on DB2 BLU Acceleration and has contributed to over 35 BLU Acceleration Proof of Concept engagements. Burt holds multiple patents in database technology, as well as numerous DB2, Oracle and other certifications, and serves on the IBM IT Certification Board.

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September 2015 Presentations

The presentations from the September 2015 SWARUG meeting have been uploaded to the SWARUG Presentations area on IDUG.org.

For instructions on how to access the SWARUG Presentations area and access these files, please view the SWARUG @ IDUG.org page.

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SWARUG Meeting: September 30, 2015

The fall 2015 SWARUG meeting will take place from 10:00am to 2:00pm on Wednesday, September 30, 2015. The meeting is being sponsored by IBM, who will be providing lunch for the meeting.

The meeting is being held at IBM’s offices in Phoenix, located at 2929 N. Central Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85012. We will be meeting in room 534, located on the 5th Floor.

For this meeting we will have 2 separate tracks:  One for DB2 on z/OS, and one for DB2 LUW.

Agenda

10:00am – 11:30pm

z/OS: “Implementing and Using Autonomic Statistics" John Iczkovits, IBM Silicon Valley Lab

LUW: “No Longer just in your Data Center – The 101 of Cloud Data Services” Bob Harbus, IBM Toronto

11:30am – 12:30pm

Lunch / Networking, Hosted by IBM

12:30pm – 2:00pm

z/OS: “z/OS 2.1 Great New Features for DB2” John Iczkovits, IBM Silicon Valley Lab

LUW: “The 5 Ws of DB2 Database Encryption” Ian Bjorhovde, DataProxy LLC

If you’d like to attend, please RSVP by sending an email to swarugrsvp@gmail.com that includes your name, email and the company that you work for.

Thanks!

— Ian Bjorhovde

Presentation Abstracts

DB2 10 and 11 for z/OS - Implementing and Using Autonomic Statistics DB2 10 and 11 have a neat feature, automatically executing RUNSTATS on required objects. By the way, you get to choose when and how to execute RUNSTATS. The actual implementation however is not straight forward. Come to this presentation and learn how to successfully implement and review the output for this new feature. 

No Longer Just in Your Data Center - The 101 of Cloud Data Service Databases are no longer just for your data center. Join Bob Harbus as he discusses what are clouds (no, not the big fluffy ones!), why are they important to businesses today, IBM's cloud foundations, and Cloud Data Services focusing on databases as a service. Many organizations are moving some of their IT to the cloud for big data and other purposes. Come learn how databases fit into this picture and how DB2 is leading the way. This topic will include the IBM DB2 offerings in the cloud, SQLDB, dashDB, and DB2 on Cloud as well as Softlayer and Bluemix.

z/OS 2.1 Great New Features for DB2 z/OS 2.1 has many great new features. Some of the features are real game changers in the way we work with DB2. Come learn about the new features and how to fully exploit them for the most efficient ways of running DB2.

The 5 Ws of DB2 Database Encryption Sadly, data breaches have become an all too common occurrence, and have the potential to cost your company millions of dollars. In this presentation, Ian Bjorhovde will cover the “Five Ws” of keeping your DB2 data safe with encryption:

• Why encrypt your database? • Where should you encrypt your data? • Who is responsible for managing encryption? • What options do you have for encryption? • How to encrypt and manage your database?

About the Speakers

John Iczkovits is a Consulting IT Specialist with IBM Advanced Technical Skills. He provides DB2 for z/OS technical support and consulting services. His areas of expertise include DB2 data sharing, performance, and availability. His work in IBM includes experience supporting DB2 as a Systems Engineer, Database Administrator, IT Specialist, Consultant, and project lead. He has 30 years of IT experience, ranging from database products such as DB2 and IMS to MVS systems support, including storage management. He has also co-authored IBM redbooks, red papers, white papers, trade magazine articles, and presented at SHARE, the DB2 Tech Conference, the Information On Demand Conference, zEXPO Conference, IBM System z Technical Symposium, CMG, IDUG, and at local DB2 users groups.

