As IBM's premier data server for high volume online transaction processing (OLTP) as well as integrated applications, IDS has supported thousands of companies as they've expanded, added new applications, and dynamically grown their business. As these companies have grown and their needs increased, IDS has kept pace with them without costing them a fortune for ongoing maintenance and administration. In most cases, these companies have grown without requiring significant infrastructure upgrades because IDS is so efficient. It doesn't require constant hardware upgrades to provide adequate performance for increased workloads. In some cases, companies have opted to move to higher powered hardware, sometimes running the same operating system, other times not. The transitions occurred smoothly with little, if any, downtime because, as they like to say about IDS — "it just works!"
In simple terms, this means IDS works without a problem or major administrative issues regardless of the operating system IDS is running on, so you can manage your application needs as your business dictates. Another advantage to IDS is that it has the broadest operating system support of the IBM data server family with ports for Windows®, HP-UX, Sun Solaris, AIX®, and Linux® - iSeries™, - pSeries®, - xSeries®, and - zSeries®. With the release of IDS 11.5, a new supported platform was introduced — Apple Macintosh with their Mac OS X, Version 10.5.2 and later. Both the client and server versions of Mac OS X are supported.
Through its Virtual Table Interface (VTI) and Virtual Index Interface (VII), IDS has for years provided programmers with the ability to create primary and secondary access methods to data objects stored outside of the data server such as spreadsheets, word processing documents, ISAM structures, flat files and more. With IBM Informix Enterprise Gateway Manager, you can extend the IDS SQL API with transparent access to non-IBM relational databases (e.g. Oracle or Microsoft SQL Server) and materialize non-relational data sources such as Virtual Storage Access Method (VSAM), and IMS® as relational tables. Recently, IDS began to support enhancements enabling the use of other non-standard data sources within the data server such as XML and message queues. With IDS 11.5 xC3, IDS provides the Change Data Capture (CDC) API allowing IDS to share changes to its data with other, non-IDS data servers. Forward-looking application developers have leveraged these capabilities to create a corporate-wide data model with in-place access to data wherever it resides in the enterprise.
Not all customers need the same data server features and functionality though. In some cases, this is a technological decision, for example, a customer will not be using Enterprise Replication or some of the advanced backup and recovery features. In other cases, this is driven by licensing requirements and the expenses involved. From a product perspective, IDS is well-attuned to both cases. With the first, a customer decides at installation time what features and functionality to install to meet their current requirements and licensing terms. As their needs change or they purchase licenses for additional functionality, it's a simple process to add (or delete) functionality to meet their requirements. From a licensing perspective, IDS can be purchased in different editions, each tailored from a price and functionality perspective to a specific market segment. All IDS editions offer some sub-capacity pricing models, giving you the flexibility to buy just what you need to support your data services requirements without having to worry about the total processing power of the hardware on which IDS is installed. All editions may be deployed in "virtual" environments, giving you additional deployment flexibility. Finally, for the ultimate in flexibility and pricing convenience, you can take advantage of new "pay-as-you-go", ready-to-use cloud computing technologies featuring IDS through vendors such as Amazon Cloud Computing and other providers.
Regardless of the edition purchased, IDS comes with the full implementation of the Dynamic Scalable Architecture (DSA) and its unmatched performance, reliability, ease of use, and availability. Pricing varies based on functionality and scalability differentiation. Below is a brief comparison of the four editions and their feature sets.
- IBM IDS Developer Edition (IDS-DE) — For application development and testing only, this edition packs a full suite of functionality into a very attractive price point: free! IDS-DE includes all the functionality available in the Enterprise Edition. It contains scalability limits for non-production use including processing, memory and storage limitations. It is available on a wide range of operating systems in 32- and 64-bit versions where appropriate. IDS-DE comes without formal support from IBM. A number of forums exist in the IDS development community, which you can join and turn to for help and support using IDS-DE. You can upgrade IDS-DE directly to any other edition simply by installing the new data server binaries.
- IBM IDS Express Edition (IDS-Express) — Targeted to small- to medium-sized businesses requiring enterprise-class OLTP performance without all the extra features and price tag. This edition is licensed by Authorized User (AU), Processor Value Unit (PVU), or, with IDS 11.5 xC4 and later, Limited Use Virtual Server (LU Virtual Server) supporting deployment in virtual environments. With the LU Virtual Server license option, you can purchase a single instance license, deployed either in a virtual or real domain, on a physical server or partition thereof. This option should make it convenient and inexpensive for customers, partners, or both to deploy basic data server functionality either in their company or within an application to sell to others. Regardless of the licensing metric used, IDS-Express is limited to a maximum of 200 PVUs and 4GB of RAM (calculated by summing the total instance memory allocation of all instances operating on the physical server). IDS-Express is available only for 32-bit Linux and Windows. You can upgrade IDS-Express directly to any other edition simply by installing the new data server binaries.
