Already at the end of 2024 we had announced the availability of the new major release Informix v15.0.

What is next? The prospect is promising! First of all there will be a defect fix still in 2025. Far more important: some feature requests which have been requested by users for a longer time will be realized step by step in the next future.

Prioritized Feature Requests (selection):

• Parallel Table Level Restore (TLR) in archecker
• Archives on HDR secondaries / Backup of current log on secondary
• Auto drop of CPU VPs if load scales down

Looking ahead quite far artificial intelligence will also play an important role in the daily usage of Informix. It is planed to use it in:

• SQL Editor in HQ
• Admin functions
• Documentation
• Automatic tuning

At the end a very practical hint for all Informix users who plan to migrate to v15.0 or to install it from scratch.

Roughly spoken Informix v15.0 is a modified v14.10 in combination with significantly raised limits. In order to benefit from these it is strongly necessary to change a switch in Informix.

If you migrate from older IFX versions to v15.0 afterwards v15.0 is in Infrastructure Level 0 – which means mostly you cannot benefit from the enhanced limits. For this Infrastructure Level 1 is required. After a successful migration you have to change the level in the backup.

If you install v15.0 from scratch the database will be in Infrastructure Level 1 mode from the beginning on. Why? All database tables will build using the new PageHeader format.

Version 15.0 of Informix was officially released in November 2024. It has been the first major release for more than 5 years.

The surprise factor was that there had been major physical changes in the internal structures of the engine. These big changes forced a few others to be left out. Consequently not all expected features have been realized. But still a whole lot left over. And by changing all these things IBM layed the foundations to future improvements.

Now let's see a brief list of the most important new features:

• Java: Engine does not include a JRE environment and Java version 11 is needed

• The internal limits were changed. This means that a lot of limits that we're used to are now much higher. No Informix user will have to worry about limits during his career. Here are some examples:
• A single table fragment/partition can have 140 trillion pages
• A chunk may be as large as 8 exabytes
• Data rows per page depends on pagesize but can reach 29122 in 256KB pages
• Page size can be 2, 4 ,8, 16, 32, 64, 128 and 256 KBytes (maximum was 32)
• Data rows per fragment/partition is 9.2 quintillion 

• External smart blobs: Smart blobs can now be stored in external filesystems. This can have a significant impact performing backups. A traditional smart blobspace has to exist to store the smart blobs metadata

• Invisible indexes, is a new functionality that allows you to set an index to "invisible". An invisible index will be supported as a normal index (INSERTs, UPDATEs, DELETEs) but will not be used by queries. So it is possible to test a system behavior as if the index did not exist, and revert easily and immediately if the result is poor. An index can also be created in "invisible mode" and turned visible later.
  
  

• Obtain a query plan of a running query. This is important if you have a performance issue to solve. Why is this an issue:
  • It's difficault capturing a query and it's parameters (if the query is prepared), run it in a tool and obtain the query plan. Specially for short lived queries
  • A prepared query may have a different query plan than the one we get in a tool with a query written with values
  • A long running query may be using a different query plan than the one we get, because some of the conditions may be different (update statistics may have been run, parameters or context may have changed)

• Improved audit records analysis. This means the Session ID (SID) can appear in the audit logs. Before in many cases it was not possible to correlate the actions shown in the log.

• Informix HQ 3.0:

• Automatic account lockout after 5 invalid access attempts
• Support for "LARGE TABLES". LARGE TABLEs can be created and seen if a table is categorized as SMALL or LARGE table.
• Droping constraints directly from the user interface
• Multiple servers refresh simultaneously

• CDC API support on secondary servers. Being able to take advantage of secondary servers will be great news for Informix customers who use CDC to send data to other systems.

Find more information here: 

https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/informix-servers/15.0.0?topic=overview-whats-new-in-informix#concept_v15.0.0.0__cascade_repl_15.0.0.0

Recently IBM has released the new Informix version 14.10xC11.

Unfortunately the IBM Java running the „License Installer“ is not included in the database any more.

The „License Installer“ is required in order to select the needed Informix Edition (eg. EXPRESS, Workgroup Edition, Enterprise etc.).

If there is no selection done Informix runs in the Developer Edition modus. Due to restrictions regarding RAM, cores and high availability this type of edition is not suitable for productive environments.

The user has to download the required Java on his own. Because of the omission of the IBM Java in combination with unclear statements regarding the usability of  recommended Java versions there have been some irritations leading to installation problems.

IBM recommends Java JRE (= Java 1.8.0) or any higher version – which is only half the story.

Besides Java 8 suitable versions are:

• Java 11 or higher than 11.0.10 or
• Java 17 or higher than 17.0.7

Using the last two Java versions you must set the additional java option to command line before the -jar option.:

-Djdk.util.zip.disableZip64ExtraFieldValidation=true

Please note: due to our experience Java 22 does not work!

To be on the safe side we recommend to use Java 8, 11 or 17.

After the latest Informix workaround Informix 14.10xC10W2 which has been released already in spring, very recently the new Release xC11 came out. Mainly it is a very extensive Bug Fix. For that reason alone Informix users should install it in a timely manner.

But besides this the new Informix version offers two interesting new features in the fields of monitoring & performance.

Monitoring: new history settings options are added to manage query history and to allow user to set duration for maintaining the query history within the permissible range

Performance: Informix Server Workgroup Edition now supports FRAGMENT BY EXPRESSION partial index. Partial Index enables users to index only a subset of rows of a given table. By allowing to suppress indexing of certain values, indexes are kept small and efficient.

For more details please click here:

Fix list:

https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/7160010

New Features:

https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/informix-servers/14.10?topic=overview-whats-new-in-informix#xc11_new

Important: IBM Java is no longer provided by the installers. Customers will need to pre-install a properly licensed Java JRE (8 or higher) that will be used to run the installers.

Your Informix Database has been slowed down during the past months? Response times have increased? Users have to wait?

Because of this you are going to purchase more powerful computers? Or another Informix Edition/Version? Stop! Most likely you only need to optimize your Informix database! And tuning Informix is cheaper and faster than buying new Hard- /Software!

In the following some general recommendations:

• Use indices
• Avoid Sequential Scans
• Think about Hyper Threads or SMT Threads
• Extend your bufferpool
• Check the SHMVIRT segment
• Take care of enough Locks
• Configure Temp Dbspaces
• Optimize Disk IO (LRU, KAIO, Direct IO)
• Use CPUVPs
• Don’t forget Updata Statistics

Despite of these tips: you have to test, test, test … - and this takes some time – because too different are datatypes and structures, data volumes and requests.

If you do not like to analyze, optimize and test  on your own, contact hamburg data. We have been working for more than 20 years with Informix. We overtake the job, check the status quo, coordinate the planed status together with you and trim your Informix database for the future – structured, quick and worth the money.

Recently trimmed the Informix versions 14.10xC10W1 und 12.10xC16 have been released lately. The focus is on bug fixes.  

The details are listet in the following fix lists:

v14.10: https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/7047708

v12.10: https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/7030302

Additional important information about v12.10 you can find here:

https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/informix-servers/12.10?topic=overview-whats-new-in-informix#newxc16_toc

Furthermore the Informix-Warehouse-Accelerator (IWA) can now be used together with Red Hat 8.5 In the past there was a problem with libxerces-c-3.1.

https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/apar/IT41190

In 14.10xC10W1 & 12.10 xC16 fix pack, the JRE version was upgraded to IBM Java 8 as the IBM Java 7 had reached the end of ist support date.