Bob Harbus is from the IBM Toronto Laboratory and has been with IBM since 1989. Roles during those years include DB2 LUW Development, DB2 Service and Support, Leading the DB2 Certification program, DB2 Technical Evangelist, Lab Services for DB2 and Data Warehousing, and most recently WW Technical Sales for the IBM Analytics Platform based out of the IBM Toronto Laboratory. Bob works with IBMers and customers worldwide to ensure they understand, get the best use, and most value out of DB2 for LUW, and all IBM offerings

 Ian Bjorhovde is a senior consultant for DataProxy LLC, and is based in Phoenix, Arizona.  He has worked in the IT industry for nearly 20 years and has spent the last 15 years as a consultant developing and supporting large DB2 databases for clients in many different industries. Ian is an IBM Gold Consultant, IBM Champion for Information Management, volunteers for the International DB2 Users Group, and is a DB2 Certified Advanced Database Administrator (DB2 10.1 for Linux, UNIX and Windows). He co-hosts The Whole Package Cache Podcast, and has presented at many RUG, IDUG and IBM conferences.

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SWARUG Meeting: March 18, 2015

The next SWARUG meeting will take place from 10:00am to 2:00pm on Wednesday, March 18, 2015. The meeting is being sponsored by IBM, who will be providing lunch for the meeting.

The meeting is being held at IBM’s offices in Phoenix, located at 2929 N. Central Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85012. We will be meeting in room 534, located on the 5th Floor.

We are fortunate enough to have Adrian Burke from the DB2 SWAT team, who will be presenting 2 z/OS focused sessions.  

Agenda:

10:00 — “DB2 for z/OS Distributed Access - Best Practices and Updates" 11:30 — Lunch / Networking 12:30 — “From Virtually Constrained to Really Overcommitted"

If you’d like to attend, please RSVP by sending an email to swarugrsvp@gmail.com that includes your name, email and the company that you work for.

Thanks!

— Ian Bjorhovde

DB2 for z/OS Distributed Access -Best Practices and Updates  Comeand learn the best practices and updates to Distributed Access on DB2 for z/OS10 and DB2 11. As distributed environments become more complicated and important your organization needs a methodology for adjusting timeouts and other thresholds for high availability.  We will go over the recommended driver and server configurations for workload balancing, high availability, and client reroute in a Data Sharing or non-Data Sharing environment.  You will be exposed to new DB2 commands that can be used to dynamically add and remove members from a subset thus influencing the target members used to service specific applications, without taking a DB2 or DDF outage.  We will also discuss improvements to DDF cancel thread, distributed correlation, location stats, and how to tune the system parameters based on this information. There will be some discussion on identifying these distributed threads as well

From Virtually Constrained to Really Overcommitted With the 31-bit virtual storage relief of DB2 10 customers no longer need to rely on the old ‘diet plan’. However the answer is not to simply open the gates for more threads to come in.  Real storage usage and conservation becomes the next major bottleneck. Things like persistent thread, long running units of work, and parallelism can exacerbate the real storage usage. Understanding what to look for, and what functionality can affect your stance on real storage is key to staying ahead of the game. We will look at DB2, z/OS, and Sort product parameter settings, as well as general best practices to keep your systems running safely.

About Adrian Burke: Adrian Burke is an Open Group Master Certified IT Specialist on the DB2 SWAT team based out of the Silicon Valley Lab, lead by John Campbell.  In this role as a technical advocate for DB2 for z/OS Adrian conducts consulting and educational workshops, DB2 health checks, and availability studies for DB2 for z/OS customers.  Adrian has spoken at numerous DB2 Regional User Groups both in the U.S. and abroad as well as presented at IDUG, SHARE, and IOD.  He is also a published Redbook author on material dealing with DB2 performance.

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SWARUG Meeting: September 24, 2014

The next SWARUG meeting will take place from 10:00am to 2:30pm on Wednesday, September 24, 2014. The meeting is being sponsored by IBM, who will be providing lunch for the meeting.

