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Insider

IIUG Insider (Issue #108)
June 2009

Other Issues

Highlights: Fastest Informix DBA Contest II

Welcome to the International Informix Users Group (IIUG) Insider! Designed for IIUG members and Informix user group leaders, this publication contains timely and relevant information for the IBM Informix community.

Contents:

 

Editorial Back to top

This time I have very little to write about in my editorial. In a way this is a good thing. It means things are normal again. After stormy times when there was never a dull moment we can relax a little. Soon IDS 11.5 xC5 will be GA. Like 11.5 xC4 it is much more than a fix pack. There are some cool features added. I cannot say more than that, but as a beta tester I can promise you it is something to look forward to.

So what's ahead? We are planning our next board meeting at the October timeframe and we are finalizing our negotiations with the Overland Park Marriott for our third IIUG conference. Make sure you read about the Informix road shows and partner training all around the world. Even if there is no event heading your way, it is comforting just to read through the list.

Gary Ben-Israel
IIUG Insider Editor
gary@iiug.org


Highlights Back to top

Fastest Informix DBA Contest II

June 18 - September 30, 2009

Advanced DataTools is sponsoring a NEW contest for Informix Users to find and honor the fastest Informix DBAs. This is a new version of our very successful contest at the 2009 IIUG Informix User Conference. The challenge is to take a basic Informix IDS database server configuration and a SQL script that runs a series of inserts and updates and see who can get it to run the fastest!

There will be 12 winners in the following categories:

Grand Prize - the Fastest User DBA. To qualify for this prize, the user must be 1) a DBA employed at a company using Informix internally, 2) not a consultant, 3) not an IBM employee. (Grand Prize is either a Free pass to the 2010 IIUG Informix User Conference or an iPod Touch)

Honorary Prizes (Fastest DBA Shirt):

  • Fastest Professional Consultant DBA
  • Fastest IBM Developer (IBM employee)
  • Fastest Senior DBA (over 50)
  • Fastest Mid-Aged DBA (30-50)
  • Fastest Youngest DBA (under 30)
  • Fastest Newest DBA (shortest experience with Informix) Fastest Old-timer (longest experience with Informix) Fastest International DBA (Non USA resident) Fastest Domestic DBA (USA resident) Fastest with the fewest changes

The challenge will be to complete the following:

  • Download the data and the SQL Code
  • Setup an Informix IDS environment
  • Identify and add missing indexes
  • Tune and optimize the Onconfig file
  • Tune the optimize dbspace/table layout
  • Tune the optimize SQL script
  • Run the benchmark script
  • Repeat this process until you are satisfied with your times
  • Send the ONCONFIG file, a setup.sh script and the tuned benchmark_run.sql file to us by September 30, 2009 and we will see how it runs on our hardware.

The rules:

  • See the contest details for what changes are allowed and not allowed.
  • The row and data counts at the end of the SQL process must be correct.
  • The final timed run will be at our facility on our hardware, run by one of our staff.
  • Each participant's configuration will be saved and the results must be reproducible.
  • The judge's role will be to review the results, arbitrate disagreements and will have final say.
  • The rules may be updated to clarify any questions submitted before the contest ends on September 30, 2009. Updates will be posted on the website http://www.advancedatatools.com/Informix and on Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/FastInformixDBA.

Judges: Lester Knutsen, Art Kagel, Carlton Doe, Spokey Wheeler

If you need an Informix system, I would suggest getting the Developers edition of the Informix Virtual Appliance:

  • Information on the Informix IDS 11.50.xC4 virtual appliance.
  • Download the Informix IDS 11.50.xC4 virtual appliance here!

To register for the contest and download the rules, data and code:

http://www.advancedatatools.com/Informix/index.html


Education Back to top

Get Prepared with Free Information Management Certification Prep Tutorials

Leverage IM Certification Prep tutorials and gain a solid understanding of each section of your Certification exam. These free tutorials take no more than an hour to complete and are conveniently available online or in PDF form.

Get prepared! http://www.ibm.com/software/data/education/selfstudy.html#5

New and Updated Informix and Informix Warehouse Courses

To help you further enhance your skills, IBM has released and updated five Informix and Informix Warehouse courses. With both classroom and online options, you can choose the best way to learn!

Check out the courses and enroll here:

http://www.iiug.org/url/new_informix_courses.html

Training Times running out! Redeem your Assess and Save voucher now!

