Informix DBA Support & Managed Services

XTIVIA supports most of the current and past releases of the IBM Informix DBA database products. Below is a sample of the products and services with which XTIVIA will be able to assist you.

One of the primary services offered by XTIVIA is the Informix health check. This service is designed to help you gain the maximum efficiency from your available resources. The health check takes many areas of the system into consideration, including hardware utilization, OS and database configuration and application implementation. Upon completion of the analysis, a report is provided giving both an overview of the system’s health and detailed recommendations as to changes that can be made to optimize performance. XTIVIA will then be available to assist your on-site personnel or provide an engineer to perform the implementation of the recommended changes.

Informix provides a number of means to make certain that the databases are backed up and that your data can be easily recovered if a crash were to happen. XTIVIA will assist you in designing and testing a disaster recovery plan that matches your business needs. The Informix backup tools range from a single threaded backup process (ONTAPE or TBTAPE) to a multi-threaded process (ONBAR) using a storage manager such as Tivoli or Veritas.

If you want an order-of-magnitude improvement in response times for complex data warehouse queries, we can help you install and start using the Informix Warehouse Accelerator (IWA) add-on for your Informix database. The use of IWA is transparent to the end-users; no application changes or database schema changes are required. Database systems characterized by complex, ad hoc decision support (DSS) queries performed against a large subset of the database are a perfect fit for adding in IWA.

If you are in need of a solution to boost the speed of warehouse queries while simplifying administration, XTIVIA’s Informix team can help you design and implement the Informix Warehouse Accelerator as an addition to your current Informix Warehouse environment.

Informix provides several different types of replication methods designed to meet the needs of the client’s business. From high availability disaster recovery (HDR) to multi-node enterprise-wide update-anywhere systems (ER), XTIVIA will be able to assist in the design and implementation of your Informix replication needs. Increased replication functionality has become available with the latest versions of IDS.

The types of replication now supported by Informix Dynamic Server are:

ER – Enterprise Replication provides replication of data across multiple independent IDS servers, and has the ability to support both “active-passive” and “active-active” replication. Any of the servers participating in the ER cluster can accept both read and write transactions. ER can also be used to replicate individual tables or subsets of tables rather than the entire database. This is different from HDR, since HDR requires an exact replica of the data – including table and database schemas. ER is designed to support multiple servers with complex topologies.
HDR – High Availability Data Replication maintains two identical IDS server instances and employs a log record shipping technique to transfer the logical log records from the primary server to the secondary server. The secondary server is in perpetual roll-forward mode so that data on the secondary server remains current with data on the primary server. The secondary server supports read access to data, allowing database administrators to spread workload among servers.
MACH 11 – Multi-node Active Cluster for High Availability consists of a single primary server and one or more secondary servers. The secondary servers can include any combination of SDS, RSS, and HDR secondary server, providing increased failover, capacity, flexibility, and scalability.
SDS – Shared Disk Secondary servers provide increased availability and scalability without the need to maintain multiple copies of the database by allowing multiple instances of the IDS server to access the same physical disk as the primary server.
RSS – Remote Standalone Secondary servers extend HDR by allowing multiple copies of the database in both local and geographically remote locations
CLS – Continuous Log Restore is useful when the backup database server is required to be fairly current, but the two systems need to be completely independent of each other for reasons such as security or network availability. The log files are manually transferred to a backup database server where they are restored.

XTIVIA has helped clients of various sizes implement the replication strategies that were right for their environments.

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IBM Informix Versions

Dynamic Server (IDS) Version 12.x
Dynamic Server (IDS) Version 11.x
Dynamic Server (IDS) Version 10.x
Dynamic Server (IDS) Version 9.x
Dynamic Server (IDS) Version 7.x
Warehouse Accelerator
Flexible Grid
Timeseries
Connect
Connection Manager
Open Administration Tool (OAT)

Extended Parallel SERVER(XPS) Version 8.5
Online Version 5.x
SE Version 5.x
SE Version 7.x
C-ISAM Version 7.x
4GL
ESQL/C
STAR
NET

IBM Informix Datablade Implementations & Support

IBM Informix Datablade modules extend the functionality of Informix Dynamic Server to meet the requirements of the clients. Datablades are extensions integrated into the core of the engine delivering unique application functionality and superior performance. XTIVIA has assisted clients with the at least the following Datablade products: C-ISAM Datablade, Excalibur Text Search Datablade, Image Foundation Datablade, and the Web Datablade. XTIVIA engineers can work with you to determine if Datablade products can help you achieve your goals by extending the features available in your Informix environment.

Informix Upgrades and Migration

XTIVIA can assist with your migration plans if you are moving from one version of the engine to a newer release, from a 32-bit version of the engine to a 64-bit version or if you are planning to perform a hardware/OS upgrade. XTIVIA can assist in planning the upgrade and setting up test environments so regression testing can performed properly against the applications. XTIVIA can also be called upon to perform the upgrade for you or just provide support during the upgrade for your on site engineers.