The meeting is being held again at CA’s offices in Scottsdale, located at 4343 N. Scottsdale Road, Suite 355, Scottsdale, AZ 85251. We will be meeting in the Executive Meeting Room.  

The new meeting format that we used in April was a success, so we will repeat this again:  We will have a 90-minute z/OS session from 10:30 - 12:00; lunch/networking from 12:00 - 1:00, followed by a 90-minute LUW session from 1:00 - 2:30.  If you are only interested in the z/OS content, feel free to leave after lunch; if LUW is your cup of tea, you can show up at noon for lunch and then see the LUW session.

  Agenda:

10:30 — “Data Studio: Understanding Access Path changes” (Saghi Amirsoleymani, IBM) 12:00 — Lunch / Networking  1:00 — “Tips for Running BLU in the Cloud” (Ian Bjorhovde, DataProxy)

If you’d like to attend, please RSVP by sending an email to swarugrsvp@gmail.com that includes your name, email and the company that you work for.

Thanks!

— Ian Bjorhovde

Data Studio: Understanding Access Path changes 

Access plan changes occur in many different scenarios, like database server migration and maintenance, application deployment from a test system to a production system, database design or environment changes etc. These changes may often lead to unexpected and severe performance regression. As such, it is critical to find out the changes in advance, and understand their potential impact. Furthermore, it is important to manage the changes and gain plan stability in the database application life cycle.

SQL performance tuning for any database applications typically involves iterative processes: monitor the subsystem, identify the problematic queries, analyze the performance issue, and tune the queries. In this session, we describe how with Data Studio/Query Workload Tuner one can easily carry these tasks and streamline processes.

About Saghi Amirsoleymani:

Saghi Amirsoleymani is a WW Senior Solutions Architect in the Optim Enablement team at IBM's Silicon Valley Lab  where she enables customers and partners on IBM Data Studio technologies. Prior to joining this team, Saghi was part of the DB2 z/OS L2 team. She joined IBM in 1999, after finishing her degree at University Southern California She has presented on various topics related to Data Studio, Analytics , and  performance at the Information on Demand and IDUG conferences, various user groups, and events.

Tips for running BLU in the Cloud

One of the main advantages that IBM provides when discussing BLU Acceleration in DB2 10.5 is its ability to simply "Load and Go". However, in many enterprises, just getting to the point at which you can actually "Load and Go" can often take months. Cloud computing can eliminate these delays and allow you to bring up a system running DB2 10.5 in just hours.

This session will present some background on the different options available for running BLU in the cloud, give insight into what pitfalls to avoid, and provide other tips to get you up and running as quickly as possible.

About Ian Bjorhovde:

Ian Bjorhovde is a senior consultant for DataProxy LLC, and is based in Phoenix, Arizona. He has worked in the IT industry for nearly 20 years and has spent the last 15 years as a consultant developing and supporting large DB2 UDB databases for clients in many different industries.

Ian is an IBM Champion for Information Management, leads the IDUG RUG Team and is a DB2 Certified Advanced Database Administrator (DB2 10.1 for Linux, UNIX and Windows). He has presented at multiple RUG, IDUG and IBM conferences.

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SWARUG Meeting: April 2, 2014

The next SWARUG meeting will take place from 10:30am to 2:30pm on Wednesday, April 2, 2014. The meeting is being sponsored by CA, and will be held at their offices in old town Scottsdale.  CA will be providing lunch for the meeting (thanks, CA!).

In an effort to try and attract both z/OS and LUW users, we are trying a new format for this meeting:  We will have a 90-minute z/OS session from 10:30 - 12:00; lunch/networking from 12:00 - 1:00, followed by a 90-minute LUW session from 1:00 - 2:30.  If you are only interested in the z/OS content, feel free to leave after lunch; if LUW is your cup of tea, you can show up at noon for lunch and then see the LUW session.

