Informix Dynamic Server Systems Administration

Course Overview

In this course, you will learn how to perform the various tasks required to manage and monitor an Informix Dynamic Server database server. You will learn how to set up a database server using a default configuration file and how to modify the configuration for various purposes. You will learn to perform routine administrative tasks, such as backing up logical logs, backing up the database server, restoring the server from backup, changing the server mode, and monitoring the resources used by the server. You will be introduced to the basic architecture of the shared memory, disk, and process components of the database server. You will also learn some basic troubleshooting techniques for identifying and resolving common problems.

Audience

This course is designed for Informix Dynamic Server system administrators.

Skills Gained

• Describe the components of a database server.
• Install IBM Informix Dynamic Server.
• Configure and initialize a database server.
• Configure the server to allow both local and remote connections.
• Use Dynamic Server utilities to monitor server activity.
• Describe the components of shared memory and configure the component sizes.
• List, describe, and configure the different classes of virtual processors.
• Identify the components of the database server disk architecture.
• Create dbspaces, blobspaces, and sbspaces and add chunks to these spaces.
• Explain the purpose of physical and logical logs and monitor log activity.
• View the individual transactions that are written to the logical log files.
• Describe the importance of checkpoints on the server.
• Define the importance of fast recovery.
• Perform backups of the database server and logical logs.
• Use different methods to restore a database server from backup.
• Explain the purpose of temporary spaces used by the server.
• Configure the database server to operate more efficiently using parallel operations.
• Monitor the resources used by individual user sessions.
• Configure the server to respond to specific events by executing an alarm program.
• Use various troubleshooting techniques to identify and resolve common problems.

Prerequisites

Before taking this course, you should be able to:

• Use basic operating system commands to manage files and navigate in a UNIX/Linux file system.
• Describe relational database objects, such as databases, tables, indexes, and views.
• Perform simple queries and create database objects using Structured Query Language (SQL).

Course Outline

• Installing Informix Dynamic Server
• Configuring client-server connectivity
• Constructing the database server
• Monitoring Informix Dynamic Server
• Managing shared memory
• Virtual processors and threads
• Disk architecture
• Managing and monitoring disk space
• Physical and logical logging
• The shared memory buffer pool
• Fault tolerance
• Introduction to backup and restore
• Backup and restore using ontape
• Temporary files and tables
• Performance features
• Monitoring user activity
• Event alarms
• Troubleshooting
• Configuration case study