Informix Database Security & Auditing

Informix Dynamic Server has always supported the industry-standard security mechanisms such as UNIX-based password protection and roles within the database engine. The newer versions of IDS make available enhanced security options, including pluggable authentication modules (PAM), column-level encryption, and label-based access control (LBAC). This provides the client with an unprecedented level of control and greater security for critical data. XTIVIA engineers can assist with all phases of security implementation, from determining your needs, to planning, testing, and auditing the chosen solution.

Informix SQL Query Performance Tuning

XTIVIA can help you track and analyze slow-running SQL statements. Poorly written SQL has the potential to negatively impact the entire server. These queries will be identified in order to determine if they need to be rewritten or if they would benefit from new or reconstructed indexes or configuration adjustments.

Informix 4GL Development

Do you need assistance with maintaining your 4GL environment? XTIVIA can help with the architecture, design, development, documentation, testing, upgrade or migration of your Informix 4GL environment. We have helped clients maintain and enhance their 4GL applications in order to make the most of their investment. XTIVIA engineers have been involved in the complete 4GL development process, augmented existing development teams and assisted with performance and best practices initiatives with several of our clients.

Informix Database Patches

IBM continues to improve the Informix product line. As enhancements are made to the database engine, they are released as minor upgrades or patches. XTIVIA can assist you in testing the patches to ensure that there will be no negative impact to your system, and follow with rolling out the patches to your production environment with a minimum of downtime.

Informix Database Upgrade from 32-bit to 64-bit

Are you ready to get out from under the 32-bit memory limitation for Informix? If you are planning an IDS upgrade or just want to take advantage of your 64-bit AIX, HP-UX, Solaris, Linux or Microsoft Windows operating system, we can help you upgrade your Informix instance to a version that takes advantage of the 64-bit architecture available on Linux, UNIX and Windows.

XPS Tuning & Troubleshooting

The IBM Informix XPS database engine is specialized to the needs of data warehousing. While the XPS engine is no longer under development it is still widely used in the warehousing community. XTIVIA maintains a group of engineers who are extremely versed in the internal workings of the XPS engine. If you are having any issues with your XPS installation, XTIVIA can help.

Informix Training

XTIVIA can provide customized training tailored to meet the needs of your business. We will work with you to determine your needs and deliver training that fits. XTIVIA offers many different types of training including instructor-led training, eLearning, and one-on-one mentoring. Alternatively, you may choose to add some training to your consulting engagement in order to get personalized knowledge transfer on specific topics. Whatever your requirements, XTIVIA can tailor a plan to meet your needs.

Informix DBA Support

Through Virtual-DBA and consulting services, XTIVIA helps clients maintain their Informix database investment. Ongoing project support and database administration services designed to meet your budgetary needs and fit into your business model are among our specialties. Whether you need a complete Informix DBA solution or occasional staff augmentation, XTIVIA can help you.

Informix Database Monitoring

The Virtual-DBA service provides an Informix monitoring solution whereby XTIVIA DBAs monitor your Informix environment using our own tools. Our team will alert you to detected conditions, and respond as you direct. We can act as your DBAs, completely tending to your environment, or simply step in when requested, providing coaching as needed.

Informix Stored Procedure Language Development & Tuning

Do you need assistance with developing or tuning your Informix Stored Procedure Language (SPL)?Our team has experience designing, developing and maintaining SPL for our clients. Based on your business requirements, our team can assist in both analyzing existing applications to determine if they would benefit from being re-written in SPL and reviewing your current stored procedures to see if they can be optimized to run more efficiently.

Informix Problem Resolution & Troubleshooting

If your users are currently experiencing any database engine, connectivity or application issues in your Informix environment, XTIVIA can assist you in troubleshooting and resolution. With their deep DBA and development expertise, our team will be able to dive in and find the cause of Informix-related issues.

Informix Flexible Grid

With the Informix Flexible Grid you can define servers of different operating systems, different hardware, and different Informix database versions into a high availability grid. It’s easy to define, add or remove servers and manage tables across the grid. Transparent failover for applications can be achieved using the Connection Manager.

If you are in need of a high availability solution for use with your Informix databases across differing servers and operating systems, XTIVIA’s Informix team can help you design and implement the Informix Flexible Grid in your environment.

IBM Informix TimeSeries

Does your Informix database make heavy use of time-stamped data? The built-in Informix TimeSeries solution is designed to manage data generated by sensors, RFID tags, smart utility meters and other monitoring devices where the data set is based on a timestamp. Informix TimeSeries provides fast performance and more efficient storage of time series data, allowing you to save on storage costs while significantly reducing load and query times. If time-stamped data is an important part of your business, the XTIVIA team is available to help you in implementing or expanding your use of the TimeSeries feature.

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What's Next?

We would love to help you with your database project or manage your environment, call us 888.685.3101 Ext. 2 or complete the form and start a conversation with Virtual-DBA today!