CCDUG 2026 Central Canada Db2 Users Group
11. May @ 9:00 am – 13. May @ 5:00 pm EDT
Meet us at the Central Canada Db2 Users Group and join our presentations:
- Ready Player One?
- Screening in a Virtualized Production Environment
Session abstracts:
Are you, and all of your sub-systems, ready for Db2 vNext that is coming to an enterprise near you soon? Are you aware that you cannot even get to Db2 13 FL511 if you have any of the “deprecated” items that we all have hanging around? Do you have a plan to get you out of this mess?
This session explains how you can find all the migration blockers that exist in your system and how to fix nearly all of them as well.
I will cover:
- A workfile review including the new DDL feature In Db2 13 FL508
- Deprecated Items that will turn into migration blockers
- VTAM/SNA
- SQL to discover all of these deprecated items
- How to migrate all of your old stuff to brand new shiny stuff including how to do it manually or how to do it with some help!
Most IT experts know the catchphrase “Never change a running system” very well, especially once you experience that a small change can have a significant impact. Anyway, “The only constant is change” is very true as well. Even if we don’t touch an application for enhancements, we’ll face security updates, software updates, hardware updates, configuration changes and data growth.
Before moving to a new machine, applying (Db2) APARs, changing schema, or SQL, it’s common to test in a sand-box, or development system – very good, but here come the challenges:
1st There are quite a few regulations that affect reliable testing of changes and they all have one in common – DON’T USE PRODUCTION DATA!!!
2nd Without real data, or with data masked and sanitized, we’ll very likely see different results than running one and the same query in production.
This session explains how you can reliably, and resource-friendly, simulate your entire production environment, WITHOUT production data and even on a different machine.
We’ll cover prescreening changes in the following areas:
- environment changes, like upgrading to a new machine, or adding more resources
- application changes, like SQL queries and schema
- data changes, like amount and distribution
The capabilities introduce a whole new world of “what if” opportunities and especially protect you from testing that doesn’t focus on what counts: the resulting performance in your production environment.
Outline:
- What the Db2 optimizer needs to make a choice.
- How to model a production environment.
- Compare access paths resulting from buffer pool changes, RID expansion, or CPU changes.
- Test “what if” you drop, create or change an index.
- Real world examples.
Session bios:
Roy Boxwell is an IBM Champion with more than 40 years of experience in MVS, OS/390, and z/OS environments – most of those in Db2. He specializes in installation, migration, and performance monitoring and tuning. Roy leads the SEG development team responsible for the real-time database maintenance solutions (RTDX). He is also an active participant, speaker and contributor on the IDUG Db2 Listserv and sends out a monthly Db2 z/OS Newsletter and APAR Updates blog.
Ulf Heinrich specialized in Db2 recovery and operations, managing cost reduction and 24×7 operations. As a consultant at large customer sites, he has implemented database maintenance procedures and recovery strategies, and also experienced the pitfalls of recovery scenarios under real-world disaster pressure. Ulf contributes to the ZOWE community since day one and helps customers implementing, customizing and managing modern z/OS/USS solutions. His activities cover EMEA, as well as North America through SE’s U.S. subsidiary, SEGUS Inc. As a member of SE’s Request Board, he’s working closely with customers and the development labs. As a member of the TRIDEX.org Board of Directors he’s proud to support the Db2 community in the greater NY area.