-
IBM IDS Workgroup Edition (IDS-WGE)
— Stakes out the middle ground for mid-sized companies or
departmental servers in an enterprise deployment. Available on all
supported operating systems, this edition has higher hardware limits
than IDS-Express: 480 PVU and 16GB of RAM (calculated by summing the
total instance memory allocation of all instances operating on the
physical server). IDS Workgroup's licensing model is slightly
different, though. It can be licensed by Authorized User, Concurrent
Session, PVU, and, with IDS 11.5 xC4 and later, Limited Use Socket (LU
Socket). LU Socket enables licensing by physical processor socket. LU
Socket licensing is limited to physical servers with no more than four
physical sockets. You may purchase licenses for up to four physical
sockets and use up to 16 processor cores.
IDS Workgroup Edition gives you additional data server functionality, such as being a leaf node (or target) in an Enterprise Replication (ER) cluster receiving data updates from other nodes in the clusters. With IDS 11.5, High-Availability Data Replication (HDR) is now included to instantiate a disaster-recovery, hot-site failover node. With IDS 11.5, you can extend the business value of the HDR secondary by purchasing a license to execute end-user SQL operations while connected to the HDR secondary. When buying a license to use the HDR secondary for SQL operations, it will be priced using the same pricing metric as the primary instance.
- IBM IDS Enterprise Edition (IDS-EE) — Includes all the features of IDS Workgroup with unlimited scalability required for the highest OLTP performance and full functionality. This edition can be licensed by PVU, Concurrent Session or Authorized User. With this edition, full HDR and ER functionality is included, along with a limited number of DataBlades pre-bundled with the data server such as the spatial, node, and basic text search DataBlades. New to Version 11 is the ability to buy optional features such as Advanced Access Control, the Continuous Availability Feature, and the Storage Optimization Feature released with IDS 11.5 xC4. The first provides Label-Based Access Control, a form of mandatory data access controls, while the second enables you to use the Shared Disk Secondary (SDS) instance type in the MACH-11 feature suite to create a high-availability fabric for the instances. The Storage Optimization feature provides data compression to help you reduce your data storage and backup/recovery costs and administration as well as providing improved performance.
With IDS 11.5 xC4 and later Enterprise Edition and Workgroup Edition, you can purchase licenses to use either the Informix Warehouse Feature or the Informix Warehouse Bundle, bringing advanced business intelligence functionality to IDS. For more information on the feature or the bundle, please see the Informix Business Warehouse page. As already mentioned, regardless of which IDS version you use, you get the same legendary ease-of-use, reliability, stability, and access to extensibility features.
IDS can be licensed through one of several pricing metrics depending on your needs. A brief description of each metric is listed below.
Note: The descriptions are only a summary of the licensing definitions. They are not intended to be full and legally binding. For a full and complete description, refer to the IDS licensing agreement.
- Processor Value Unit (PVU) (also known as processor-based pricing) — Calculated on the number of processor cores in the physical server multiplied by the corresponding value units based on processor architecture. This could be considered an unlimited user or connection license and is usually the optimal choice when the user or session load can not be controlled or counted.
- Authorized User — A single named user or specific individual accessing one installation of IDS on a single physical server. That authorized user can establish multiple connections to an IDS instance on the server. Each connection is for the exclusive use of that one authorized user from a single client device.
- Concurrent Session — A single logical connection from a client device to an IDS instance on a single physical server. Each connection, whether active or not, requires a license, regardless if it comes from one client device with multiple users or a single user establishing multiple connections. The number of concurrent sessions is always counted from the client device, not at the IDS level, regardless of whether the connection occurs direct to the IDS instance or indirectly such as through application servers, connection multiplexers/concentrators, persistent connectivity layers, or any other technology inserted between the actual end-user and the IDS instance.
- Limited Use Virtual Server (LU Virtual Server) — A single instance license for IDS-Express whether deployed virtually or "real" on a physical server. If the physical server can be partitioned (either logically or real) into separate operating environments, sometimes referred to as LPARs or virtual domains, a LU Virtual Server license is required for each domain (real or virtual) in which IDS-Express is deployed. A LU Virtual server is limited to four processor cores and 4GB of RAM.