Update:  IDUG is donating a full conference pass for the IDUG DB2 Technical Conference that is taking place in Phoenix from May 12-15 – this is a $2,000 value!  We will be raffling giving this pass away to one of the attendees at the end of the meeting.

CA’s offices are located at 4343 N. Scottsdale Road, Suite 355, Scottdale, AZ 85251. We will be meeting in the Executive Meeting Room.

Schedule:

10:30 — “Using DB2 9 Native SQL Stored Procedures” (Bob Andresen, CA) 12:00 — Lunch / Networking  1:00 — “Automation Everywhere: A DB2 Scripting Roundup” (Fred Sobotka, FRS Consulting)

If you’d like to attend, please RSVP by sending an email to swarugrsvp@gmail.com that includes your name, email and the company that you work for.

Thanks!

— Ian Bjorhovde

Using DB2 9 Native SQL Stored Procedures 

Native SQL stored procedures are new for DB2 9. They offer less overhead, are zIIP eligible and are easier to write, in short a win/win/win situation. We will cover the writing and definition of native SQL stored procedures and discuss the new capabilities for versioning these procedures. We will also cover the new SQLFORMAT option and new coding support for Extended GOTO and Nested compound statements. Next we will  look at testing and debugging capabilities, including a sample Rexx exec to quickly verify the functionality of the new procedures quickly. Measuring and monitoring resource consumption will be covered. We will then cover deployment commands and migration from existing external  SQL procedures to the new native SQL procedures. Finally we will discuss documentation resources that to learn more about native SQL stored procedures.

  Automation Everywhere: A DB2 Scripting Roundup

Automation is not laziness. It is, in fact, an absolute necessity to staying sane as a DBA. This session shows DBAs how to automate a variety of labor-intensive tasks with a toolkit of powerful and reliable utilities. The tips presented cover a wide range of use cases and skill levels, but all are based on real-world DB2 scenarios. Numerous functional examples demonstrate how DBAs can exploit OS commands and no-cost software libraries to streamline many common tasks:

What will and won't work with DB2 CLP and CLPPlus

Demystifying classic UNIX tools, including Perl, sed, awk, and xargs

Windows PowerShell with (or instead of) Cygwin

Patterns for configuration management and rapid deployment

Scripting considerations for monitoring local and remote DB2 resources

   About Bob Andresen:

Robert Andresen is a Technology Specialist with CA. He has been working in performance management and monitoring for several software companies since 1997 and has been supporting mainframe systems since 1976 in various capacities including being a zOS/CICS/DB2 Systems Programmer.. He is a co-author of the IBM Redbook: Linux on IBM @server zSeries and S/390: System Management. He has presented at IDUG, CMG, the IBM zOS Conference and LinuxWorld as well as many local and regional user groups. He holds a degree in Mathematics from the Illinois Institute of Technology. He is certified as an IBM Certified Database Administrator, DB2 9 for z/OS, an IBM Certified SOA Associate and also is ITIL Foundation Certified. At CA he has been supporting their suite of DB2 for z/OS tools for the past year. His areas of expertise include z/OS, DB2, CICS, UNIX/Linux, Windows, Websphere MQ and Networking.

About Fred Sobotka:

Fred Sobotka is the President of FRS Consulting, an IBM business partner specializing in DB2 performance tuning, pureScale clustering, XML enablement, and Oracle to DB2 migrations. He is an IBM Gold Consultant, an IBM Data Champion, and an award-winning IDUG speaker who presents regularly at DB2 conferences across North America and Europe.

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SWARUG Meeting: October 4, 2012

Hello!

The next SWARUG meeting will take place from 8:30am to 2:30pm on Thursday, October 4, 2012. The meeting is being sponsored by EMC, and will be held at their offices in old town Scottsdale.  EMC will be providing a light breakfast and lunch for the meeting (thanks, EMC!).