Attention: although Java 8 is supported until 2025 next versions of Informix will be released without JRE. Future 14.10 releases will support Java 11. The required Java versions need to be downloaded and installed by the client.

New: Informix 15.x is released in Q1/2024!!!

After 6 years of v14.10 the new Major Release v15.x will come out in Q1/2024 most likely. The features are not known yet. The beta testing phase has just started. As soon as solid information about Informix 15 is available we will inform you at this place. 

Informix 14.10xC10 was released in March 2023! It is what we call a “small” release offering no new features but mostly bug fixes. Despite of this there are some important information which should be present to administrators.

In the following we would like to give you a compact overview:

• GSKit: the Global Security Kit v 0.55.26, offering libraries and utilities for encryption and SSL/TLS features, now is usable also for Debian
• CSDK: is available as v4.50xC10 for Linux 32, certified for SUSE SLES 12.3 and 15, Ubuntu Server Edition 16.04 LTS and 17.10sdfsd
• Discontinuation: LDAP Lookup Feature – users who plan to synchronize connectivity information of their clients should use the Connection-Manager

Details:

https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/informix-servers/14.10?topic=overview-whats-new-in-informix#xc10_new

Fix list:

https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/6963590

You have questions about Informix 14.10xC10 in detail or Informix in general? You are planning a project and needs assistance? You are going to migrate to IFX 14.10? Keep in mind, that IFX 11.70 was “end of support” in September 2020 and that IFX 12.10 will be “end of support” in one or two years! Think about an update on time! Get in touch with us!

Contact: +49 40 875 00 589, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Informix 14.10xC9 was released in October 2022! It is what we call a “small” release offering just a very few minor features. But there are important information about the discontinuation and changes of software (support) which should be present to administrators.

In the following we would like to give you a compact overview of the enhancements:

• Java Version: except HP-UX and Solaris editions the internal IBM Java Version has been upgraded to 8.0.7.11
• GSKit: the Global Security Kit, offering libraries and utilities for encryption and SSL/TLS features, was updated to v 0.55.26
• InformixHQ: here you find documentation  updates regarding the default values for  ERROR, WARN, INFO, DEBUG. Logged information can be published in different destinations (e. g. database, file, console)
• Server Security: Updates within the documentation inform about Keystores and how they provide a safe communication via TLS.
• Discontinuation: Informix Encryption (Communication Support Module, CSM), used during data transfers (e.g. replications) is dropped. Instead of this TLS & SSL have to be used. In this context the corresponding configuration parameters are dropped (z. B. ENCRYPT_HDR).

Details:

https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/informix-servers/14.10?topic=overview-whats-new-in-informix#concept_v1410xc9__1410xc9_java

You have questions about Informix 14.10xC8 in detail or Informix in general? You are planning a project and needs assistance? You are going to migrate to IFX 14.10 – keep in mind, that IFX 11.70 was “end of support” in September 2020 and that IFX 12.10 will be “end of support” in one or two years! Think about an update on time! Get in touch with us!

Contact: +49 40 875 00 589, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Informix 14.10xC8 was released in May 2022! It offers some interesting new features mainly in the fields of administration and monitoring. Furthermore there have been important information about the discontinuation and changes of software (support) which should be present to administrators.

A significant amount of work went into improving the monitoring tool Informix HQ which has been following the Open Admin Tool since Informix 14.10 was released the first time. Besides others furthermore you may notice some new configuration parameters in the field of ON-BAR and Wire listener.

In the following we would like to give you a personal selection of new features and enhancements.

• InformixHQ: View Agents drop-down and Shutdown button: thisfeature in InformixHQ helps users to see consolidated view of all the agents. It displays the list of all the Agents' information and their status at one place, depending on user privilege to specific instance/server added in InformixHQ. A user can now shutdown an Agent based on user privileges using the new Shutdown button added to Informix HQ UI .It is an easy way to shut down the InformixHQ server directly from the InformixHQ UI instead of command prompt. Please note: InformixHQ 2.0.0 (Informix Server 14.10.xC8) has upgraded its H2 Database version due to certain security vulnerabilities present in the older versions of H2 Database. For existing users (InformixHQ 1.6.3 or lower) hence data needs to be migrated to 2.0.0 or higher   If users using InformixHQ 1.6.3 or lower try to move to InformixHQ 2.0.0 or above they will get an error and they will not be able to start InformixHQ until the data is migrated to the newer version of H2 Database. For new users who are using InformixHQ for the first time (version 2.0.0 or higher), no upgrade is needed as InformixHQ will create new H2db with the latest version.
• Rolling Upgrade: when performing a rolling upgrade from a server version earlier than 14.10.xC8, or from a Client SDK version earlier than 4.50.xC8, you must upgrade and restart your Connection Managers before upgrading any of the servers in your cluster.
• ON-BAR: by default, a backup on an RS secondary server is blocked if non-logging objects exist in the primary database server. This new configuration parameter allows backup to complete even if non-logging objects exist in the primary database server.
• AUTO_REDAHEAD Enhancement: Automatic read-ahead operations improve the performance doing Sequential Scans. They take care that all data which is necessary to perform the scan is available on time. During the scan of a batch now you can select individually a treshold value steering the point of time the new batch is required. Despite the fact that the default value (50%) is very close to the optimum for most environments, the new option may allow for better tuning in certain cases.
• Discontinuation: Transport Layer Security, HP-UX Support, Java Runtime Environment

Beyond this you will find some more points which will improve the capability of the IDS.

Details:

https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/informix-servers/14.10?topic=overview-whats-new-in-informix#xc8_new

The Fix List is available here:

https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/6485875

You have questions about Informix 14.10xC8 in detail or Informix in general? You are planning a project and needs assistance? You are going to migrate to IFX 14.10 – keep in mind, that IFX 11.70 was “end of support” in September 2020 and that IFX 12.10 will be “end of support” in one or two years! Think about an update on time! Get in touch with us!

Contact: +49 40 875 00 589, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Indexes should help to find data sets fast(er) and more targeted. But the usage of too many Indexes leads to poor performance. Why? In reading mode the optimizer has to calculate all access possibilities and the corresponding workload and finally to compare the alternatives. Performing write activities mean that new data have to be inserted in the new Indexes. This needs time, too. Additionally Indexes occupy plenty of space and can reduce free space of DBspaces significantly. Until now the “oncheck –pt” command was the most favourite option to show the time stamp of the last usage of the Index. But following this approach was work intensive because every “oncheck” command referred to one table only!

Since IFX 14.10 xC6 you can use the new created field „acc_or_mod_tm“ in the „sysptnhdr“  table. The sysptrhdr table contains information about partition headers. The new field saves the time of the last access. Executing a select command it is now possible to get an overview about the usage of the Indexes e. g. on database level very quickly.

But before deleting Indexes you should be aware that within companies periodic events play an important role. Sometimes an Index is used correctly only once per month, quarter or even year. Check it internally before you delete an putative “unused” Index!

Informix 14.10xC7 was released in November 2021! It is not what we call a "big release" but it offers some interesting new features mainly in the fields of monitoring and administration.

A significant amount of work went into improving the monitoring tool Informix HQ which has been following the Open Admin Tool since Informix 14.10 was released the first time. Furthermore you may notice some additional onstat and oncheck options providing you with detailed status information which make adminstration tasks easier.

