Please join us for a webinar Thursday, April 30th, on IBM replication:

45 Minutes to Understand IBM Replication – Sources & Targets, Lower Latency, Costs  

The webinar is intended for technical teams currently not using IBM replication solutions, although the webinar content will provide an excellent overview of IBM’s current offerings – an excellent refresher and update for IBM replication customers.  Hey, it’s a webinar – anyone can attend!!

Abstract:  Technical organizations rely on replication to deliver accurate data when its needed. IBM replication supports an extensive list of sources and targets – including legacy mainframe data repositories – as well as best of breed deployment models and specialty replication solutions.

If your organization is considering a new replication deployment or looking to replace your existing replication to extend functionality – or reduce cost – please join IBM Gold Consultant Frank C. Fillmore, Jr., for a webinar overview of IBM’s replication offerings.

The webinar will cover:

1. The sources and targets supported by IBM replication.
2. Each solution available today, and their costs.
3. Latency, deployment and administrative considerations.

Date:          Thursday, 4/30/2020

Time:          11:00am – 12:00pm EDT

Register HERE 

Presenter:  Frank Fillmore

Frank C. Fillmore, Jr. is the Founder and President of The Fillmore Group, Inc., an IBM Business Partner specializing in replication solutions in the IBM Data and Analytics portfolio. Frank has been a Db2 Gold Consultant since 1998 and is currently an IBM Champion for both Analytics and System z. Frank frequently presents on cutting-edge topics at regional and international user group meetings and is an IBM authorized instructor for delivery of replication courses including Q Replication, ICDC and pureScale.  Frank leads a team of expert consultants delivering presales, implementation and enablement support to IBM replication customers.

Want to learn more about the Gold Consultants?  Visit the IBM Gold webpage HERE.

 

With 2020 off to a positive start for Db2 12 there are two current events I hope are on your radar.

First, IDUG is supporting an effort to create a new Db2 12 certification, led by IBM Gold Consultant and Champion Dan Luksetich, who also manages the Db2-L listserv.  A survey was created to gather responses to the specific technical issues the community considers important.  If you have time to complete the survey and contribute, it is much appreciated by the IBM community.  Take the survey here.  And of course, if you aren’t already monitoring (or better yet, contributing to!) Db2-L, sign-up.  It’s easy and free – Db2-L.

Second, IBM is offering a week-long Db2 Master Class for advanced Db2 for z/OS system and database administrators clients, led by Distinguished Engineer, John Campbell.  John will be joined by Adrian Burke and Michael Dewert. The US-based session will be held at IBM Silicon Valley Laboratory (SVL), Monday, September 28 (8 am) to Friday, October 2, 2020 (2:30 pm), in San Jose, California.  The complete outline is attached.

Participants will meet the Db2 for z/OS development team – visit the incredible people whose work is known worldwide!

If you are interested in attending this class, fill in and submit the application form.  Class is a client-only course, participation is BY INVITATION only, and seating is very limited.  Applications will be reviewed and acceptance notices will be emailed.  Apply HERE.

A registration link with payment instructions will be included in the invitation. If you have any questions, please contact Dorothy Lin (dclin@us.ibm.com)

There are pre-requisites, and attendees must have at least 1 of the following certifications (or the equivalent experience level):
– IBM Certified System Administrator – Db2 for z/OS
– IBM Certified Database Administrator – Db2 for z/OS

Cost
$2,500 USD per client participant
Client participants are responsible for their own travel, lodging, and meal expenses
A registration link with payment instructions will be included in the invitation.

Db2 for z 2020 Master Class Summary and Outline

 

IBM Champion Program Director Libby Ingrassia sent messages to the selected 2020 IBM Champions last night.  Congratulations to all – particularly new Champions!  Libby posted a complete list of Champions, by competency, on the IBM Developer Blog.

Congratulations to Frank Fillmore for being selected as both a Data and AI Champion and a System z Champion.  Along with Frank, I am proud to have been selected as a Data and AI Champion.  As long-time participants in the program we recommend it to anyone actively supporting the Db2 community – through outreach efforts such as conference presentations, blogging and promoting IBM events, as well as internal events, such as mentoring co-workers and facilitating skills enablement for your peers.  The goal of the program is to support – and celebrate – your success.  If I can help guide you through the process so that you can be a 2021 Champion let me know.  I would be happy to help!