- Limited Use Socket (LU Socket) — Available only on IDS-Workgroup, this allows for licensing on a physical socket potentially containing multiple cores. A LU Socket license is required for each active processor socket. This licensing metric can only be used on a physical server with no more than four physical sockets. You may purchase licenses for up to four physical sockets and use up to 16 cores. The total amount of memory that can be used by instances running on these sockets and cores cannot exceed 16GB of RAM.
Not all pricing models are available for all IDS editions.
Confused on which edition is right for you or your customers? The following table is designed to make it easier for you to determine the unique characteristics of each IDS edition. If a specific feature you're looking for is not listed in the table, you can assume (for the most part) that it exists in all IDS editions. Again, this is only a general description of the features and license parameters. For exact definitions, refer to the published license agreements available at the IDS Licensing site.
| Function, feature, and benefit | IDS-DE | IDS Express | IDS-WGE | IDS-EE |
| Licensing | ||||
| Platform support |
Windows (AMD/Intel x86/x64), Linux (AMD/Intel x86/x86-64), AIX,
Solaris (SPARC, AMD/Intel x64), HP-UX (PA-RISC, IA64), Mac OS
X (Intel x64)
See the IDS System Requirements Page for more information. |
Windows and Linux (32-bit only on AMD/Intel x86 processors)
See the IDS System Requirements Page for more information. |
Windows (AMD/Intel x86/x64), Linux (AMD/Intel x86/x86-64,
POWER, System z), AIX, Solaris (SPARC, AMD/Intel x64), HP-UX
(PA-RISC, IA64), Mac OS X (Intel x64)
See the IDS System Requirements Page for more information. |
Windows (AMD/Intel x86/x64), Linux (AMD/Intel x86/x86-64,
POWER, System z), AIX, Solaris (SPARC, AMD/Intel x64), HP-UX
(PA-RISC, IA64), Mac OS X (Intel x64)
See the IDS System Requirements Page for more information. |
| Licensing metrics | None, free for development and test use only, no support |
PVU, Authorized User, or LU Virtual Server
You cannot use an IDS Express server licensed for authorized users in a Web-based environment unless you can identify every user. There is a minimum licensing requirement for IDS-Express Authorized User. |
PVU, Authorized User, Concurrent Session, or LU Socket
You cannot use IDS-WGE with an Authorized User license for Web-based access unless you can identify every user. Concurrent Session licenses can be used for Web-based applications, provided each connection from a Client Device can be identified (for example, an online banking application). There is a minimum licensing requirement for IDS-WGE Authorized User or Concurrent Session. |
PVU, Authorized User, or Concurrent Session
You cannot use IDS-EE with an Authorized User license for Web-based access unless you can identify every user. Concurrent Session licenses can be used for Web-based applications. provided each connection from a Client Device can be identified (for example, an online banking application). There is a minimum licensing requirement for IDS-EE Authorized User or Concurrent Session. |
| Minimums | Five Authorized Users per physical server |
Five Authorized Users or
five Concurrent Sessions per physical server |
10 Concurrent Sessions or
25 Authorized Users per physical server | |
| PVU limits |
0
IDS-DE can only be installed on a single processor physical server of any hardware architecture this edition supports. It is limited to one CPU VP. |
200
IDS Express can be installed on a physical or virtual server with a maximum of 200 PVUs. IDS Express can only be installed on Intel- or AMD-based servers running Linux or Windows. |
480 (200 prior to Version 10.0) Maximum of 480 PVUs on a on any physical or virtual server this edition supports. | Unlimited |
| Officially eligible for sub-capacity licensing (such as logical partition [LPAR] and dynamic logical partition [DLPAR]) | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Instance memory limitations | 1GB | 4GB (calculated by summing all SHMTOTAL allocations across all IDS instances on a single physical server) | 16GB (2GB prior to Version 10.0 and 8GB prior to IDS 11.50 xC4 — calculated by summing all SHMTOTAL allocations across all IDS instances on a single physical server) | Unlimited (bounded by operating system limits) |
| Data storage space limitations | 8GB | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
|
Partitioning
Partitioning refers to the ability to fragment a table or index based on logical rules to improve data access and parallel processing | Available |
Not available |
Not available
Customers who purchased IDS-Workgroup before February 10, 2009 are grandfathered to have entitlement to use the Parallel Processing Feature functions and partitioning. |
Available
All features are available for use. |
| Parallel operations | Included | Not supported |
Not available
Customers who purchased IDS-Workgroup before February 10, 2009 are grandfathered to have entitlement to use the Parallel Processing Feature functions and partitioning. |
Included
All features are available |
| 32- / 64-bit port support |
Available
Certain O/S ports may only be available in one size. See the IDS System Requirements Page for more information. | 32-bit support only |
Available
Certain O/S ports may only be available in one size. See the IDS System Requirements Page for more information. |