In the following we would like to give you a personal selection of new and enhanced features:

• InformixHQ: HDR Secondary Options allows or restricts certain actions on specific server types. Every server in the cluster is handled individually. The Schema manager has been enhanced with SQL Editior to enable user to write custom SQL and to display query tree and query executions plans
• New oncheck option to wait for locks: oncheck -w [#seconds]was introduced to wait for locks. It will indicate the lock and will pause until timeout expires or the lock is acquired.
• Enhanced onstat -g rah provide more read-ahead information: this command breaks down read-ahead statistics by partition and thread
• InformixHQ documentation updates: this includes information updates for logging, starting HQ server, including InformixHQ in SSL, Custom Reports and much more ...

Beyond this you will find some more points which will improve the capability of the IDS.

Details:

https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/informix-servers/14.10?topic=overview-whats-new-in-informix#concept_v1410xc7__1410xc7_ibmjava_upgrade

You have questions about Informix 14.10xC7 in detail or Informix in general? You are planning a project and needs assistance? You are going to migrate to IFX 14.10 – keep in mind, that IFX 11.70 was “end of support” in September 2020 and that IFX 12.10 will be “end of support” in one or two years! Think about an update on time! Get in touch with us!

Contact: +49 40 875 00 589, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Performance and administration

Sometimes not the big features make your day with Informix more productive and smoother. Often practical improvements come along  soft-footed and in a simple manner, wondering how easy things can be ... . In the following we would like to give you some recommendations for a more efficient handling of your  Informix 14.10 database:

• DIRECT_IO: traditionally Informix works with Raw Devices. This means Informix communicates directly with the storage bypassing the operating system and the cache. Compared with “cooked files” this leads to a significantly better performance. Using DIRECT_IO  results in a comparable performance of “cooked files” and raw devices. DIRECT_IO has already been known for a couple of years in the Linux and Informix world. New: since Informix v14.10 DIRECT_IO is available for TempSpaces. Previously it was only possible to use it for “normal” DBspaces. Activation was enabled by the setting of specific parameters. 0 = disabled, 1 = enabled, 2 = for AIX file system. DIREC T_IO for TempSpaces is enabled with Flag 0x4 = Special I/O is enabled for TEMP DBSpaces. DIRECT _IO and RAW leads to similar results.
• cdr_migrate_server: implementation of Enterprise Replication (CDR/ER) is time intensive and complex. Usually you need a lot of commands in the correct order. This includes the definition of the CDR server, the preparation of the replicates, to add the keys and the data transfer to the target server. With Informix 14.10 the Enterprise Replication is much more easier and faster. All required commands can be prepared automatically by "cdr migrate server" and are executed in the correct order from the source server by usage of a syntax including all relevant steps. You need just one command line in order to display and execute all necessary commands. Additionally it is possible to exclude tables from the replication. Furthermore you can add the option "add_replcheck". In this case the data on the target and source side are checked. If there are differences the missing data can be added. The precondition for the usage of „cdr_migrate_server“ are the existence of Storage pools on both sides (target/source), the mutual availability of both servers and the registration of both instances in INFORMIXDIR. Please note: the source server has to be Informix 11.70xC1 at minimum! Due to the performance benefits of „cdr_migrate_server“ it is useful when performing database and/or operating system updates/upgrades or implementing a Desaster Recovery.

Handy tips for the daily Informix use

ONSTAT-options for analysis

Sometimes not the big features make your day with Informix more productive and smoother. Often practical improvements come along soft-footed and in a simple manner, wondering how easy things can be ... . In the following we would like to give you some recommendations for improving your Informix 14.10 database by well informed usage of the ONSTAT commands.

• „ONSTAT“ commands offer many options to get valuable information about your instance. Analyzing  the behavior of  the database server  in many cases it is necessary to repeat outputs. Using the option “-r” (onstat –r  <interval>) this is performed automatically. By default this is done every 5 seconds. The interval can be adapted down to 1 second which is the minimum value. In v14.10 the value can defined as decimal value. Consequently outputs can be repeated down to 0.01 (1/100 second)
• From Informix version 14.10 xC5 on a new Date-Time-Format „YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS “ has been added to the ONSTAT outputs. This option shows exactly the time the “onstat” output was generated. Mostly there is a time gap between the time of analysis and the time of the output. To assure that results of onstat outputs are expressive it is mandatory to reconsider all actions (queries, scripts, scans …) during the time of generating the output. Insofar this simple but very worthwile option offers a noticeable support for the analysis of an Informix database instance
• In order to identify performance bottlenecks from version 14.10xC4 on Informix offers you the additional option „top“ for your onstat –g. “Top” identifies bottlenecks in a running systems in the fields of CPU, I/O and Memory usage. You can configure the number of elements (Threads, Sessions, Chunks , Spaces, Memory, Partitions, Tables) , the interval in seconds and how often the output is repeated
• The new parameter PARTITION_NAMES shows  you the name of corresponding object. Before you were informed only about the partition number. The configuration parameter can be set to 0 or 1 (default). This feature improves the usability significantly

Informix 14.10xC6 was released in June 2021! After 14.10xC5 was more or less a bug fix the latest release offers a variety of new features mainly in the fields of monitoring, high availability, replication and performance.

A significant amount of work went into improving the performance of Enterprise Replication (ER). It touches all aspects - capture, queuing, transport, receive and apply phases of ER. Most of it is behind the scenes which means iimplemented into the server - not visible for you. There are not any new configuration parameters to set.

In the following we would like to give you a personal selection of the most important new or enhanced functionalities:

• InformixHQ: enhancements in schema manager and logging
• Enterprise Replication: server internal improvements are made to end to end ER performance to improve replication throughput and reduce latency 
• Replication: New replication utility (cdr check catalog)added to verify metadata information across the servers
• Remote Secondary Server: it is now possible to take archives and log backups on a Remote Secondary Server (RSS) node using onbar or ontape.

Beyond this you will find some new configuration parameters and settings which will improve the capability of the IDS.

Details:

https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/informix-servers/14.10?topic=overview-whats-new-in-informix#concept_v1410xc6__1410xc6_hq

You have questions about Informix 14.10xC6 in detail or Informix in general? You are planning a project and needs assistance? You are going to migrate to IFX 14.10 – keep in mind, that IFX 11.70 was “end of support” in September 2020 and that IFX 12.10 will be “end of support” in one or two years! Think about an update on time! Get in touch with us!

Contact: +49 40 875 00 589, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Informix 14.10xC5 was released in December 2020! After some essential new features in the xC4 release in the fields of Replication, High Availability and Monitoring (IFX HQ) IFX 14.10xC5 is mostly a bug fix. Despite of this there are some new features in the Sharding environment.

 Sharding is a specific way of partitioning. The complete data is divided in portions and spread over several servers. Each portion is managed by its own server instance. Besides the data also the processing power is divided. This improves performance. In very huge environments (dozens of servers) mostly hash based processing is used because of more flexibility when adding new servers.

 Details:

 https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSGU8G_14.1.0/com.ibm.po.doc/new_features_ce.htm#concept_v1410xc5__ifxqxc5

 Fix List:

 https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/6372974

You have questions about Informix 14.10xC5 in detail or Informix in general? You are planning a project and needs assistance? You are going to migrate to IFX 14.10 – keep in mind, that IFX 11.70 was “end of support” in September 2020! Get in touch with us!

 Contact: +49 40 875 00 589, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Informix 14.10xC4 was released in June 2020! This time it is a rather interesting new release offering a lot of new features mainly in the fields of Replication, High Availability and Monitoring.