Candidates who purchased, and passed an Information Management Online Assessment Exam during the offering period, automatically received a 50% off certification voucher good for the corresponding exam! Redeem your voucher before July 31st, 2009 and save!

For more information, visit:

http://www.ibm.com/software/data/education/voucher.html?ca=extvouch


Developer corner Back to top

Informix Chat with the Lab

July 15
8:30 AM Pacific
10:30 AM Central
11:30 AM Eastern
4:30 PM London
5:30 PM Paris

Compression and Storage optimization support in IDS!

This month's Informix Chat with the Lab will be related to Smarter Planet initiative, helping save energy and cost via Compression & Storage Optimization support in IDS.

This talk will provide an introduction to Informix Dynamic Server's new Compression and Storage Optimization features. We will cover compression basic concepts and affects on the data, compression ratios and compressibility, performance, scaling, and interactions with other features such as HDR and ER. The talk will also include details of the new operations and behaviors introduced by these two closely related features.

Jerry Keesee, Director of the Informix Lab will introduce the call and Kevin Cherkauer, Informix Sr Technical Lead will be our technical speaker.

Participant access information:

URL: http://www.iiug.org/url/chat_15jul09.html

Conference number: 4572107

Passcode: 7232225

To register for this event:

  1. Go to the URL listed above and choose Web RSVP under Join Events.
  2. Enter the conference number and passcode
  3. Provide your information for the event leader and then click submit.
  4. You will receive a confirmation email from "e-meetings." Please follow instructions to join the call on day of call (Note: for security reasons, a passcode and pin will be required to join call)

Presentation material will be available at www.ibm.com/informix/labchats prior to the event.

Questions, comments or to be removed from this distribution: ahujam@us.ibm.com

Best regards,

Madhuri Ahuja PMP
Information Management, IBM
Lenexa, KS

New in DeveloperWorks

Compare the Informix Dynamic Server, Version 11 editions http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/data/library/techarticle/dm-0801doe/index.html Get an introduction to the various editions of IBM Informix Dynamic Server, and compare features, benefits, and licensing considerations in a side-by-side table. Regardless of which edition you choose, IDS brings you legendary ease-of-use, reliability, stability, and access to extensibility features.

4 June 2009

For more information go to DeveloperWorks - Informix:

http://www.iiug.org/url/devworks.html

Virtualization and Cloud Computing with IDS

In case you missed to attend the session or would like to share with someone...

Audio replay for topic, Virtualization and Cloud Computing with IDS is posted on Chat with Lab site:

http://www-01.ibm.com/software/data/informix/labchats/#24

Best regards,

Madhuri Ahuja PMP
Customer Validation Manager
Information Management, IBM


IBM corner Back to top

Take advantage of these Informix events coming to cities near you!

Informix Roadshow

The IBM Informix Dynamic Server roadshow is traveling around the world, providing a 2-day deep-dive, hands-on opportunity to try out the latest Informix technology. Gain fresh, innovative ideas to optimize your business performance and create competitive advantage.

2009 Informix Roadshow Highlights:

  • What's new in IDS 11.5?
  • IDS Warehouse
  • IDS Storage Compression
  • Migration

Sign up to attend an upcoming Roadshow below, or visit ibm.com/informix/roadshow to see the latest updates. Don't see your city? To request a roadshow in your area, contact Scott Pickett (spickett@us.ibm.com) for locations outside North America, and Carlton Doe at cdoe@us.ibm.com for North America.

Business Partner Training

The Informix Bootcamps are 3-day in-depth technical workshops for IBM Business Partners that focus on IDS 11.5. Detailed presentations and hands-on labs are included where attendees will gain in-depth knowledge of exciting new features and areas including:

  • Continuous Availability
  • Informix Warehouse
  • Security features including label-based access control (LBAC)
  • OpenAdmin Tool
  • Administration and performance tuning
  • ... and more!

Business Partners with applications that currently run on IDS or who are new to IDS can benefit from this workshop by learning how IDS can add value to your solutions and extend your market opportunities. Business consultants who are currently working with or planning to work with IDS for their customers are also welcome to attend.

The latest schedule of bootcamps can be found at http://www.iiug.org/url/2009_bootcamps.html.

Local User Group meetings

The latest list of local user group meetings can be found on the IIUG website at http://iiug.org/events/events.php#June2009.