Available
Certain O/S ports may only be available in one size. See the IDS System Requirements Page for more information. |
| IDS Warehouse Feature | Not available | Not available |
Optional
There is a minimum licensing requirement for this specific feature in addition to the minimum licensing requirements for the IDS data server. You must purchase a minimum of ten Authorized Users or ten Concurrent Sessions per physical server of this feature. |
Optional
There is a minimum licensing requirement for this specific feature in addition to the minimum licensing requirements for the IDS data server. You must purchase a minimum of ten Authorized Users or ten Concurrent Sessions per physical server of this feature. |
| IDS Warehouse Bundle | Not available | Not available |
Optional
For IDS-Workgroup, this bundle includes licenses for IDS-Workgroup and the IDS Warehouse Feature. This bundle has a minimum licensing requirement that supersedes the minimum licensing requirement for IDS-Workgroup. You must purchase a minimum of ten Authorized Users or ten Concurrent Sessions per physical server of this bundle. |
Optional
For IDS-EE, this bundle includes licenses for IDS-EE, the IDS Warehouse Feature, and the IDS Storage Optimization Feature. This bundle has a minimum licensing requirement that supersedes the minimum licensing requirement for IDS-EE. You must purchase a minimum of ten Authorized Users or ten Concurrent Sessions per physical server of this bundle. |
| IDS Storage Optimization Feature | Available | Not available | Not available |
Feature option
Available on PVU, Authorized User, and Concurrent Session metrics. |
| Ability to support multiple fix packs and updates of the same release level |
Fully supported
IDS supports the ability to have multiple fix packs or updates of the same release level on the same physical server. |
Fully supported
IDS supports the ability to have multiple fix packs or updates of the same release level on the same physical server. |
Fully supported
IDS supports the ability to have multiple fix packs or updates of the same release level on the same physical server. |
Fully supported
IDS supports the ability to have multiple fix packs or updates of the same release level on the same physical server. |
| MaxConnect | Not supported |
Not available
This feature is not available for the IDS-Express edition. |
Not available
Earlier versions supported this as a purchasable feature option. |
Feature option
This is a purchasable feature option. |
| High Availability Data Replication (HDR) support | Included | Not Available |
Included (IDS 11.50.xC4 and later) On a warm/idle standby instance (one that is used for failover only), a 100 PVU, five Concurrent Session, five Authorized User, or one LU Socket license is required. The licensing metric used on the secondary physical server must match the metric used on the primary physical server. When the secondary instance is used for read-only SQL operations, a full IDS license using the same licensing metric as on the primary must be purchased. IDS-WGE supports a maximum of two secondary instances, for read-only operations only, regardless of configuration (one HDR + one RSS or two RSS). |
Included
HDR is included in the price of Enterprise Edition. On a warm/idle standby instance (one that is used for failover only), a 100 PVU, 10 Concurrent Session, or 25 Authorized User license is required. The licensing metric used on the secondary physical server must match the metric used on the primary physical server. When the secondary instance is used for SQL operations (read-only or updatable), a full IDS license must be purchased on the secondary instance. |
| Updatable secondary support | Supported | Not available | Not available | Supported |
| Enterprise replication | Included | Not available |
Limited
IDS-WGE can only be used as a leaf node lacking the ability to manage any aspect of the ER cluster. In addition, leaf nodes can only replicate with a single parent node. | Included |
| Continuous Availability Feature (Shared Disk Secondaries) | Included | Not available | Not available |
Feature option
This is a separately charged feature and available on PVU, authorized user, and concurrent session metrics. |
| Multiple remote secondary standalone servers | Fully supported | Not available |
Available
Up to two secondary nodes maximum regardless of configuration (one HDR + one RSS OR two RSS). The secondary instances can be used for read-only operations with the appropriate additional license purchase. On a warm/idle standby instance (one that is used for failover only), a 100 PVU, five Concurrent Session, five Authorized User, or one LU Socket license is required. The licensing metric used on the secondary physical server must match the metric used on the primary physical server. When the secondary instance is used for read-only SQL operations, a full IDS license using the same licensing metric as on the primary must be purchased. IDS-WGE supports a maximum of two secondary instances, for read-only operations only, regardless of configuration (one HDR + one RSS or two RSS). |
Fully supported
Each secondary instance in warm/idle standby requires a 100 PVU, 10 Concurrent Session, or 25 Authorized User IDS server license using the same charge metric as on the primary instance. The licensing metric used on the secondary physical server must match the metric used on the primary physical server. To execute SQL operations (read-only or updatable) requires a full IDS license. |