Below you find the most essential news at a glance:

• Replication – here you can display the flow control statistics for RSS and SDS. A new check phase for „cdr migrate server“ (introduced in IFX 14.10xC2) is offered. And finally there is a new Smart trigger session survival enhancement to reset the log position and recapture changes after failover.
• High Availability – there is a new conversion support for HDR and RSS Secondary Server when migrating to IFX 14.10
• Monitoring – the Schema Manager of InformixHQ has been enhanced massively. From now on you can view detailed information about indexes, constraints, triggers, stored procedures and lots more. Finally there has been an introduction of a new onstat command. Using onstat – g top you can display information about top consumers of various resources.

Details:

https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSGU8G_14.1.0/com.ibm.po.doc/new_features_ce.htm#concept_v1410xc4__erxc4

You have questions about Informix 14.10xC4 in detail or Informix in general? You are planning a project and needs assistance? You are going to migrate to IFX 14.10? Keep in mind, that IFX 11.70 is “end of support” in September 2020! Get in touch with us!

Contact: +49 40 875 00 589, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Already 6 months ago we have informed you about the upcoming discontinuation of Informix 11.70 in September 2020. Now this point is straight ahead in front of us!

The discontinuation refers to all Informix Editions (Express, Growth, Ultimate, Ultimate Warehouse). The “end of support” announcement (eos) means that Informix 11.70 is officially not supported any more beyond the eos date – even if a valid Informix maintenance contract is existing. In case of database problems beyond the eos date the IBM Support is liable for costs.

If you are still using Informix 11.70 we recommend updating your database server to the actual available and supported releases v12.10 or v14.10 as soon as possible. You will safe costs and benefit from the advantages in the fields of performance and security the newer release offers to you - specially the Workgroup Edition offers more value for money. If you need more RAM or cores  for the Workgroup Edition the latest Informix version 14.10 is the first choice because existing hardware limits have been elevated.

You are interested to migrate from Informix 11.70 to Informix 12.10 or 14.10 – and you will do it soon and not at the last moment? May be you are already planning changes and enhancements in your Informix environment? Possibly you do not have a valid maintenance contract any more? We guide you informing about the most attractive ways to license, install and configure the new Informix software which is most suitable for you by avoiding compliance and liability risks as well as technical bottlenecks.

Contakt: Oliver Hesse, Tel. 040 875 00 589, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

In March 2020 IBM has released the new Informix Fixpack 12.10xC14.

The new release does not contain remarkable new features. It is a bug fix exclusively.

The corresponding fix list you find here:

https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/fix-list-informix-server-1210xc1

For your information: already in summer 2019 Informix 12.10xC13 has been enriched by the new developed Informix Database Monitoring- & Management Tool InformixHQ. First released in Informix v14.10 it is now part of Informix 12.10. In this release you find the latest version of Informix HQ.

For more information about Informix HQ please have a look into previously released news regarding this topic or contact us:

Contact: +40 875 00 589, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Informix User heads up! In December 2019 Informix 14.10xC3 has been released! This release represents a bug fix only. New features are not included. The defect fix list you will find here:

https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/defect-fix-list-informix-server-1410xc3-Releases

If you have questions regarding Informix 14.10xC3 in detail or regarding Informix software in general, please let us know.

Contact: +49 40 875 00 589, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

IBM has discontinued the Informix Database Server Release 11.70 to 30.09.2020! This includes all Informix Editions (Express, Growth, Ultimate, Ultimate Warehouse). The “end of support” announcement (eos) means that Informix 11.70 is officially not supported any more beyond the eos date – even if a valid Informix maintenance contract is existing. In case of database problems beyond the eos date the IBM Support is liable for costs.

If you are still using Informix 11.70 we recommend updating your database server to the actual available and supported releases v12.10 or v14.10 as soon as possible. You will safe costs and benefit from the advantages in the fields of performance and security the newer release offers to you. If you need more RAM or cores than the latest Informix version 14.10 is the first choice because existing hardware limits have been elevated.

You are interested to migrate from Informix 11.70 to Informix 12.10 or 14.10 – and you will do it soon and not at the last moment? May be you are already planning changes and enhancements in your Informix environment? We guide you informing about the most attractive ways to license, install and configure the new Informix software which is most suitable for you by avoiding compliance and liabilityrisks as well as technical bottlenecks.

Contakt: Oliver Hesse, Tel. 040 875 00 589, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Informix User heads up! In September 2019 Informix 14.10 has been released! Besides the debugging v14.10xC2 offers a lot of new and enhanced features in the fields of administration, monitoring, replication and connectivity (Java).

Below you find the most essential news at a glance:

• InformixHQ Enhancements (selection)
  • The Task Scheduler pages allows you to manage and customize tasks for your database server
  • The High Availability page makes it easy to visualize and monitor the functioning of your high availability cluster
  • The Enterprise Replication page visualizes and provides drill-down statistics about each Informix node participating in replication
  • The Memory Manager page allows you to visualize and monitor your database server's memory usage .
  • The Auto Update Statistics pages allows you to manage your automatic update statistics policies, ensuring your queries continue to run efficiently as your data changes over time.
  • Further customization enhancements like dashboards, SQL sensors, alerting incident
• Enterprise Replication - the cdr migrate server command automates data migration tasks between two or more servers. This command also automates setting up of Enterprise Replication between two Informix server instances
• Informix Change Streams client API allows you to easily stream changes made from a logged database in Informix into your Java application. The Change Streams client provides a high-level API that abstracts the details of the underlying streaming system. This allows you to get triggered events when there is a change to a specific table you instruct the API to watch. The API will trigger events in your application for changes to a database table

Details:

https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/SSGU8G_14.1.0/com.ibm.po.doc/new_features_ce.htm#concept_v1410xc1__cdrmigrate

Contact: +49 40 875 00 589, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Informix Users heads up! In March 2019 Informix 14.10 has been released! Informix 14.10 is the first major release since 2013. It will succeed Informix 12.10 which has been onto the market for 6 years. That is why you can expect a lot of new and enhanced features in the fields of Performance, Security, Administration, Monitoring and IoT.

Furthermore there are some changes in licensing – to the benefit of the Informix user. Features, which have been liable for costs recently, are now included in some versions. Additionally hardware and memory limits for specific versions have been elevated.

Below you find the most essential news at a glance:

• Up to 10% faster for standard OLTP transactions from previous IFX versions
• Up to 5x improvements in replication log replay enables near
• zero latency allowing faster recovery time objective in desaster
• Automated setup Enterprise Replication between two servers
• Increased security for encryption keys and Transport Layer Security
• New graphical tool that elevates administration and monitoring (IFXHQ)
• Enhanced NoSQL-Support (Mongo & REST listener)
• Enhanced options - Workgroup edition offers higher hardware limits
• storage optimization is now available in Enterprise Edition at no extra Charge

Details:

https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/SSGU8G_14.1.0/com.ibm.po.doc/new_features_ce.htm#concept_v1410xc1__cdrmigrate

Informix plays a key role for companies active in all branches – worldwide. You will find the IDS in retail, in banks, in the public sector, in logistics but also in the energy, telecommunication, aerospace and industrial 4.0 environment. Informix 14.10 will make it’s contribution to this development.

And what does Informix 14.10 means for you? Rethink you Informix environment – not only technical but also taking into consideration the TCO. Check your requirements regarding memory and hardware limits, benefit from the new included features and softened limits, does it make sense to replace your Informix Enterprise Edition by using the enriched Workgroup Edition? Do you still need the Informix Enterprise Advanced Edition or does the regular Enterprise Edition, including the data compression feature from now on, fits? Do NoSQL and TimeSeries become more important for you in the future?