EMC's offices are located at 4250 N. Drinkwater Boulevard, Scottsdale, AZ, 85251.  We will be meeting in the St. Andrews Conference Room. EMC can validate parking for the Lincoln Towne Center (park on the third level of the underground parking garage  on north end).

We have some great speakers lined up for this event.  Paul Pendle from EMC will be delivering talks he has given at IDUG, and I am very very excited to announce that we will have our first user speaker in quite some time:  Jeff Sullivan from the AZ Department of Administration.

Schedule:

 8:30 -- Coffee  9:00 -- SWARUG Business  9:15 -- “DB2 for z/OS and Storage Virtualization” (Paul Pendle, EMC) 10:15 -- Break  10:30 -- “Using Storage Replication with DB2 for z/OS” (Paul Pendle, EMC) 11:30 -- Lunch 12:00 -- “DB2 Data Sharing ... the Easy Way” (Jeff Sullivan, AZ DOA)  1:00 -- Break   1:10 -- “VMAX Update” (Paul Pendle, EMC)  2:30 -- Open Discussion 

If you’d like to attend, please RSVP using the registration form below.  Please note that there is limited seating at the EMC facility, so we can only take the first 28 people who RSVP.  Beyond that, we will put people on a wait list. 

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If you can't see or access the registration form (i.e., anyone from American Express or Charles Schwab), you may send an email to swarugrsvp@gmail.com that includes your name, email and the company that you work for.

Thanks!

— Ian Bjorhovde

DB2 for z/OS and Storage Virtualization

Storage virtualization is coming to DB2 for z/OS databases. This new technology has its own interesting challenges.  This session helps you understand the technology and the trade-offs of using it compared to more traditional storage provisioning methods. Best practices and performance recommendations will be offered.

Using storage replication with DB2 for z/OS

Storage arrays can be used to replicate DB2 subsystems using either TimeFinder or FlashCopy. These features can replicate DB2 subsystems for backup, recovery and disaster recovery without using host CPU cycles and I/O. And  it many cases the copy can be made instantly regardless the size of the subsystem.  This session explores those capabilities and discusses DB2 system point in time recover with DB2 V8-V10 and also the new features of FCIC (FlashCopy Image Copy) in DB2 version 10.

DB2 Data Sharing ... The Easy Way

When faced with setting up a new data sharing environment on DB2 for z/OS, you may think the work is a daunting task. But have no fear since it is easier than you may think. The presentation will show the tasks associated with installing DB2 as a jump-off point; taking the audience through the steps in the installation process. A checklist of tasks, SMS-managed name standard, and DB2 naming standard will be shown to get you to where you need to be for a successful install with data sharing.

VMAX update

This session describes the new VMAX generation released in May this year. It covers the new hard ware and software capabilities including the automated  storage tiering product FAST VP.

About Paul Pendle:

Paul Pendle is a consulting systems engineer for EMC Corporation. He has more than 30 years of experience in databases, hardware, software, and operating systems both from a database administrator's perspective and from a systems programming perspective. Pendle is an IBM Information Champion and has worked wiht DB2 for z/OS since version 1.2.

About Jeff Sullivan:

Jeff M. Sullivan is a Mainframe Systems Programmer with the State of Arizona. Prior to this position, Jeff was in IBM Systems and Technology Lab Services and Training. Over the course of his 30+ year career, Jeff has provided guidance and advice to scores of companies across a spectrum of industries, has been a frequent speaker at SHARE and IBM System z Technical University, and has been published in z/OS Hot Topics, IBM Systems Journal, and Redbooks. His specialty is DB2 and IMS performance tuning, installation, and Database Administration.

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SWARUG Meeting: April 5, 2012

  Hello!

The next SWARUG meeting will take place from 8:30am to 1:30pm on Thursday, April 5, 2012. The meeting is being sponsored by IBM, and will be held at their offices in central Phoenix.  IBM will be providing a light breakfast and lunch for the meeting (thanks, IBM!).

IBM's office is located at 2929 N. Central Ave, Phoenix AZ, 85012.  We will be meeting in room 540.

