CA Database Management for DB2 for zOS Reviews

I basically use the solution for database management and to view the performance of a particular database object, any specific program, batch program, or online programs. Using the CSSZ tool, I can effectively monitor performance. In case of an exception, I can inform the application team. At DB2, I can also determine what's going on and what the exact issue is. Based on that, I can make conclusions to improve my personal system.

In CADV2, the most improved feature is report generation. The reports generated and the old statistics shown are really helpful.

The feature that we find most useful is the consistent ability to create 'strategies’ across the products. These strategies allow consistent foundations for the business processes and provide the ability to repetitively use them by different resources. These 'strategies' allow the establishment of methods that fit directly into our business needs and prepare the DBAs how to best handle the situations.

The best example is the day-to-day performance monitoring with the CA Detector product.

By using CA Detector, we can see what is consuming the IBM DB2 resources. We can then analyze its specifics and address distinct actions, through the integration with the other products.

This has improved our overall business goals, because we were able to address the most impactful business processes, so as to mitigate their impact on the others.

The feature we find most useful is the consistent ability to create ‘strategies’ across the products that allow for consistent foundations for the business processes and the ability to repetitively use them by different resources. These strategies allow for the establishment of methods that fit directly into our business needs and preps the DBAs as we need to best handle situations.

The best example is the day to day performance monitoring with the Detector product. Using Detector, we can see what is consuming the DB2 resources and then analyze its specifics through the integration with the other products. This improved our business processing because we were able to address the most impactful ones to mitigate their impact on the others.

It's our DBA product for our database.

It gives us better insight into our tables and our databases. It pulls all of the information from different directions back together, I think that's how it helps us.

The ability to do the CA utilities faster than IBM using less resources. I also like the RC/Migrator product that allows us to make changes quickly and efficiently using either the IBM utilities or the CA utilities.

The benefits is repeatability of use. I can do a change in one environment and use that same change to do it to another environment. It allows reliable changes.

• The RC/Migrator: Migrates tables between systems
• The Detector and Subsystem Analyzer: Monitors the system

We have more control over our DB2 systems and can do our everyday DBA work faster and easier.

The biggest functionality for me was with SYSVIEW for DB2. I used all the functions but exceptions and possible monitoring related to it.

I left the company when we started implementing v19 and I know from my colleague that in v19, they implement the exceptions function I asked for, which checks for stopped databases.

It improved the DB2 v11 upgrade process, so I was able to check more and react faster to problems we observed such as required rebinds.

RC/Query is vital. It is my window to the catalog and helps me find what I need quickly and efficiently. I am in that tool all day long. Detector is my go-to product when something goes wrong. Never trust what someone tells you has happened with their query; let Detector show you. Insight and Detector both provide valuable insight (pun intended) into what is really going on in your subsystem, and has been invaluable in both problem solving and performance and tuning tasks.

We use the Display Impact report in RC/Query as part of our database development life cycle process to make sure that we account for all items that might be affected by any particular change. We have used Detector in countless situations to pinpoint performance issues quickly. We have used Insight to identify the users of particular items and to identify hot spots on our systems. We have used Log Analyzer to recover data lost in errant production jobs. We use the DDL function of RC/Query to give us our baseline and backout text for all database changes. Those are just a few of the tasks that we use these tools for.