Contact us. Together with you we will check what your best option. If required we will support you in the implementation of Informix 14.10, too.

Contact: +49 40 875 00 589, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Informix Users heads up! In March 2019 Informix 14.10 will be released! Informix 14.10 is the first major release since 2013. It will succeed Informix 12.10 which has been onto the market for 6 years. You can expect new features in the fields of Performance, Security, Administration and Monitoring. An essential enhancement will be InformixHQ. InformixHQ is the logic progression of the IBM OpenAdmin Tool (OAT). InformixHQ is a modern web console for visualizing, monitoring, and managing your Informix server instances. Informix HQ provides critical performance management capabilities, monitors key performance metrics and tracks how efficiently Informix is running your workload. With InformixHQ you can manage and monitor as many Informix database server instances as you need. It is manageable and accessible from any desktop, laptop, or mobile device. InformixHQ is the path forward for an easy to install, use and comprehensible graphical monitoring, alerting, and administration of your Informix database servers.

We keep you informed! 

Contact: +40 875 00 589, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

New: Informix Release 12.10xC12

In July 2018 IBM has released the new Informix Fixpack 12.10xC12.

The new release does not contain new features. It is a bug fix exclusively. IBM provides periodic fixes for Informix release 12.10. The following list is the most recent report of fixes for customer-reported defects in versions 12.10.xC12:

https://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=ibm10717445

Don’t forget: in April 2018 Informix 11.50 was discontinued! From this point on there is no product support of IBM even if you have a contract. If assistance is required it is liable for costs!

We suggest updating your Informix database server as soon as possible to Informix 11.70xC9 or, more suitable, straight to Informix 12.10xC11.

You need consultancy regarding the most suitable Informix edition? You prefer support while migrating from an old Informix version to the new 12.10xC12?

Contact: +40 875 00 589, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

In May 2018 IBM has released the new Informix Fixpack 12.10xC11. Besides the usual bug fixes, Informix 12.10xC11 includes new features in the fields of administration and security. What can you expect? A selection as follows:

• Online schema changes - Loopback replication - xC11 provides support for zero downtime table reorganization, as well as simpler code set conversions.
• Large table reorganization - Enhancements include fragmentation strategy changes and the ability to perform slow alters.
• Dropping offline empty chunks - Database administrators can now drop offline empty chunks without having to call IBM Support.
• TEMP DBspaces - TEMP DBspaces are now as resilient during restart as TEMP SBspaces.
• UTF8 to UTF8 GLU Migration - When using a UTF8 database, newer emoji characters are no longer rejected even if they are not in the unicode BMP.

IBM provides periodic fixes for Informix release 12.10. The following list is the most recent report of fixes for customer-reported defects in versions 12.10.xC11:

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg27051181&myns=swgimgmt&mynp=OCSSGU8G&mync=R&cm_sp=swgimgmt-_-OCSSGU8G-_-R

Don’t forget: in April 2018 Informix 11.50 was discontinued! From this point on there is no product support of IBM even if you have a contract. If assistance is required it is liable for costs! We suggest updating your Informix database server as soon as possible to Informix 11.70xC9 or, more suitable, straight to Informix 12.10xC11.

What is InformixHQ?

InformixHQ is a modern web console for visualizing, monitoring, and managing your Informix server instances. It is easy to use, scalable and optimized for DevOps needs. Informix HQ provides critical performance management capabilities, monitors key performance metrics and tracks how efficiently Informix is running your workload. It's monitoring system feeds directly into a customizable alerting system so you can be immediately alerted via email, Twilio, or PagerDuty whenever an issue occurs on one of your Informix database server instances. With InformixHQ  you can manage and monitor as many Informix database server instances as you need. Moreover, it's a tool that can be shared by the DBAs, the app developers, the ops engineers. It is managable and accessible from any desktop, laptop, or mobile device. InformixHQ is the path forward for an easy to install, use and comprehensible graphical monitoring, alerting, and administration of your Informix database servers.

Watch demo videos on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcEIrnOcuG0

Download the product binaries from Maven Central at https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/com.informix

InformixHQ is the logic progression and complement of the IBM OpenAdmin Tool (OAT).The OpenAdmin Tool for Informix is a web application for administering and analyzing the performance of IBM Informix database servers. You can administer multiple database server instances from a single OAT installation on a web server. You can access the web server through any browser to administer all your database servers.

In November 2017 IBM has released the new Informix Fixpack 12.10xC10. 

Besides the usual bug fixes, Informix 12.10xC10 includes new features in the fields of administration, performance and time series. Personally we would like to point out the enhancements in performance – specially in the data compression.

What can you expect? A selection as follows:

• Partition blobs in a compressed table will now be compressed during insert and those inserts will be replicated by ER
• BLOBspace blobs are now compressed, and will replicate with ER
• When auto-compress is triggered, the result will be that all rows in the table are compressed
• Ability to compress TimeSeries data in a row that contains strings, improving compression ratio for those rows

Details:

http://www.informixcommunity.com/blogs/whats-new-in-informix-1210xc10

  
Fix list for Informix Fix Pack 12.10xC10:

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg27049837

  
Don’t forget: in April 2018 Informix 11.50 will be discontinued! From this point on there is no product support of IBM even if you have a contract. If assistance is required it is liable for costs! 

We suggest to update your Informix database server on time to Informix 11.70xC9 or, more suitable, straight to Informix 12.10xC10.

In September IBM has released the new Informix Release 12.10xC9W1. The new release is a so called Post Interim Drop. PIDs are thoroughly tested, cumulative releases based off of the latest quality assured Fix Pack version. PID releases are versioned with a trailing ‘W’. Each subsequent PID builds on the one before until the codeline ultimately becomes the next commercial Fix Pack release. Therefore, if a defect fix is included in W1, it will be in all subsequent PID releases as well as the next Fix Pack unless the fix itself introduces problems. Please have a look at the fix list forInformix 12.10xC9W1:

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg27049836

In July 2017 IBM has released the new Informix Fixpack 12.10xC9. 

Besides the usual bug fixes, Informix 12.10xC9 includes the new “Push Data Feature”. It is a Smart Trigger which enables the Informix database server to inform automatically and directly the application about changes in the database. The precondition is that trigger criteria have been defined in advance. This is done by simple SELECT statements and WHERE clauses. If changes in the database match with the defined criteria Informix “pushes” this information directly from the database server to the client. 

For those who would like to know more:

http://www.informixcommunity.com/blogs/introducing-informix-smart-triggers

Fix list for Informix Fix Pack 12.10xC9:

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg27049826

The new Informix release 11.70xC9 has been released in April 2017. The focus of the latest Informix release is on bug fixing only. 
You are interested to get details from the Fix list of Informix 11.70 xC9? Please click here:

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg27049414

The Fix list shows you the corresponding Authorized Program Analysis Reports (APARs) sorted by numbers.

Starting May 1, 2017 IBM and HCL agreed a cooperation regarding Informix. The goal  is to strengthen and accelerate the technical development of the Informix Database Server and to improve the market presence. The signal for customers and partners is clear: Informix is a reliable and stable investment for the future.

First, we all need to understand IBM has not sold Informix. This is an Intellectual Property and Licensing agreement between IBM and HCL. HCL is a major worldwide company with offices in 30 countries and 110,000 employees. Hence, it is not a sale or an acquisition. This agreement stands for 15 years and it is automatically renewed after that period.

HCL has a lot of experience in the industrial environment offering products and solutions where Informix fits perfectly with its key benefits in the field of TimeSeries, integration into applications and with the small footprint enabling lots of use cases in the Internet of things and Industry 4.0 issues.