We have some great speakers lined up for this event.  We are very fortunate to have John Tobler flying in from IBM’s Silicon Valley Lab coming out to present on DB2 10 for z/OS Metrics and Storage Analysis.  Finally, we’ll also get an update on What’s new in DB2 from our local IBM team.

Schedule:

 8:30 -- Coffee  9:00 -- SWARUG Business  9:15 -- “Looking Behind the Curtain of DB2 for z/OS 10 Performance and Scalability: Metrics and Storage Analysis” (John Tobler, IBM SVL) 10:45 -- Break  11:00 -- DB2 for z/OS Profiles – The New ZParms (Paul Bartak, IBM) 12:00 -- Lunch  1:00 -- “What's New in DB2” (Lamies Fakhouri, IBM)  1:30 -- Open Discussion  

If you’d like to attend, please fill out this registration form:

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If you can't see or access the registration form (i.e., anyone from American Express or Charles Schwab), you may send an email to swarugrsvp@gmail.com that includes your name, email and the company that you work for.

Thanks!

— Ian Bjorhovde

Looking Behind the Curtain of DB2 for z/OS 10 Performance and Scalability: Metrics and Storage Analysis

John Tobler is a senior developer and designer for DB2 for z/OS.  He has worked extensively on instrumentation, agent services, and storage management.  He has lead numerous projects focused on autonomics,  serviceability, and performance.  John has chaired the DB2 for z/OS Service Advisory Team and Design Review Board.  He is currently oversees all development and design for the core engine components of DB2. 

DB2 for z/OS Profiles – The New ZParms 

The DB2 10 for z/OS Profiles presentation will cover the creation of profiles and attributes to monitor things such as threads and connections, maintaining copies of access paths, optimizing subsystem parameters for SQL statements, and modeling a production environment on a test system. We will walk through defining a profile and its scope including which combination of columns to specify with which keywords. Then, review how to define the actions that DB2 applies when a process meets the criteria defined by the profile. This will include how to enable and disable profiles followed by examples of some of the profile capabilities.

About Paul Bartak Paul Bartak has been working with IBM databases since 1985, including the first version of DB2 on MVS. As an IBM customer for 14 years Paul worked in Application Development, Database Administration, and DBA Management - working with IBM & ISV Labs on various projects. Since joining IBM in 1999 his role has been that of an Information Management Technical Specialist, teaming with the Sales force to present, design, install, demonstrate, and evaluate IBM Information Management solutions in a pre-sales environment. He is certified in Database Administration for DB2 for z/OS Version 8, 9, and 10; and in DB2 Data Replication. Paul developed the Migration Planning Workshops for DB2 V8 for z/OS, DB2 9 for z/OS and DB2 10 for z/OS; and the enablement for pureXML and Temporal features. 

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SWARUG Meeting: January 27, 2011

  Hello!

The next SWARUG meeting will take place from 12:00pm to 4pm on Thursday, January 27, 2011. The meeting is being sponsored by CA, and will be held at their offices.  CA will be providing lunch for the meeting (thanks, CA!).

CA is located at 9201 E. Mountain View Road, Suite 200, Scottsdale, AZ 85258.

We have 3 z/OS focused presentations planned for the meeting.  Bill Arledge will be giving a presentation about the Distributed Data Facility that he delivered at the 2010 IDUG EMEA conference in Vienna.  CA will present their new Chorus tool.  Finally, Bill will present some more technical information about DB2 10 for z/OS:  He will discuss temporal tables and hash tables.  

As a bonus for attendees, CA will be raffling off 10 passes to go see a practice round at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

Schedule:

12:00 -- Lunch 12:30 -- The DDF in a Nutshell 1:30 --  Break 1:45 -- CA Mainframe Chorus 2:45 -- Break 3:00 -- DB2 10 Technical Overview: Temporal and Hash Tables  4:00 -- Raffle and Open Discussion 

If you’d like to attend, please fill out this registration form.  

