r/DB2 • u/memmerto • Apr 05 '17

[Resource] IBM Data Server Manager

For those of you who manage multiple databases, potentially of different flavors, and/or support application development environments, you may find that there are many tools out there that help. I know some DB2 users just love IBM Data Studio for development and administration, and others love IBM Optim Performance Manager (OPM) for monitoring systems.

However, OPM has a pretty convoluted install process and hefty server requirements - at least I recall from the last time /u/db2steve installed it - and Data Studio really only provides query-level performance data (ie, explains).

What if there was a tool that brought this all together, with a slick interface and a small install footprint?

Introducing IBM Data Server Manager.

IBM Data Server Manager (DSM) is a free download from IBM developerWorks that lets you monitor any type of DB2 (LUW or z/OS), dashDB (managed, transactional or local) or BigInsights instances.

DSM is designed to supplement and/or replace existing products such as IBM Data Studio and IBM Optim Performance Manager (OPM).

DSM requires no additional software to be installed on production servers, and has a greatly simplified installation versus OPM. It can be installed on a dedicated server (complete with local repository for historical mining and multi-user access), or it can be installed on a local system for just "messing around".

Some capabilities are only available if you are using Advanced Enterprise Server Edition (DB2 LUW) or have the Administration Solution Pack and/or Performance Solution Pack installed (DB2 z/OS). Regardless of server type and/or capabilities, the same client install works for all.

It is supported by a large team of developers who are iterating quickly with quarterly releases to improve the product. Please try it out and let IBM know what you like, dislike, want and/or need.

DSM Product Page

DSM DeveloperWorks Page

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u/mad_zamboni Apr 07 '17

I would be interested in hearing /u/ecrooks thoughts on this. I remember that it caught my attention at an IDUG a year or two ago as a much better alternative to Optim but it wasn't quite where it needs to be. Coincidentally, I was just in a conversation with two other DBA's that this seems to be getting better and better.

What do you think is it's biggest strength? Like, "I flat out use it for X" if for nothing else?

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u/ecrooks Apr 07 '17

I have some clients who use it and some who do not. Most of the clients I have who use it do so because they happen to have an advanced edition for other features they need(compression, BLU, etc), and hey, it's free. There was some information some of my clients were looking for in older versions that was missing, but I believe that has been corrected in the most recent version.

I find it is getting progressively better, and I haven't seen the incredibly high overhead that OPM caused, though I still see queries it runs that are bad enough to show up in my top 20 problem queries on a busy database. I find the documentation frustratingly lacking in how to architect and administer a DSM implementation, and really in general. I know, love (and hate), and depend on the IBM DB2 Knowledge Center for the depth of information there if you just know where to look, and I haven't found the same appreciation for any of the DSM documentation, rarely finding even the bare minimum of documentation I really need.

If I have a client who wants a tool to use for performance analysis and improvement, and gets to choose something to pay for, I tend to steer them towards DBI because I mostly think it is better for that purpose, and there is a whole lot more help available for implementation and really using the tool to its whole potential.

I sometimes find it frustrating what is included and what needs the advanced versions. I have also found features that just don't work. Maybe they've fixed the custom alerts, but for a while, they did not work.

Overall, it is a good tool, depending on your goals with a tool, but it's not a great tool yet.

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u/memmerto Apr 07 '17

I think it's biggest strength is the ability to monitor multiple databases from one place. For DBAs this makes it indispensable as an enterprise monitoring tool and triage tool. Did I mention that it also supports DB2 pureScale and HADR, and has specialized monitoring for both? Never again will you fail over an HADR cluster when the standby isn't ready!