What are IBM Champions?  From Libby’s blog:

“These individuals evangelize IBM solutions, share their knowledge, and help grow the community of professionals who are focused on IBM offerings. IBM Champions spend a considerable amount of their own time, energy, and resources on community efforts—organizing and leading user group events, answering questions in forums, contributing articles and applications, publishing podcasts, sharing instructional videos, and more. We have book authors and YouTube stars, as well as those who work behind the scenes as client, press, or analyst references. The program selects Champions annually based on individual contributions that go beyond the scope of a person’s job, so that we can recognize and reward those who give so generously of their time, effort, and energy.”

Libby also hosts a Champions in Action series, coordinates Champion events at Think and IDUG conferences, and maintains a directory of all Champions. Keep up with the IBM Champions and their activities on Twitter either by @IBMChampions or by the #IBMChampion hashtag.

Thanks Libby and Congrats 2020 Champions!!!

 

Several people who registered for The Fillmore Group’s Columbus IDAA class in July were unable to attend, so we’ve decided to borrow the “Db2 Night Show” format, with Frank hosting the “IDAA Afternoon Show” Wednesday, August 28^th from 4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. EDT.

Frank will deliver a fast-paced, content-rich 90-minute webinar covering:

1. A review of capabilities included in recent IDAA v7.1.x code drops
2. The return of the High Performance Storage Saver (HPSS)
3. Integrated Synchronization
4. The closer-to-real Hybrid Transaction Analytic Processing (HTAP) capability
5. Disaster Recovery and High Availability considerations

And as an added bonus we will step all registered attendees through The Fillmore Group’s exclusive IDAA form-factor Buying Guide to compare:

• IBM Integrated Analytics Systems (IIAS)
• Docker container running on System z
• Docker container running on LinuxONE

We’ll do this via webinar, so come-one-come-all.  We’ll upload the materials we used in the Columbus class so anyone who did not register for class but attends the webinar can access them.

I hope you will join us if your schedule allows, and invite any colleagues who may be interested in the material.

Registration is required.  Please register HERE.

Thanks to the combined efforts of several Gold Consultants, notably Julian Stuhler and Ted Alexander, IBM Gold Program sponsors and advocates Jim Reed and Reid Gerson, and The Fillmore Group’s Megan Byrne, a new page highlighting the Gold Consultants program is available on IBM.com.

The page provides links to consultant specialty and contact information.  The directory is attached here:  IBM Gold Consultants Profiles

Best of all, the page answers the frequently asked question, “What exactly are the Gold Consultants?”

“An elite group of independent consultants with vast experience in IBM data repositories, unified governance, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning

IBM Gold Consultants bring extensive industry experience and technical expertise to help IBM clients define and implement strong strategies for their data and analytics initiatives using IBM Db2® on all platforms, IBM Informix, IBM InfoSphere®, IBM CICS® and related technologies. This group is recognized as some of the world’s most experienced independent consultants for these products. With in-depth technical knowledge and communication skills, the consultants can fill in skill gaps within a client’s organization and facilitate better performing solutions, optimal database designs and high availability.”

The new page link is:  https://www.ibm.com/analytics/ibm-gold-consultants

Check it out – it looks much better on screen!

 

 

 

The Baltimore/Washington Db2 Users Group will be holding our annual education session on Wednesday, March 20, 2019, at the BWI Hilton.  Please note the date is the third Wednesday in March, not the second, when meetings are typically held, as several members will be attending SHARE.

As a very special 2019 offer, the group will have two session tracks and two terrific presenters.  You are invited to sign up for one of the two tracks.  The cost per attendee is $100 and includes session materials and a sit down lunch with the entire group. 

Date: Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Time: 9:00am – 4:00pm (Registration and continental breakfast at 8:30am)

Location: BWI Hilton, 1739 W Nursery Rd, Linthicum Heights, MD 21090

Register: HERE

For DBA’s IBM’s Robert Catterall will present, and for developers, Tony Andrews from Themis.  Abstracts for their day-long sessions are below.  