If you can't access the registration form (i.e., anyone from American Express or Charles Schwab), you can send an email to swarugrsvp@gmail.com that includes your name, email and the company that you work for.

Thanks!

— Ian Bjorhovde

The DDF in a Nutshell

An increasing percentage of DB2 application workloads originate off the mainframe utilizing DB2 Connect and numerous other distributed technologies.  While SQL is consistent for all applications, DB2 on z/OS implements distinct functionality to manage these distributed workloads.  This session cover details about DB2 on z/OS as a distributed server and requester, including discussions on DDF (Distributed Data Facility) implementation, DBAT characteristics and control, WLM, and performance management for DB2 on z/OS distributed threads.  

CA Mainframe Chorus

CA Mainframe Chorus is based on immersive research with customers to understand how they get their work done. It is designed to go far beyond the benefits of graphical user interfaces, by integrating back-end products and introducing a set of features and capabilities to help harmonize the different tools and processes required for the mainframe team to accomplish their daily tasks, creating an efficient and finely tuned environment that offers significant productivity gains.  Each CA Mainframe Chorus role leverages functionality from the CA software that supports a key management discipline.  CA Mainframe Chorus for DB2 Database Management is the first role bringing together features from seven individual CA tools that support IBM® DB2® for z/OS® in the unified workspace. 

DB2 10 Technical Overview: Temporal and Hash Tables

DB2 10 for z/OS became GA in October of 2010, expanding customer value across the board with lower cost, higher availability, better performance, enhanced security, and increased scalability.  Customers can migrate directly to DB2 10 from DB2 V8, eliminating the cost of an interim migration to DB2 9.  This presentation looks at selected DB2 10 features, specifically temporal tables and hash tables.  Temporal tables provide an integrated DB2 method for managing historical data and are built on the new system_time and business_time application period concept.  Hash tables provide a new tablespace implementation that delivers lowest cost data access using hashing algorithms to minimize GETPAGE and I/O operations.  This one hour presentation will provide detailed information on these new DB2 10 features. 

About Bill Arledge

Bill Arledge is an IT veteran with 36 years experience across a variety of roles, including application development and database administration. Bill’s database experience began in the late 1970’s as an IMS DBA and developer. He began working with DB2 in 1984 as a database specialist at IBM where he consulted with numerous IBM customers on existing and planned DB2 implementations. In 1990 Bill began working in the DB2 and IMS database tools business.  He recently joined CA Technologies as a technical sales consultant focused on DB2 and IMS technologies and tools.  Bill presents on DB2 technical topics at numerous venues around the world.  

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SWARUG Meeting: December 8, 2010

Hello!

The next SWARUG meeting will take place from 12:30pm to 4pm on Wednesday, December 8, 2010.  Al Nitta from Global Crossing has graciously offered to host the meeting.  

Global Crossing is located at 14605 S. 50th Street, Phoenix, AZ  85044.

We have 2 interesting presentations planned for the meeting.  Leon Katsnelson will be flying in from the lab in Toronto to talk about how to leverage various technologies and industry developments to enhance your DB2 career.  Then, our own June Lundstrom will be presenting a Technical Overview of DB2 10 for z/OS.  Please see the abstracts and speaker bios below.

If you'd like to attend, please fill out this registration form.  

Alternatively, you can send an email to swarugrsvp@gmail.com that includes your name, email and the company that you work for (although I'd prefer that you use the linked form).

Thanks!

— Ian Bjorhovde

Leveraging Technology & Social Media for DB2 Professionals

Technology is changing at break neck pace and it is changing the way we live. We don't read on paper, our books come on Kindle. We watch Youtube instead of TV. Publishers are losing audience in droves to blogs and 140 character Twitter messages. This is also changing our professional lives ... in a good way. For DB2 professionals, we have more ways than ever to propel our careers to a new level. Whether you are an old DB2 for z/OS pro or just started with DB2 for LUW, this presentation will enlighten you and give you confidence and knowledge to rise above the crowd.  Leon Katsnelson will focus on tools, Cloud Computing, DB2University, social media, and other topics to help you get ahead of the technology curve. This is not a marketing spiel or crystal ball gazing. Just practical knowledge that you can take advantage right away and without putting any money on the table. After all, the best things in life are free. 

