BMC Software is to upgrade five of its SmartDBA management tools
for Version 7 of IBM's DB2 mainframe database, along with two
upgrades for the distributed, UDB (Universal Database) edition of
DB2.
The products are a further step in BMC's Golden Gate Project, which
aims to provide database administrators (DBAs) with an integrated
set of tools for managing both mainframe and distributed database
environments from multiple vendors through a single, Web-based
console.
The Web-based console for DB2 UDB is available already. The console
for IBM's DB2 mainframe database is scheduled for release in the
first half of 2003, and the mainframe tools, which are scheduled
for release on Monday, lay the groundwork for that delivery, said
BMC vice-president of marketing Karl Chen.
BMC's tools compete with products from tools vendors such as Quest
Software, as well as offerings from IBM, Oracle and other database
vendors.
On the mainframe side, BMC will release version 2.0 of System
Performance for DB2, which adds navigation components intended to
provide a more "task-oriented" approach to managing system
performance, Chen said.
The new reporting capabilities allow a DBA to check on system
health, accounting and audit data without having to use DB2's
system management facility.
Also on Monday, BMC will release Database Performance for DB2
Version 1.1, which adds a tool that allows DBAs to reorganise a
database without having to take it offline. A similar "online
reorg" capability was added to BMC's SmartDBA tools for Oracle's
database earlier in the year.
The other upgraded mainframe tools are Application Performance for
DB2 Version 2.0, Database Administration for DB2 Version 1.2, and
Recovery Management for DB2 Version 1.1.
On the distributed database side, BMC will announce SQL-BackTrack
for DB2 UDB Version 2.0, which adds backup and recovery
capabilities, and SQL-Explorer for DB2 UDB Version 6.0.02. This has
been integrated with another tool, DBXray, in such a way that an
administrator can now track down poorly performing SQL code from
within DBXRay, which is a diagnostic tool.
The mainframe tools will be priced from $21,800 (£13,820) for the
Application Performance product to $86,300 for the Database
Administration tool, BMC said.
The DB2 UDB tools are scheduled for release by the end of the
month, priced at $5,610 for up to 25 gigabytes of storage for the
SQL-BackTrack product, and $3,140 per NT workgroup server for SQL
Explorer.