Does your local user group need new ideas for your meetings? IBM and the IIUG have teamed up to create Tech Day content that includes a suggested agenda, presentation materials, demos and speakers who can be available for your user group meeting. Topics include the Informix Roadmap, Continuous Availability (MACH 11), Informix Warehouse, Compression, and other topics that can be customized for your group. This can also be used as an opportunity to reach out to universities in your area by adding an Academic Initiative Information Session.

Contact Cindy Lichtenauer (cindy@iiug.org) or Pradeep Kutty (pkutty@us.ibm.com) to get a Tech Day organized for your local user group.

Other Events

Are you planning an event in your area that isn't listed below? Get it included in next month's article by sending details to cathyell@us.ibm.com and to jgp@iiug.org for posting on the IIUG events web site.

Summary of Upcoming Informix Events

Date: July 14 - 15
Location: Atlanta, GA
Event type: IDS Road show
URL: http://www.iiug.org/url/road_show_atlanta.html
 
Date: July 14 - 15
Location: Chicago, IL
Event type: IDS Road show
URL: http://www.iiug.org/url/road_show_chicago.html
 
Date: July 20 - 21
Location: Costa Mesa, CA
Event type: IDS Road show
URL: http://www.iiug.org/url/road_show_costa_mesa.html
 
Date: July 28 - 29
Location: New York City, NY
Event type: IDS Road show
URL: http://www.iiug.org/url/road_show_new_york.html
 
Date: August 3 - 4
Location: Orlando, FL
Event type: IDS Road show
URL: http://www.iiug.org/url/road_show_orlando.html
 
Date: August 6 - 7
Location: Boca Raton, FL
Event type: IDS Road show
URL: http://www.iiug.org/url/road_show_boca_raton.html
 
Date: August 11 - 13
Location: Mumbai, India
Event type: Business Partner Bootcamp
 
Date: August 17 - 18
Location: Toronto, Canada
Event type: IDS Road show
URL: http://www.iiug.org/url/road_show_toronto.html
 
Date: August 18 - 20
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Event type: Business Partner Bootcamp
 
Date: August 18 - 20
Location: Singapore
Event type: Business Partner Bootcamp
 
Date: August 20 - 21
Location: Montreal, PQ, Canada
Event type: IDS Road show
URL: http://www.iiug.org/url/road_show_montreal.html
 
Date: August 25 - 27
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
Event type: Business Partner Bootcamp
 
Date: September 7 - 8
Location: Beijing, China
Event type: IDS Road show
 
Date: September 10 - 11
Location: Shanghai, China
Event type: IDS Road show
 
Date: September 14 - 15
Location: Chengdu, China
Event type: IDS Road show
 
Date: September 15 - 17
Location: Frankfurt, Germany
Event type: Business Partner Bootcamp
 
Date: September 22 - 23
Location: Warsaw, Poland
Event type: IDS Road show
 
Date: September 28 -30
Location: Chennai, India
Event type: Business Partner Bootcamp
 
Get featured in IBM's "Young Professional Profiles"

IBM is looking to interview young professionals working with Informix software and tools to feature in a new piece of collateral "Young Professional Profiles" targeted at university students. As part of their Academic Initiative efforts, IBM would like to interview young professional working for our IIUG member companies to illustrate how learning Informix can lead to great job opportunities and a successful career.

Any individual who has graduated from college in the past 5 years and is working with Informix is eligible. Selected participants will be interviewed by IBM for 30-60 minutes and IBM will request review and approval of the final content by the participating companies before publishing the profiles.

Please nominate eligible members of your organization by sending an email to pkothari@us.ibm.com with their name and a short description (less than 100 words) before July 15th.

Don't miss this great opportunity to showcase your organization and outstanding employees to university students and graduates!

How are you using Informix?

How are you using Informix? We are interested in your story - even if you want to remain anonymous. There are many ways that you can help us out - whether it is a full blown case study (such as http://www.iiug.org/url/centric.html), a web story about your solution (such as http://www.iiug.org/url/corsica.html), or an anonymous quote about your success with Informix, we'd love to hear about it. We are also interested in hearing from anyone who is using IBM hardware and get your feedback on the winning combination with IDS. Contact Cathy Elliott, Informix Marketing Manager, at cathyell@us.ibm.com if you'd like to be part of a user story, case study or technical use case. Thanks!

What's your version?

IBM has announced End of Support (EOS) dates* for the following IBM Informix Dynamic Server (IDS) and Informix 4GL products:

April 30, 2009 IDS Version 9.40
September 30, 2009 IDS Version 7.31
September 30, 2010 IDS Version 10.00; Informix 4GL 7.31

Take a look at the resources that can help you plan to move to a new version. You can get to the following resources and more from: http://www.ibm.com/software/data/informix/upgrade/.

