Db2 vs. IBM Z

I have primarily used it as the basis for a SIS - but I have migrated more than a few systems from there database systems to DB2 (Filemaker, MySQL, etc.). DB2 does have a better structural approach, as opposed to Filemaker, which allows for more data consistency, but this can also lead to an inflexibility that can sometimes be counterintuitive when attempting to compensate for the flexibility of the work environment as Schools tend to have an all in one approach.

Incentivized

We found its Data processing marvelous, and its benefit to accomplish chores in time gives us high authenticity and availability to the data deposit with accelerated admittance. One thing I will say that try to make it more user-friendly as it is difficult to learn. We liked it overall; Working is very good.

Incentivized

• DB2 maintains itself very well. The Task Scheduler component of DB2 allows for statistics gathering and reorganization of indexes and tables without user interaction or without specific knowledge of cron or Windows Task Scheduler / Scheduled jobs.
• Its use of ASYNC, NEARSYNC, and SYNC HADR (High Availability Disaster Recovery ) models gives you a range of options for maintaining a very high uptime ratio. Failover from PRIMARY to SECONDARY becomes very easy with just a single command or windowed mouse click.
• Task Scheduler ( DB2 9.7 and earlier ) allows for jobs to be run within other jobs, and exit and error codes can define what other jobs are run. This allows for ease of maintenance without third party softwares.
• Tablespace usage and automatic storage help keep your data segmented while at rest, making partitioning easier.
• Ability to run commands via CLI (Command Line Interface) or via Control Center / Data Studio ( DB2 10.x+) makes administration a breeze.

Incentivized

• Transactional processing, including data entry across multiple departments
• Reporting on massive amounts of data, due to its scale and size of processing capabilities
• Analytics on data as there are various accelerators for both IBM's databases and others such as Oracle
• Security is another major benefit to this platform as it contains a non-open systems design

Incentivized

• everything about Db2 is 'heavy', even the Community edition and some of the clients
• difficult to configure for beginners /option overload
• LUW and z platforms have minor inconsistencies that really should be a non-issue
• support seems to be declining in terms of quality/quickness of responses

Incentivized

• IBM needs to add more focus on simplifying mainframe usage and management.
• Most modern programmers interface with the Z using an IDE. However, performing many tasks, such as cataloging a data set or checking on a job status, can require switching to the ISPF interface. Users want to interface with a GUI, not a function-key, menu and character-based interface like ISPF. Anything that can simplify and modernize interfacing with the mainframe should be a high priority for IBM.
• The IBM Z platform is one of the most instrumented computing platforms in the world, so there are a lot of metrics that could be automatically analyzed and used to improve the performance and management of the mainframe environment.

Incentivized

The DB2 database is a solid option for our school. We have been on this journey now for 3-4 years so we are still adapting to what it can do. We will renew our use of DB2 because we don’t see. Major need to change. Also, changing a main database in a school environment is a major project, so we’ll avoid that if possible.

Incentivized

The IBM Z mainframe capabilities are unmatched for cloud readiness and optimization the learning capabilities are matched perfectly with Watson and the expandability of the cloud makes it a perfect choice.

Incentivized

You have to be well versed in using the technology, not only from a GUI interface but from a command line interface to successfully use this software to its fullest.

Incentivized

pay as you go pricing

Incentivized

I have never had DB2 go down unexpectedly. It just works solidly every day. When I look at the logs, sometimes DB2 has figured out there was a need to build an index. Instead of waiting for me to do it, the database automatically created the index for me. At my current company, we have had zero issues for the past 8 years. We have upgrade the server 3 times and upgraded the OS each time and the only thing we saw was that DB2 got better and faster. It is simply amazing.

Incentivized

The Z in IBM Z is for zero down time. If you configure your system according to IBM's best practices, you can achieve zero downtime

Incentivized

The performances are exceptional if you take care to maintain the database. It is a very powerful tool and at the same time very easy to use. In our installation, we expect a DB machine on the mainframe with access to the database through ODBC connectors directly from branch servers, with fabulous end users experience.

Incentivized

Performance is a major part when you configure your system. IBM has many tools to study your system and suggest the appropriate configuration. With the right contract, you can add processing power dynamically and remove it when no longer needed

Incentivized

Easily the best product support team. :) Whenever we have questions, they have answered those in a timely manner and we like how they go above and beyond to help.

Incentivized

Support is usually superb, only occasionally dropping to very good. We participate in some of the CD (Continuous Delivery) aspects of z/OS, IMS, MQ, and DB2.

Incentivized

the material was very clear and all subjects have been handled

Incentivized

Over my 33 years on this platform, I attended many in person courses, conferences, and other training opportunities.

Incentivized

There are many online courses from both IBM and other vendors. Most are great. All of the documentation is available online.

Incentivized

db2 work well with the application, also the replication tool can keep it up

I do not personally have any key insights regarding implementation of IBM Z Enterprise Servers as that is what our mainframe architects do.

Incentivized

With the other two mentioned above, I needed to have processes and frameworks that executed outside of the environment driving DB management operations. Yes, these are completely different solutions; however, the support you get for framework, library, and language support allows for runtime at a different layer than with other solutions.

Incentivized

My answer is yes. This made moving to the cloud much easier. The main benefits of this are latency and data extraction. The speed, security and reliability is the game changer and where it stacks up when compared to other IBM products. Additionally, increasing the workload is also very helpful. Use a single platform to avoid unnecessary activities and actions, help maintain safety, and even recover quickly. Activities that users are unable to continue and complete tasks help avoid mistakes when there are errors related to And because it's perfect for your users, it has less impact on your business. Always ready for backup. I didn't even care about the migrations that were performed.

DB2 can be configured and can work with a variety of applications as opposed to how it was designed initially to only with with IBM mainframes. It's easy implementation process makes it a good buy for many organizations to scale their applications to be the best in terms of versatility, resilience and application performance

Incentivized

If you need more processing power, just add more CPU's or memory. The largest system can have close to 200 CPU's and 40 TB of memory. If that is not enough, you can add more physical computers, and connect them using a sysplex

Incentivized

• Time efficiency is the major point to highlight, especially the minimal time this takes while querying a larger set of data.
• Reliability becomes another major factor as the application can be accessed at any point in time.
• Users might initially find it challenging to use the application.

Incentivized

• It has increased the reliability of data which has decreased our dependence on legacy systems.
• It has no loss while migration which has a positive impact on ROI as we don't have to worry about data loss.
• It has multi tasking and support for non-cobol applications on mainframe.

Incentivized