About Leon:

Leon Katsnelson is a 25 year veteran of the IT industry. He spent the last 17 years working on DB2 in various roles. He is sometimes known as the father of DB2 Connect. Leon is currently leading the team responsible for Cloud Computing and other emerging technologies. He is responsible for bringing new people to experience the power of DB2. Leon is an author, a prolific blogger and an engaging presenter in demand at many industry events. You can find his blog at http://FreeDB2.com. 

DB2 10 for z/OS: A Technical Overview

 In this session, June Lundstrom will present a technical overview of IBM DB2 10 for z/OS. DB2 10 provides many potential benefits to help you improve service levels and save money. This session presents an overview of these features and functions and how customers can begin planning to migrate to this release. 

About June:

June is a Certified Consulting DB2 Advisor.  She has over 25 years experience with Information Management Software and supports DB2 for z/OS customers in their utilization of IBM mainframe software, including the migration to new versions of DB2 on z/OS.

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SWARUG: Back from the dead!

SWARUG has been on hiatus for a couple of years, but with the hard work of Paul Bocks [Glasshouse Systems] and Jeff Sullivan [IBM], and a few others, we are going to try and start having meetings again.

The next meeting take place on Wednesday, July 14, from 12:30pm to 4pm at the IBM Office in Phoenix.

The IBM office is located at 2929 N Central Ave, Suite 700. Phoenix, AZ 85012.  Covered parking in the IBM complex is not free, but you can park across the street from the IBM Office at Park Central Mall, or even take use Light Rail (there is a stop right in front of the IBM Office). 

I know that this is short notice, but you'll want to attend:  Willie Favero will be presenting two very interesting topics -- DB2 parallelism and the new IBM Smart Analytics Optimizer.

If you'd like to attend, please send an email to swarugrsvp@gmail.com to indicate your interest.

Thanks! 

-- Ian Bjorhovde

Myth Busting DB2's Parallelism

Parallelism was first introduced to DB2 way back in 1993 with DB2 Version 3. With every release of DB2 parallelism has been enhanced. In applications like data warehousing and business intelligence, it's almost a necessity. Yet, a surprisingly large number of customers continue to avoid parallelism when it could offer significant elapsed time improvements. With this presentation, we'll try to debunk the myths that surround using DB2 parallelism. We will discuss a little bit of parallelism's history, how parallelism works, the parameters in DB2 that control parallelism and the affects of the value chosen for those parameters, and how to get the greatest benefits when parallelism is put to use; the DOS & DON'TS necessary for you to get the most out of DB2's parallelism . We will also discuss the latest enhancements to parallelism and how parallelism can take advantage of zIIP specialty engines.

Accelerating your Queries using the IBM Smart Analytics Optimizer on System z

This session is a preview a new technology, Smart Analytics Optimizer, that will enable a new class of high speed business intelligence and analytic queries on System z. The innovative technology within the IBM Smart Analytics Optimizer, offers organizations the ability to integrate business insights into the fabric of their operational processes, while accelerating queries, making business insights more accessible to the front lines of business. The value of this applies to executive users that need to make well-founded, strategic decisions as well as knowledge workers who need to have insight into the daily operational aspects of the business. This presentation will also include an introduction to the new Smart Analytics System 9600 data warehouse appliance for System z.

About Willie Favero -

Willie is an IBM Senior Certified IT Software Specialist and DB2 SME for IBM’s Silicon Valley Lab Data Warehouse on System z Swat Team. He has over 30 years of experience working with databases with more than 25 years of that working with DB2. He is a sought after international speaker for conferences, user groups, and seminars, publishes articles, white papers, and Redbooks, and has one of the top technical blog on the Internet.