BMC APPLICATION RESTART CONTROL for DB2

Automate batch processing. Implement application checkpoints with no code changes.

Many organizations run a significant amount of work in batch mode, but shrinking windows shorten the time available to run batch jobs. When a batch job fails, it must be restarted at the point of failure or at the beginning of the job (after recovery of affected databases and files). It is not practical to back out everything and start from the beginning because backing out updates from can take twice as long as running the application. Nor is it practical to restart from the wrong point, then back out errors and start over again. The only way to restart at the point of failure is to ensure that the application takes periodic checkpoints of the contents of application working storage areas.

BMC solution

BMC APPLICATION RESTART CONTROL for DB2 (AR/CTL for DB2) enables you to resume failed or interrupted batch applications from the most recent checkpoint rather than from the beginning of the job step. It resets the working storage areas after a batch job failure. Faster restarts minimize contention between batch jobs and online processing. You can often implement the checkpoint/restart mechanism with no changes to application code or jobs.  BMC AR/CTL for DB2 helps you helps you determine the best balance between performance, restart time, and checkpoint overhead by controlling the checkpoint frequency outside the application. 

Features and benefits

• Requires no JCL or application program changes in most cases
• Provides automation to eliminate many SOC7 abends (due to bad input data) and to react to database contention (-911 SQL codes) and eliminate associated failures from the batch schedule
• Ensures data integrity by keeping all data repositories in sync
• Allows you to quickly quiesce jobs just before a scheduled outage by ending them at a checkpoint
• Provides checkpoint frequency control outside of application code - you determine the best balance between performance, restart time, and checkpoint overhead
• Enables suspend and resume – you can interrupt a batch job so that another process can initiate, then automatically resume batch job processing

Key differentiators

• SQL return code handling - eliminates the need to add application code to handle conttention issues (-911 SQL code)
• Cursor repositioning - returns the application to the proper position within the cursor so that you can restart DB2 applications with no application changes
• Batch Attachment Facility -  performs the attachment to DB2 on behalf of the application program and replaces other methods that the program might be using for attachment
• Integration with BMC APPLICATION RESTART CONTROL for VSAM - synchronizes VSAM and DB2 update processing
• Integration with BMC REORG PLUS for DB2 – enables you to reorganize a table space without canceling DB2 batch jobs

Related Products

• BMC Database Performance for DB2
• BMC REORG PLUS for DB2