In the future releases of DB2—for example version 8.2, which is about to be released—there are more and richer autonomic features available.
Automatic Maintenance Policies
Here DB2 will create a policy for maintaining the database—when and where and what is to be achieved. This is accomplished by defining what needs to be completed—either offline or online.
Policies are used to specify the settings for automatic maintenance:
Specified in XML documents.
Stored in tables in the database.
The Configure Automatic Maintenance wizard in Control Center & Health Center configures these policies.
Common Policy:
Specifies maintenance windows for online and offline activities.
Utility-specific policies:
Specifies settings relevant to the particular utility.
Each utility uses the common policy maintenance windows when automating maintenance activities.
Automatic Database Backup
This is an autonomic feature for backing up data automatically. Again, DB2 creates a policy that describes the requirements needed to back up the database(s).
The policy defines the following:
Backup location.
Criteria for determining when a backup is required.
Maximum time between backups.
Maximum log space used between backups.
Automatic backup runs online if in archive logging mode, offline if in circular logging mode.
Health indicator alerts if manual backup is required.
Conclusions
DB2 is not just a relational database, as it adds value with these rich autonomic computing features that provide customers today with self-managing facilities. Expect more and increasingly sophisticated autonomic features in future releases, such as version 9.1.
The bottom line is DB2 is a leading example of autonomic computing in the database market.