Track 1:

Db2 Database Administration Db2 for z/OS DBA’s: News You Can Use This day-long session for DBAs delivers updates on four topics pertinent to database administration. Each unique segment will provide up-to-date information on:

1. Leveraging large z/OS LPAR memory resources for improved Db2 application performance.
2. Key metrics for Db2 subsystem and application performance monitoring and tuning.
3. DDF application architecture and workload management.
4. Modern Db2 for z/OS physical database design.

Presenter: Robert Catterall

Robert Catterall is an IBM Senior Consulting Db2 for z/OS specialist. 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 the International Db2 Users Group (IDUG), and a member of IDUG’s Speakers Hall of Fame. He presents frequently at conferences and user group meetings, and blogs about Db2 for z/OS at http://robertsdb2blog.blogspot.com/.

Track 2:

Db2 Developers New Application Features for Db2 12

Are you still coding and designing SQL from the 90’s? The last several releases of Db2 have brought quality new features that can be used to improve both functionality and performance for today’s complex applications. This event will help catch you up!

Morning Segment: • Global Variables: Creation, Usage, Rules, V12 Enhancements • Transparent Archiving: Automatic Archiving of Data, Data Retrieval Options, Global Variables for Archiving • Sequence Objects: Creation, Usage, Sequence vs Identity • Advanced Groupings: Group By / Having Review , Grouping Sets, Rollup, Cube • OLAP Ranking Functions Upgrades: o Rank, Dense_Rank, Row_Number Review o Ranking Moving Sums and Avgs o Rows Between o Range Between o Partition By • SQL Set Operations: Union/Union All Review, Intersect/Intersect All, Except/Except All, Union Select Into

Afternoon Session: • SQL Merge: Overview, V12 Enhancements • SQL : Select From Update, Select From Insert • SQL Piece-Wise Delete: V12 Enhancement • SQL Pagination: V12 enhancement • SQL QUERYNO: Review • SQL Procedural Language: Piece Wise Delete, Autonomous Processing, SQL PL support for Triggers • Performance Enhancements: o New Stage 1 Predicates o V10, V11 New Performance Review o V12 Performance Enhancements o Sparse Indexing o V12 Runtime Adaptive Indexing o V12 Fast Traverse Indexing

Presenter: Tony Andrews

Tony Andrews has more than 25 years’ experience in the development of relational database applications. Most of this time, he has provided development and consulting services to Fortune 500 companies and government agencies. Tony has written literally thousands of queries and programs during his development years, and has also served as a database analyst. For the last 10 years, Tony has been splitting his time between performance and tuning consulting engagements along with training. His main focus is to teach today’s developers the ways of RDBMS application design, development and SQL programming — always with a special emphasis on improving performance.

He is a current IBM Champion, and regular speaker at many regional user groups, IDUG NA, and IDUG EMEA. He is also the author of a book for developers titled ‘DB2 SQL Tuning Tips for z/OS Developers’. *the Baltimore/Washington Db2 Users Group is a non-profit organization funding a portion of this meeting. If registration levels exceed our funds the per attendee cost will need to be raised to offset expenses.

Join replication experts Frank Fillmore and Ed Lynch for this information-packed webinar with news and announcements about IBM’s replication solutions. Whether you are a current IBM replication user, investigating replication for a new deployment, or working with a competitor’s solution, this webinar will help you understand what IBM offers today, and the enhancements that will help you succeed with replication in 2019.

At a sprint!

In forty-five minutes Ed and Frank will deliver an overview of IBM’s current offerings, the four most important 2019 enhancement announcements, and 3 special pricing offers that can help your organization realize significant savings. We know you want your data to be available when you need it and where you need it, and fast. We can help.

Registration is required. Please register HERE.

Date: Thursday, 2/7/19

Time: 1:00pm – 2:00pm EST

Presenters:

Frank Fillmore is the Founder and President of The Fillmore Group, Inc., an IBM Business Partner specializing in replication solutions in the IBM Analytics portfolio. Frank has been a Db2 Gold Consultant since 1998 and is currently an IBM Champion for both Analytics and System z. Frank frequently presents on cutting-edge topics at regional and international Db2 Users Group meetings and is an IBM authorized instructor for delivery of replication courses including Q Replication, ICDC and pureScale. Frank leads a team of expert consultants delivering presales, implementation and enablement support to IBM customers. Frank is currently supporting a pureScale implementation for a US Federal agency.