IBM is responsible for the strategy of Informix, HCL will realize it. IBM is responsible for the offering management and the marketing - development and support staff is reinforced and partly move to HCL.

Nothing changes for IBM customers and partners – eg contact points for product support, corresponding procedures, resources and existing standards will continue – the same to existing license agreements.

This partnership is a business commitment for continued growth of Informix to make it more competitive in the market! Fifteen years is a lifetime in the tech world, making this is a major positive

In December 2016 IBM has released the new Informix Fixpack 12.10xC8. 

Besides the usual bug fixes Informix 12.10xC8 includes a lot of enhancements in the fields of Security, Application development und JSON compatibility. Additionally there are also some new features in Informix Time Series. Altogether it is a remarkable release which, besides all improvements in the NoSQL areas includes a variety of important improvements for the average user. 

Security: after configuring a new parameter DISK ENCRYPTION new dpspaces will be encrypted by default. This is completely transparent for the application. Existing dbspaces can be encrypted by usage of backup/restore. Space usage will not increase

Time Series: new functions enable analyzing time series data for pattern or abnormalities

JSON: several improvements in MongoDB API clients (eg. a new listener parameter)

JDBC: improved compatibility of the IFX native driver

Enterprise Replication: improvements setting up test environments or moving into production using “cdr list catalog”

 
Further information about new features you will find here:

http://www.planetids.com/content/informix-1210xc8-out-informix-1210xc8-sa%C3%ADu

In July 2016 IBM has released Informix 12.10xC7. Just a couple of weeks after the regular fix pack 12.10.xC7 IBM launches 12.10.xC7W1. Due to this some customers assumed that the fix pack is buggy. But this is definitely not the case! Instead the PID refers to COGNOS - offering specific requirements which had to be implemented into Informix which is the embedded database. Probably IBM will provide customers with more PIDs in the future.

Important: if you have already installed Informix 12.10xC7 it is not necessary to install the PID afterwards. The fixes will be reconsidered in the next fix pack 12.10xC8.

The new fix pack can be called an I(nternet)o(f)T(hings)-Release. It comprises mainly enhancements in the field of JSON/BSON, Spatial Data and TimeSeries. Informix can now receive data via MQTT protocol and put in into the database directly. This is Important to allow sensors and other endpoint devices to send data to repositories or message brokers. 

Finally there is something new from the Informix Warehouse Accelerator (IWA). From now on you can install the IWA also on IBM POWER8. So far installation was possible only on Intel processors (x86).

Details:   

http://www.planetids.com/content/informix-1210xc7
http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=630&uid=swg27021332

IBM has discontinued the Informix Database Server Release 11.50 to 30.04.2018! This includes all Informix Editions (Express, Growth, Enterprise). The “end of support” announcement (eos) means that Informix 11.50 is officially not supported any more beyond the eos date – even if a valid Informix maintenance contract is existing.

If you are still using Informix 11.50 we recommend updating your database server to the actual available and supported release 12.10 as soon as possible. You will safe costs and benefit from the advantages in the fields of performance and security the newer release offers to you.

You are interested to migrate from Informix 11.50 to Informix 12.10 – and you will do it soon and not at the last moment? May be you are already planning changes and enhancements in your Informix environment? We guide you informing about the most attractive ways to license, purchase and configure the new Informix software which is most suitable for you by avoiding compliance and liability risks.

Manufacturing, IT and Internet melts increasingly. Factories become “smarter”. This means people, machines and products exchange information in real time in order to optimize production flows, quality and costs. Automatically software analyzes data in real time, identifies specific error patterns and locates problems. This kind of interaction between different fields of activity is known under “Industry 4.0“. Which role plays Informix in this context? Informix offers the base for the activity analysis by delivering Informix TimeSeries!

Example: You are a producer. You have to avoid downtime of your machines because of financial losses. Consequently you have to collect the machine data steadily and maintain your infrastructure predictive. To realize this goal you have to gather your data in real time, completely and reliable. Informix is perfect for this. Why? Informix offers a unique selling point – compared with other competitors Informix offers a specific data type managing time series data – the feature Informix TimeSeries!

 Benefits:

• Extreme fast data access
• Optimized storage of data specially for TimeSeries because of a specific data type - in contrast to eg oracle you avoid time intensive indices for data access
• Significantly reduced need of space (-60 % compared with SQL access)
• Informix supports TimeSeries operations which can't hardly programmed with SQL
• Interfaces for developers
• Informix TimeSeries is included in every actually offered informix Database Edition - no extra costs

If you offer measurement and control technology, or collect and analyze production-, machine-, and energy data or check materials and qualities then Informix TimeSeries is a "Must" for your company!

Further information:

Tel.: +49 40 87500589 or via contact form

Informix offers the benefit of the so called „small footprint“. You can install and run Informix on very small servers or use it with mobile devices. Only the server architectures limit the scalability. Informix 12.10 eliminates this scalability limit using “Sharding”.

Sharding spreads OLTP queries across several servers in order to improve performance and scalability. The most essential features are already available with Informix 12.10. Additional features will be added steadily. User capabilities will be enhanced. But what is “Sharding” and which are the benefits of using it?

• Sharding is a type of data partitioning
• data is divided into parts (Shards)
• and spread across multiple computers
• in combination with Informix Enterprise Replication every Shard is replicated on every replication server. Every server owns a copy of Shards
• this results in a flexible, fault tolerant and fast system
• which can run on cost effective hardware

Further benefits:

• Sharding runs with SQL, TimeSeries and NoSQL
• Sharding runs with different hardware and operating systems
• Sharding runs with different Informix release versions

As of Informix 12.10xC6 „sharded queries“ are executed parallel. This means minimized response time, less memory and reduced network traffic.

If your system environment is characterized by:

• high performance requirements
• lots of data
• wide spread (server)locations
• heterogenous environments

Informix "Parallel Sharding" is a must for your business!

Not a moment too soon before christmas the new Informix Release 12.10xC6 has been released. Besides the elimination of bugs included in the previous Informix release the new version offers a variety of enhancements – there is something for everyone! In the following we concentrate on improvements in the fields of Administration, High Availability and Performance. If you are more interested in TimeSeries, Warehousing or SQL you will be well served, too. In the following a selection of the latest features of Informix 12.10 xC6:

• Faster communication between HA Servers because of reduced latency
• Accelerated index transfer to the Secondary (HDR/RSS) using light scans wherever possible
• Easier cloning of databases using a new parameter
• Priorization of automatic Update Statistics
• Optimization of restore processes by defining prallel processes while running a backup

Important information for users who want to be up to date using the latest operating system versions: Informix 12.10xC6 is supported for UBUNTU 14.04. LTS, RHEL 7.1 and SuSE SLES 12.

Here you find an overview about all new features of Informix 12.10xC6:

http://www-01.ibm.com/.../.../...23newxc6__xc6_smx?lang=en

A few days ago (23.03.2015) IBM has released the new Informix v12.10 xC5 version which was normally foreseen for the 4^th quarter 2014.

The focus of the new release is on Time Series and JSON Compatibility. Furthermore there are some new features and/or enhancements in the fields of migration, administration and warehouse issues. Finally bugs of the former version 12.10 xC4 have been fixed.

In the following a selection of the most important new or enhanced features:

• Rolling Upgrades for High-AvailabilityClusters
• Limit Session ressources
• Larger maximum tape sizes for Backups
• Warehouse Accelerator enhancements
• Time Series & JSON Compatibility

We recommend updating to the actual Informix release.

