IBM i 7.3 TR10 and IBM i 7.4 TR4 Offer a New Query Supervisor Feature
IBM announced IBM i 7.3 TR10 and 7.4 TR4 on April 13. This announcement contains all sorts of goodies and enhancements designed to make life of the system administration and performance professional much easier.
The most exciting feature is the Query Supervisor. We all know that Db2 for i is easy to manage compared to many other databases, but understanding and controlling expensive or runaway queries is a challenge all shops face. There are excellent tools currently available for understanding query performance with the SQL Performance Center and the Database perspectives in the Performance Data Investigator, but these require you to study information after the query has completed. Chasing down expensive queries while they are running leaves you guessing and panicking as the system is under stress.
The brand-new Query Supervisor allows you to define thresholds for system resources—CPU, elapsed time, temporary storage and I/O operations. These thresholds can be applied system-wide, or to specific users, jobs, or subsystems. While a query is executing, the Query Supervisor monitors for these thresholds, and when a defined threshold is exceeded, the Query Supervisor exit program is called. This is an exit program that you must write, but it gives you the flexibility to take whatever action you desire when the defined thresholds are exceeded. When the exit program is called, the execution of the query stops until the exit program returns the action to take. To help you out, IBM has provided example exit programs.
Also announced are many new and enhanced IBM i Services. These services are popular with IBM administrators looking for flexibility in understanding system configuration and operation. The enhancements here are too numerous to mention in this overview; I look forward to exploring them and I’ll write about some of them in future posts.
These functions will be delivered in the Db2 Group PTF planned to be released on May 14.
Additional Resources on IBM i 7.4 TR4 and 7.3 TR10
- The Latest With the IBM i Platform—Steve Will and Scott Forstie: Free to members and non-members, but you must register
- IBM i 7.4 Enhancements Timed With Technology Refresh 4
- IBM i 7.3 Enhancements Timed With Technology Refresh 10
- Query Supervisor Gives Database Engineers New Power
- IBM i Services
- IBM Unveils New and Improved IBM i Services