Ed Lynch was with IBM for over 25 years as a leader and innovator in Data Analytics and Information Integration.  Leveraging his balanced and diversified knowledge of data and Information Technology with business needs and capabilities, Ed consistently recommends and delivers best of breed technical solutions. A trusted advisor to his customers and colleagues, Ed’s cross-industry knowledge enables him to be an effective go-to resource, particularly for difficult and complex challenges, and his success in many diverse roles at IBM, including development, technical team management, marketing and sales, showcase his flexibility. Ed is currently supporting a complex replication implementation for a large, US-based financial institution.

Dr. Sheldon Cooper of “The Big Bang Theory” regularly records a YouTube video called “Fun with Flags” so I’m going to call this blog post “Fun with SQL”.  Sheldon may be a future Nobel Prize winner, but I’ve been named an IBM Champion for Analytics and System z for 2019. 🙂

The problem statement: a large US government agency is contemplating migrating a packaged application from System z to Linux.  The current and future database repositories are Db2 for z/OS and Db2 for LUW respectively.  As a System z Champion I’ve presented on the continued relevancy and efficacy of the IBM mainframe, but that’s not the focus of this post.  One of the challenges of porting data is the conversion of character encoding from EBCDIC (Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code) which is the legacy encoding protocol used on IBM mainframes and System i to Unicode.  Db2 for z/OS supports Unicode, but I’m not going to address anything other than EBCDIC encoding at the source and Unicode at the target (Sorry, ASCII).  In brief, EBCDIC represents an 8 bit binary encoding scheme that can represent 256 different characters.  For example: the letter “F” (one of my faves) is represented as 1100 0110 in binary and C6 in hexadecimal. For national language support amid the variety of Single Byte Character Sets (SBCS) used around the world – think the German umlaut (i.e. ä ö ü) – the 256 byte universe of EBCDIC wasn’t nearly enough.  The Unicode solution is to use more than 1 byte to represent some characters.  For example: the “¢” cent sign takes one byte to represent in EBCDIC, but 2 bytes in Unicode.

select length(ebcdic_str('¢')) as EBCDIC, length(unicode_str('¢')) as Unicode from sysibm.sysdummy1;

EBCDIC    UNICODE

     1          2

This problem has manifested itself as an error when moving a CHAR(5) column of data from Db2 for z/OS to Db2 for LUW.  If, say, the pesky “¢” is present in the string and all 5 characters are significant (i.e. no trailing blanks), the string won’t fit in the same column width on the target platform.  Most customers find this out the hard way when the Db2 for LUW LOAD command or IMPORT utility posts errors.  There are two possible solutions:

• data cleanup (Do we really need the pesky ‘¢’ in a Comments column?)
• lengthen the target columns to accommodate Unicode expansion

Both can be time-consuming and expensive and will depend on a variety of factors beyond the scope of this blog post.  The purpose here today is to identify the extent of the problem before you actually try to port the data.  I’ve constructed this SQL statement to do just that. Read More…

Following his successful hands-on IDAA class in Columbus, Frank Fillmore will be presenting on the IDAA at the September Baltimore/Washington Db2 Users Group, scheduled for Wednesday, September 12th.   Frank’s presentation and bio are below – last, per his request – keep reading – !

If you are in the area September 12th please join us.  If you have any questions on the upcoming meeting or are interested in presenting please contact me.

Date:                Wednesday, September 12th, 2018
Time:                9:00 AM – 3:30 PM (registration at 8:30)
Location:          Hilton Baltimore BWI Airport, 1739 W Nursery Road, 21090
Fees:                Pre-registered members: $30,  Pre-registered non-members: $40
At-the-door:    Members: $40, non-members: $50

Schedule:
Registration
8:30 – 9:00

9:00 – 10:15:  Copy Smarter – Unload/Load, DSN1COPY and Beyond

Kai Stroh, UBS Hainer

When you get tasked with setting up a refresh process for thousands of Db2 z/OS tables you probably have a few thoughts running through your head: How long does it take to create all the required jobs? How long for all the control cards? Do all the target tables exist, or are there any new tables in production? Have tables been changed? Better double check if the tables have grown or if Db2 has added more VSAMs so that you don’t run out of space halfway through like last time. Don’t forget catalog statistics and RTS. And those identity columns and sequences – they’re always trouble. What seems like little bits and pieces at first can really stretch your staff thin, which is why automation is key if you want to save time and energy. This presentation discusses advantages and disadvantages of different utilities that copy Db2 data, but the main focus is automating all the side tasks that DBAs usually need to do in addition to copying the data itself.