The complete list of new features you find here: 

https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/community/blogs/

idsdoc/entry/informix_12_10_xc5_fixpack?lang=en 

Informix data replication enables a reliable and powerful data synchronization taking into consideration meanwhile updated data. In most use cases High Availability Data Replication (HDR), Continuous Log Restore (CLR) and Enterprise Replication (CDR/ER) meet the requirements regarding speed and reliability perfectly. But there are some scenarios where HDR, CLR und CDR/ER are not or less suitable for moving data from one server to another. 

IBM InfoSphere Data Replication (IBM InfoSphere Change Data Capture), in short named CDC, is a log based replication which unburdens the source database server. CDC is capable to exchange data in heterogeneous environments between different databases or to replace Informix replication (HDR, CLR, CDR/ER) used for high data volume if availability and performance is a problem. Your applications have not to be changed. 

IBM Infosphere Data Replication offers a broad range of replication options. Performance-Monitoring for source and target server is possible. Potential bottlenecks are shown as alerts.

IBM Infosphere Data Replication is installed and licensed on processor basis on the source and targetdatabase server. 

You are interested to know more about IBM InfoSphere Data Replication?

Contact us! We support you in:

• Consultancy
• Installation
• Configuration
• Training/Workshops
• Licensing

Contact: Oliver Hesse, via contact form, Tel.: +49 40 875 00 589

In June 2014 IBM has released the new Informix v12.10 xC4 version. This release offers a broad range of new or/and enhanced features in the fields of Installation, Administration, High Availability Clusters/Replication and Performance. In the following a selection of the most important new or enhanced features:

• OAT enhancements
• Enterprise Replication enhancements
• New event alarms for blocked replication txn
• Faster storage optimization
• Faster Queries with UNION ALL views

We recommend updating to the actual Informix release.

The Fix list for Informix 12.10xC4 you find here:

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg27041877

In March 2014 IBM has released the new Informix v12.10 xC3 version. This release offers a broad range of new or/and enhanced features in the fields of Installation, Administration, High Availability Clusters/Replication und Informix Data Warehouse. In the meantime the Fixpack 12.10xC3W1 was released. This Post Interim Drop includes bug fixes of the previously released major Informix Release. In the following a selection of the most important new or enhanced features:

• Automatic resource tuning for performance
• Automatic location and fragmentation
• Easier configuration and cloning of a server for replication
• Improvements to Connection Manager
• Shard data across Enterprise Replication Servers
• Accelerate warehouse queries in-memory

We recommend updating to the actual Informix release.

The Fix list for Informix 12.10xC3 / Informix 12.10 xC3W1 you find here:

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg27041211

Informix v12.10 offers a new feature in the Data Warehouse environment. new Stored Procedures support you administering the Informix Warehouse Accelerator (IWA) and the setup and handling of Data Marts.

This makes administration of the Informix Database even faster and easier than before. The latest Informix release v12.10 xC2 additionally offers new SQL routines for the integration of Time Series Data.

Further details: IBM Informix Warehouse, Accelerator Administration Guide, SQL administration routines

For all those who are not working with the latest Informix 12.10 version there is an important news: the new Informix release 11.70xC8 is available for all actual Informix Edtions and platforms and has been released in January 2014. The focus of the latest Informix release is on bug fixing only. 

You are interested to get details from the Fix list of Informix 11.70 xC8? Please click here:

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg27040228

The Fix list shows you the corresponding Authorized Program Analysis Reports (APARs) sorted by numbers.

In September 2013 IBM has released the new Informix v12.10 xC2 version. This release offers a broad range of new or/and enhanced features in the fields of Installation, Administration, Backup/Restore, Performance, Replication and Informix Data Warehouse. In the following you find some of the features:

• New event alarms for network failures
• Dynamic private caches for CPU virtual processors
• Enhanced support for IBM Tivoli features
• Simplified changes for replicated tables
• Control the replication of large objects
• Load data from external tables into data marts

IFX 12.10 xC1 version have been fixed. Therefore we recommend updating to the actual Informix release 12.10 xC2.

The Fix list you find here:

 http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg27038362

Your company

• has a lot of database transactions (txn) still growing?
• suffers from a poor database performance because of heavy I/O load?
• uses Informix Performance Features (eg. Compression, Parallel Data Query, Fragmentation)?
• runs a cost intensive, highly upgraded hardware with lots of cpu and hard disk drives?
• suffers, despite of all improvements, from poor response times?

If so think about the usage of Solid State Drives (SSDs). They will accelerate your Informix database performance.

It is for sure: a single SSD is faster than a disk drive under any circumstances! In average by factor 10–100. But how fast it is, depends from a variety of parameters.

• How many txn are handled?
• What is the size of the txn?
• Which type of data are handled?
• What about the way of the data access?
• and in which intervals?

Many well known soft- and hardware producers recommend to use SSDs for shifting existing performance levels – but despite of this: most important for the success of the SSD usage is your individual Informix requirement and the needs of your clients!

It is not a question if SSDs can speed up your Informix database performance (of course they will do) – you have to decide if it is worth to invest your money by factor x into SSDs in order to gain performance improvements by factor y. Costs and value have to be in due proportion.  

What’s the difference between SSDs and Disk drives? Which benefits a SSD offers? What about it’s lifetime? Are there different qualities of SSDs? Which data should be put on a SSD? Are there specific configuration requirements? What about the price? All these questions have to be answered before.

hamburg data helps you. We:

• analyse your database environment
• define your suitable operation areas for SSDs
• inform you about technology & different qualities of SSds
• provide you with SSDs & flash storage arrays
• implement, configure and adjust your
  • storage arrays
  • Informix database 

Success stories and tests prduce the evidence: 

Informix runs great on SSDs!

Further information: 

Tel: +49 40 875 00 589 or via contact form

On 26 March 2013 IBM has announced the new major release Informix v 12.10. It is now available for purchase and usage and offers a plenty of new and practical oriented features in the following fields:

• Application Development
• Administration/Open Admin Tool
• Enterprise Replication
• High Availability
• Informix Warehouse Accelerator
• Time Series

One highlight of Informix 12.10 are the long awaited enhancements in compression. From now on Informix offers “Index Compression” and “BLOB Compression”. This leads to significant reduction of I/O and disk space. You can consolidate free space in indexes (repack) and return free space to the dbspace (shrink). Furthermore you can benefit from an automated table compression.

These features are liable for costs (as it was before) and are offered in the “new” Informix Enterprise Edition (which was named Ultimate Edition before). The new Informix database top version “Informix Advanced Enterprise” comprises the compression features without extra costs. 

Besides this good news there is also one drop of bitterness: IBM has increased prices by 5 % in average.

In addition to technical enhancements there are changes in the Informix packaging. Editions, licensing and hardware/software limits have been modified partly. Eg. the Choice Edition was withdrawn, Informix Express Version has been enriched, database server editions have been renamed (Workgroup/Enterprise) and limits are hardcoded. 

In general: licensing issues and analysis will become more important but if you pay attention to this matter you will save a lot of money.

Contact us in case of technical or license terms regarding Informix 12.10.

We will support you

• in license analysis & cost reduction
• in the introduction of Informix 12.10
• in consultancy
• Informix support
• Informix training

Please contact: Tel: +49 40 875 00 589 or via contact form

If you plan to run Informix Warehouse Accelerator (IWA) on a virtual machine it is mandatory to allocate CPUs and RAM exclusively to the specified VM. This can be done configuring the Virtual Machine Manager (VMM). To swap the memory of IWA (to get more space for another VM) has to be avoided in any case. To reload the data means additional I/O and an decreasing performance of the database.

