If you are a DB2 DBA supporting SAP and your SAP system is BASIS 7.0 SR2 or lower, then you would have a "db2 runtime client" installed locally on each and every SAP application server. This means that you also have a db2 instance and a OS user on each application server.
This kind of configuration adds a lot to your maintenance work. Whenever you do a fixpack upgrade, you have got to apply the fixpack on all the application server (not forgetting a failvoer server or two - which incidentally many forget). Further you have to maintain all those db2instances and the OS users on the application servers.
If you are on BASIS release 7.0 or higher and DB2 9.1 or higher, you are in luck. You have an alternative to using the db2 runtime client and the above configuration. Welcome to using the DB2 CLI driver for connecting from the application server to your database.
The benefits of DB2 CLI driver are many:
- No local installation needed on the local app server
- The DB2 CLI driver can accessed by all application servers from a SAP central directory (only one installation of the CLI driver). Hence, while applying a new db2 fixpack you just have to update your CLI driver at one central location.
- You can configure your SAP application servers in such a way (by using sapce to copy the SAP kernel to a local directory) that the CLI driver can be replaced while the application servers are still running. Now how is that for maximum uptime?
What is CLI driver?
DB2 CLI or the Call Level Interface is an alternative SQL interface to the db2 database family which uses function calls to pass dynamic SQL statements as function arguments. It conforms to the ODBC/JDBC connectivity standards.
How do I convert to using DB2 CLI driver?
The process to convert from using db2 runtime client to db2 cli is simple. But, there are a few things to consider and maybe a couple of config changes you will need.
Refer to SAP OSS Note 1091801 for complete instructions of how to enable and use DB2 CLI driver in your SAP DB2 environment.
| Comments |
|