10:15 – 10:30:  Break

10:30 – 11:45:  Log Enhanced Copies for 24×7 DB2 Refresh/Migration

Kai Stroh,  UBS Hainer

LOB compression is one of the more interesting features of Db2 12. It promises performance gains for your application that use LOB’s, coupled with disk savings! This presentation provides an overview of the feature, and discusses some of the performance characteristics. Then we move on to pros and cons, and a process for taking advantage of the feature.

11:45 – 12:45:  Lunch

12:45 – 2:00:  Machine Learning

Jonathan Sloan, IBM

Gain an overall understanding of Machine Learning for z/OS and its role in enabling advanced analytics on IBM Z. You will learn how this machine learning technology integrates with Db2 Analytics Accelerator and Db2 for z/OS to drive real-time insight on an enterprise scale.

2:00 – 2:15:  Break

2:15 – 3:30: IBM Db2 Analytics Accelerator (IDAA) V7 had a Brain and Heart Transplant

Frank Fillmore, The Fillmore Group

IBM Db2 Analytics Accelerator (IDAA) v7 has been completely re-engineered. Previous IDAA versions were based on legacy Netezza technology including PostgreSQL (the “brain”) and Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA – the “heart”). IDAA v7 – aka “Sailfish” – uses Db2 with BLU Acceleration and POWER processors. The benefits are greater compatibility between Db2 for z/OS and the IDAA, fewer hardware problems, improved Incremental Update latency, and lots more.  If you are an existing IDAA shop considering migrating to v7 or have not previously considered IDAA, this presentation will cover what you need to know.

Speaker:

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.

Jonathan Sloan is a Senior Certified Executive Software IT Specialist, with more than two decades experience successfully leading, selling and implementing business analytic and data warehouse applications as a vendor as well as an implementer. He joined IBM in 2000 and specializes in helping customers understand the application of IBM Information management technology to business problems.

Frank C. Fillmore, Jr. is the Founder and President of The Fillmore Group, Inc., a Premier IBM Business Partner specializing in Hybrid Cloud and Analytics. Frank has been a Db2 Gold Consultant since 1998 and currently is an IBM Champion for both Analytics and System z. Frank has frequently presented on cutting-edge topics at regional and international Db2 Users Group meetings and the IBM Insight conference.

After a few months of discussion and support from the IBM community-focused Db2 technical team and local Db2 users, a new RUG, the Mid-Atlantic Db2 for LUW Users Group, is here!  The group will kick off with their first meeting on Wednesday, August 15th at the McLean TEC.

The team is working on the exact schedule for the day and planning a late morning start, most likely 10am, to allow for traffic (a challenge to us all!)   IBM is sponsoring the meeting and bringing STSM Date McInnis in from the Toronto Lab to present.  There will be no charge to attend the meeting, however registration is required.

I will update this post with the registration link as soon as it is set up.  In the meantime please mark you calendar and plan to join us if you are a Db2 user.

And if you run into IBM’s Kay Groski, Lynn Chou and/or Warren Heising, or Db2 Gold Consultants and IBM Champions Ken Shaffer and Steve Mazer, please give them a shout out for their efforts to make this new group a reality.

…and here’s the update – just in!

Register on Eventbrite HERE.

The agenda:
10:00 – 11:00 Db2 Topic: Db2 Backup and Restore best practice with Dale McInnis
11:00 – 11:15 break
11:15 -12:15 Db2 Topic: Building a resilient DB with Db2 with Dale McInnis
12:15 – 1:00  lunch
1:00 – 1:45  Emerging Technologies Topic: ICPD overview with Kay Groski
1:45 – 2:00 break
2:00 – 3:00 Emerging Technologies Topic: Topic DSX Local with demo with Steve Geringer

*** Please note:  There is a fee for parking ***