Questions on Informix
A poster researching Informix asked three questions: the best disaster-recovery approach (log shipping vs storage replication), whether Informix is cluster-aware (active/active vs active/standby), and whether HDR could run between HP-UX on Integrity/Itanium production and HP9000/PA-RISC at the DR site. Replies: the DR choice depends entirely on recovery objectives, budget and infrastructure, so no single answer; Informix can be configured either way, but with traditional cluster software it's usually active/standby; one user reported running exactly the reverse mix (PA-RISC primary, Itanium HDR secondary) and said IBM eventually confirmed it as supported and it works well, though the MQ DataBlade wasn't yet available on Itanium. The rest of the thread drifted into complaints about getting definitive support statements from IBM.
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Hi, I have been asked to research some details on Informix about which I know very little. Please can somebody advise me or point me in the right direction to where I can find out further information. My questions are:- 1) What is the best way to implement disaster recovery with Informix - is it transaction log file shipping, or storage replication? 2) Is Informix cluster aware, i.e. can it run in active node/active node mode or must it run active node/standby node ? 3) Is it possible to run Infomrix on HP-UX on Integirty servers at the production site, and HP-UX on HP9000 servers at the DR site? Any input will be appreciated. Thanks Andrew
<andrewr@cornasys.com> wrote in message news:1187276793.520647.132750@d55g2000hsg.googlegroups.com... > Hi, > > I have been asked to research some details on Informix about which I > know very little. Please can somebody advise me or point me in the > right direction to where I can find out further information. My > questions are:- > > 1) What is the best way to implement disaster recovery with Informix - > is it transaction log file shipping, or storage replication? Really, this is a question that belies very little IT knowledge on the part of whomsoever has asked you to reseach it. It depends entirely upon your recovery objectives, your infrastrucure, your budget, your appetite for complexity and a million other factors. It's a "How long is a piece of string?" question. You would really need to explain the context before anyone could begin to give you a cogent answer. > 2) Is Informix cluster aware, i.e. can it run in active node/active > node mode or must it run active node/standby node ? Informix can be configured for either, but I take it to mean if you use it with a traditional cluster project like Sun or RedHat Cluster, in which case the latter (usually) applies. > 3) Is it possible to run Infomrix on HP-UX on Integirty servers at the > production site, and HP-UX on HP9000 servers at the DR site? Does Integrity use the Itanic chipset? In which case, no, you can't in a supported fashion mix chipsets between live and DR (using a traditional DR methodology), and it probably wouldn't work either.
Re: Item 3. We do just the opposite -- We have a PA-RISC HP9000 at our production site and an Itanium/Integrity at our HDR/Remote site. It took a while last year to get a definitive response (Not supported / supported). The final ruling from IBM was 'Yes, this is supported'. Works like a charm. I presume your case will work just as well. Schuyler L. Southwell Software Engineer, Consulting Maricopa County Attorney's Office tel: 602 506 8107 southwel@mcao.maricopa.gov -----Original Message----- From: informix-list-bounces@iiug.org [mailto:informix-list-bounces@iiug.org] On Behalf Of andrewr@cornasys.com Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2007 8:07 AM To: informix-list@iiug.org Subject: Questions on Informix Hi, I have been asked to research some details on Informix about which I know very little. Please can somebody advise me or point me in the right direction to where I can find out further information. My questions are:- 1) What is the best way to implement disaster recovery with Informix - is it transaction log file shipping, or storage replication? 2) Is Informix cluster aware, i.e. can it run in active node/active node mode or must it run active node/standby node ? 3) Is it possible to run Infomrix on HP-UX on Integirty servers at the production site, and HP-UX on HP9000 servers at the DR site? Any input will be appreciated. Thanks Andrew _______________________________________________ Informix-list mailing list Informix-list@iiug.org http://www.iiug.org/mailman/listinfo/informix-list
"Southwell Schuyler" <southwel@mcao.maricopa.gov> wrote in message news:mailman.620.1187280201.13675.informix-list@iiug.org... Re: Item 3. >> We do just the opposite -- We have a PA-RISC HP9000 at our production site and an Itanium/Integrity at our HDR/Remote site. >> It took a while last year to get a definitive response (Not supported / supported). The final ruling from IBM was 'Yes, this is supported'. Works like a charm. I presume your case will work just as well. I stand corrected then. I'm a little surprised that it works. I'm *amazed* that it's supported ;-)
I'm even more amazed that you got a definite answer out of IBM on anything.
Was this approved by IBM's legal department?
I've been trying to get a definitive statement from the extended IBM support
family as to whether or not onbar and various storage managers are supported
for some time. Nobody will give me a "definite" answer. It's supported but
nor certified. What on earth does that mean? It's got no entries in the
excel spreadsheet that seems to be the preferred method of providing
database information but that doesn't mean it's not supported.
And as to questions regarding the support of IBM ckustered processing on AIX
and Informix .....
What can I say that I haven't said many times before about Informix support
of their customers.....
Malcolm
-----Original Message-----
From: informix-list-bounces@iiug.org [mailto:informix-list-bounces@iiug.org]
On Behalf Of Neil Truby
Sent: 16 August 2007 18:39
To: informix-list@iiug.org
Subject: Re: Questions on Informix
"Southwell Schuyler" <southwel@mcao.maricopa.gov> wrote in message
news:mailman.620.1187280201.13675.informix-list@iiug.org...
Re: Item 3.
>> We do just the opposite -- We have a PA-RISC HP9000 at our production
site and an Itanium/Integrity at our HDR/Remote site.
>> It took a while last year to get a definitive response (Not supported /
supported). The final ruling from IBM was 'Yes, this is supported'.
Works like a charm. I presume your case will work just as well.
I stand corrected then. I'm a little surprised that it works. I'm *amazed*
that it's supported ;-)
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Imagine how I felt ... A couple of hundred thousand dollars invested in a new server, etc. And of course, HP is 'forcing' the transition to Integrity, so it's not like I was going to get a PA-RISC machine and continue down THAT road. Thankfully, IBM and HP did whatever was necessary to 'certify' this arrangement. Unfortunately, we had to temporarily drop our use of the MQ Datablade for the same PA-RISC/Itanium reason. My understanding is that until the next point-release of Cheetah / 11.x, the MQ Datablade is unavailable on Integrity/Itanium machines. We could have provided a business case and possibly had it placed into a 10.x Integrity release, but time constraints being what they were at the time...... Schuyler L. Southwell Software Engineer, Consulting Maricopa County Attorney's Office -----Original Message----- From: informix-list-bounces@iiug.org [mailto:informix-list-bounces@iiug.org] On Behalf Of Neil Truby Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2007 10:39 AM To: informix-list@iiug.org Subject: Re: Questions on Informix "Southwell Schuyler" <southwel@mcao.maricopa.gov> wrote in message news:mailman.620.1187280201.13675.informix-list@iiug.org... Re: Item 3. >> We do just the opposite -- We have a PA-RISC HP9000 at our production site and an Itanium/Integrity at our HDR/Remote site. >> It took a while last year to get a definitive response (Not supported / supported). The final ruling from IBM was 'Yes, this is supported'. Works like a charm. I presume your case will work just as well. I stand corrected then. I'm a little surprised that it works. I'm *amazed* that it's supported ;-) _______________________________________________ Informix-list mailing list Informix-list@iiug.org http://www.iiug.org/mailman/listinfo/informix-list