The new Informix release 11.70xC7 has been released in December 2012. The focus of the latest Informix release is on bug fixing only. For this reason the new fix pack has been realized a little bit earlier than already scheduled.

You are interested to get details from the Fix list of Informix 11.70 xC7? Please click here:

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg27036092

The new Informix release 11.70xC6 has been released on 23 Oct. Right on time before the new Informix Mayor Release will take over next year. The focus of the latest Informix release is on bug fixing – nevertheless there are some remarkable enhancements/features Informix users should know for their practical work. A brief overview you will find here:

• Enhancements to the OpenAdmin Tool (OAT) for Informix

• Easier failover configuration for Connection Managers in a high-availability cluster

• Coordinating transactions within a high-availability cluster

• SPL routines for application compatibility

• Load time series data faster through a virtual table

• Performance improvement for the virtual table interface for TimeSeries containers

You are interested to get details from the Fix list of Informix 11.70 xC6? Please click here:

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg27036092

Product support for INFORMIX Server Edition 11.10 running on all available platforms officially ends 30.09.2012. This refers to Enterprise, Workgroup and Express Editions of Version 11.10 and means that support even if covered by maintenance contracts as yet is not available any more. In order to avoid extra costs in support cases we suggest migrating to Informix11.70 xC5. Informix Edition 11.10 was already released in 2007. Since this time lots of new features have been developed – for this reason a migration to Informix 11.70 is a safe investment.

Starting on 01.01.2013 IBM lifts up the prices for IBM/Informix software by 3 % in Germany. This refers to license purchase from new, reinstatements and maintenance. If you plan to invest money into Informix software in the near future, we suggest buying Informix licenses still in 2012 in order to benefit from lower price levels.  

If you need consultancy migrating from Informix 11.10 to Informix 11.70 or an attractive offer for an Informix software purchase, please feel free to contact us!

The new Informix release 11.70xC5 has been released on 21st May. The focus is on bug fixing – nevertheless there are some very practical enhancements/features Informix users should know for their practical work. Improvements in administration, security und performance have been realized – also effecting Informix Time Series and Informix Data Warehouse functionalities. A brief overview you will find here:

Plan responses to medium-severity and low-severity event alarms - You can plan responses to severity 3, 2, and 1 event alarms for alarms with documented explanations and user actions.

Increased SQL statement length - The maximum length of SQL statements and SPL routines is 4 GB. The only exception is the length of the CREATE VIEW statement, which is restricted to 2 MB in length. The extended length is valid when using Client SDK 3.70.xC5 and JDBC 3.70.xC5. Previously, SQL statements were restricted to 64 KB in length.

Partition Refresh in DWH/IWA – The new Partition Refresh Feature enables the user to renew single partitions (fragments) in the data mart. In case of changes within the Informix database only the modified or added data have instead of the complete data volume have to be loaded into the data mart. Because of the specific selection of the renewed the loading time is reduced significantly.

Here you find an overview about the fixed bugs:

http://www-304.ibm.com/.../docview....mync=R

A high quality data management as a base of leading to competitive advantages are top priorities for companies. Due to this challenges in the business world take the chance to know how you can accelerate your data warehouse queries by multiple factors using the most important feature of the new released Informix Warehouse Edition: the Informix Warehouse Accelerator (IWA).

In this course you are instructed in the fields of conception, structure, installation, configuration and usage of the Informix Warehouse Accelerator (IWA). You will learn to create, define and administrate data marts by using the Smart Mart Analytics optimizer Studio and benefiting from the performance optimization techniques of the IWA

Place: Hamburg or your company

Duration: 1 day

Time: flexible

Costs: starting from 650,00 EUR

Further information:Trainings/Workshops

Please contact us: tel.: +49 40 875 00 589 or via contact form

To refresh the data in a data mart of the Informix Warehouse Accelerator, the data mart must be loaded with a new set of the complete data. This can be done by dropping the existing data mart, re-creating it and then loading it with the new data. This means that the data mart is not available during the load process of the new data. For this, a second data mart with the same definition, but a different name, needs to be created and loaded. While this new data mart is being loaded, the old data mart is still available for query acceleration.

So far so good - but with Informix version 11.70.FC4 you benefit from the following:

As soon as loading of the new data mart is complete, the new data mart will become automatically active! From that moment onwards it will be utilized for the acceleration of newly arriving queries. This switch over to the new data mart happens automatically in the optimizer of the Informix Server, where it is decided, whether a query can be accelerated. As soon as the last query utilizing the old data mart has completed, the old data mart can be dropped manually.

This method will lead to easier database administration, save time and enables the ever fastest possible provisioning of actual date for company based data management processes.

It should be noted however, that this method of data refresh requires the double of the memory space needed normally for the data mart, though only for a short time. Therefore the size of the shared memory available for the worker nodes may need to be adjusted accordingly.

Informix Ultimate Edition (UWE)/Growth Edition (GWE) were the starting point of a new era of Data Warehousing. Due to the IWA tool broad data analysis can be executed within seconds – calculable, reliable and full automatically. UWE & IWA are definitely a must for companies which need to analyze huge amounts of data in a time and cost efficient way. But lately there is an even better way to optimize your data:

From Informix Ultimate Warehouse Edition 11.70 FC3 (Linux x86 64-bit, AIX 64-bit, Solaris Sparc 64-bit und HP IA 64-bit) on, you can use the new implemented “SmartMart” Feature for speeding up analyzing processes.

Using a script it is possible to analyze user defined sql statements and to generate a definition of a data mart in order to accelerate the requests.

If you are using a well configured Informix database, benefiting from the performance and memory optimizing data compression you are well positioned.

If you are interested to get more information about Informix Warehouse Accelerator, “SmartMart” Feature, Data Compression and how to configure Informix databases in an optimal way, please contact us.

Already in spring 2011 IBM had offered the Ultimate Warehouse Edition representing the new „top of the line“ product of the IBM Informix Server portfolio. Since November 2011 also small and medium sized companies have the opportunity to benefit from warehouse data evaluation within seconds by using the Informix Growth Warehouse Edition.

The already known limits of the Growth Edition (GE) regarding sizing and hardware environment are still valid. The following limits have to be taken into consideration using the Informix Growth Warehouse Edition:

• Max. 16 Cores and max. 48 GB Shared Memory
• Platform: only 64bit for AIX, Solaris, HPUX and Linux
• no data compression available

Because of the missing data compression IBM Informix Growth Warehouse Edition can be used for a database size up to 250 GB. If you manage more data you should use the IBM Informix Ultimate Warehouse-Edition for benefiting from good performance.

IBM IFX Growth Warehouse Edition is available on PVU-basis only from 142,00 EUR/PVU on. This is approximately one third of the costs of IBM IFX Ultimate Warehouse Edition.

Since November the new Informix-Release 11.70xC4 is available. Besides fixing the bugs of the previous release there are a lot of enhancements and new features in the field of administration, high availability, security and time series data. Some remarkable improvements you will find below:

• OpenAdminTool (OAT) is now delivered and installable with CSDK for WIN, LIN and MAC operating systems
• Informix Health Advisor examine a great number of metrics and configuration details, warning you of anything not within the recommended settings and/or defined thresholds
• Easier startup and handling of Connection Manager
• Better overview about the progress of compression operations
• Easier setup of faster consistency checking using Enterprise Replication (ER)

Do you want to know more details? Please contact us