Overview of upgrading or migrating IDS:

http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg27012095
Read this short overview to learn what is involved in upgrading or migrating to the latest version of IDS.

Trial: Informix Dynamic Server Enterprise and Developer Edition:
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/downloads/im/ids/learn.html
Download a free trial version of IBM Informix Dynamic Server Enterprise Edition or a no-charge version of IDS Developer Edition. Or, develop your applications on Amazon EC2, an Amazon Web service, using a public version of Informix Dynamic Server 11.50: Developer Edition, Express Edition and Workgroup Edition.

Informix Upgrade Portal:
http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21259394
Get tips, tricks, planning information and everything you need to get started planning your move to a newer version of IDS.

Premium Upgrade Plan:
http://www.ibm.com/software/data/support/change-mgmt.html
Explore the added level of expert, personalized assistance that is offered by IBM Premium Support.

IDS Information Center:
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/idshelp/v115/index.jsp
View the most up-to-date technical information from the Web-based IDS Information Center by click Migrating and Upgrading. That section contains the same topics as the PDF version of the Informix Migration Guide. With the information center, you can also:

  • Find links on the home page to other useful sources of information, such as product lifecycle news.
  • Search the topics from your browser search menu with a search plugin.
  • Subscribe to updates in the information center with RSS feeds.

If you can't find the information that you're looking for, contact getIDS11@us.ibm.com or use the feedback links provided on ibm.com.

*To check if extensions of support services are available, contact your IBM representative.

Information Management Certification Day

Save 50% on all Information Management Certification Exams

Date: Tuesday , July 7th
Time: 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Last seating at 4:00 PM
Location: IBM Canada
Room D107
3006 Steeles Ave.
Markham, ON
L3R9Z7

IBM invites Business Partners and Clients to certify!

Business Partners and clients in the Toronto area can receive a 50% discount* on certification exams across the entire Information Management portfolio by attending our Information Management Certification Day.

Available Information Management certification exams include:

  • Cognos
  • Data Management (Data Warehouse & BI, DB2, Informix, Optim, solidDB and U2)
  • Enterprise Content Management (Content Manager, OnDemand and CommonStore only)
  • InfoSphere

For a complete list of exams, please visit: http://ibm.com/software/data/education

Registration

All attendees must preregister by contacting our Event Coordinator at: csoares@ca.ibm.com

Exam Preparation Resources

We encourage you to take advantage of the Certification Roadmaps, Preparation Guides, Tutorials and Assessment Exams available to help you prepare for and pass your exam. Get prepared by visiting: ibm.com/software/data/education/certification

* With the 50% discount, each exam costs $100 USD. Payable by credit card only.


Informix resources Back to top

Informix Blogs and things  
 

Calendar of events Back to top

July - 2009
Date Event Location Contact
14-15 2009 Informix Road Show Atlanta, Georgia  
14-15 2009 Informix Road Show Chicago, Illinois  
20-21 2009 Informix Road Show Costa Mesa, California  
28-29 2009 Informix Road Show New York City Art Kagel
August - 2009
Date Event Location Contact
3-4 2009 Informix Road Show Orlando, Florida Douglas Brown
6-7 2009 Informix Road Show Boca Raton, Florida Douglas Brown
11-13 Business Partner Bootcamp Mumbai, India  
17-18 2009 Informix Road Show Toronto, Canada  
18-20 Business Partner Bootcamp Barcelona, Spain  
18-20 Business Partner Bootcamp Singapore  
20-21 2009 Informix Road Show Montreal, PQ, Canada  
25-27 Business Partner Bootcamp Bangkok, Thailand  
 

Useful links Back to top

In response to your input, we have created a page on the IIUG web site containing all the links we used to include. Please find it at:

http://www.iiug.org/quicklinks.html


Closing and credits Back to top

The International Informix Users Group (IIUG) is an organization designed to enhance communications between its worldwide user community and IBM. The IIUG's membership database now exceeds 25,000 entries and enjoys the support and commitment of IBM's Data Management division. Key programs include local user groups and special interest groups, which we promote and assist from launch through growth.

Sources:  IIUG Board of Directors
IBM Corp.
Editors:  Gary Ben-Israel
Tammy Frankforter

For comments, please send an email to gary@iiug.org.