| Continuous log restore | Fully supported |
Fully supported
Each secondary server node in warm/idle standby requires a 100 PVU, five Authorized User, or one LU Virtual Server IDS server license using the same charge metric as used on the primary instance. |
Fully supported
Each secondary instance in warm/idle standby requires 100 PVU, five Authorized User, five Concurrent Session, or one LU Socket IDS license using the same charge metric as used on the primary instance. |
Fully supported
Each secondary instance in warm/idle standby requires 100 PVU, 10 Concurrent Session, or 25 Authorized User IDS license using the same charge metric as used on the primary instance. |
| Multi-node operations | Fully supported | Not available |
Supported
Multi-node, bi-directional operations are allowed using ER. IDS-WGE can only be used as a leaf node, lacking the ability to manage any aspect of the ER cluster. In addition, leaf nodes can only replicate with a single parent node. |
Fully supported
Multi-node, bi-directional operations are allowed using ER. Up to 36,000 nodes can be supported in either a LAN or WAN environment. |
| Virtual Table Interface | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported |
| Advanced Access Control (LBAC) |
Included
| Not available | Not available |
Feature option
Available on PVU, Authorized User, and Concurrent Session metrics. |
| AGS Server Studio JE | Base version included | Base version included | Base version included | Base version included |
| Informix I-Spy |
Optional
This product is available for IDS-DE instances and is licensed on a per processor basis. | Not available | Not available |
Optional
This product is available for IDS EE instances and is licensed on a per processor basis. |
|
DataBlade Developers
Kit
DataBlade development is only available on IDS Version 9 or later. | Included |
Included
| Included | Included |
| Excalibur Text Search DataBlade |
Optional
This is a separately charged product and licensed using PVU, Concurrent Session, or Authorized User metrics. | Not available |
Optional
This is a separately charged product and licensed using PVU, Concurrent Session, or Authorized User metrics. |
Optional
This is a separately charged product and licensed using PVU, Concurrent Session, or Authorized User metrics. |
| Spatial DataBlade | Included |
Included
|
Included
|
Included
|
| MQ DataBlade | Included |
Included
|
Included
|
Included
|
| Geodetic DataBlade |
Optional
This is a separately charged product and licensed using PVU, Concurrent Session, or Authorized User metrics. | Not available |
Optional
This is a separately charged product and licensed using PVU, Concurrent Session, or Authorized User metrics. |
Optional
This is a separately charged product and licensed using PVU, Concurrent Session, or Authorized User metrics. |
| Real-Time Loader |
Optional
This is a separately charged product and licensed using a PVU metric. | Not available |
Optional
This is a separately charged product and licensed using PVU, Concurrent Session, or Authorized User metrics. |
Optional
This is a separately charged product and licensed using PVU, Concurrent Session, or Authorized User metrics. |
| C-ISAM DataBlade |
Optional
This is a separately charged product and licensed using the PVU metric. |
Not available
|
Optional
This is a separately charged product and licensed using the Concurrent Session metric. |
Optional
This is a separately charged product and licensed using the Concurrent Session metric. |
Quoting a commonly used phrase, "your needs may vary." Regardless of your data processing requirements though, IBM IDS has the right blend of technological features and feature options to give your business a cost-effective, robust, and scalable foundation on which to build. And since "IDS just works," you can rest assured that IDS has the flexibility to grow with you to scale out or extend the power of your IDS data server.
The information in this article is presented on a best effort basis from the author's personal knowledge and not intended to be an official communication from IBM. Neither the author nor IBM is liable for any incorrect information in this article.
Learn
-
developerWorks Informix zone:
Learn more about Informix Dynamic Server. Find technical documentation,
how-to articles, education, downloads, product information, and more.
-
developerWorks Information Management zone:
Learn more about Information Management. Find technical documentation,
how-to articles, education, downloads, product information, and more.
- Stay current with
developerWorks
technical events and webcasts.
Get products and technologies
- Build your next
development project with
IBM
trial software,
available for download directly from developerWorks.
Discuss
- Participate in
developerWorks blogs
and get involved in the developerWorks community.
Comments (Undergoing maintenance)
Next steps from IBM
My developerWorks community
Tags
Use the slider bar to see more or fewer tags.
Popular tags shows the top tags for this particular content zone (for example, Java technology, Linux, WebSphere).
My tags shows your tags for this particular content zone (for example, Java technology, Linux, WebSphere).
Popular article tags |
My article tagsSkip to tags list
Popular article tags |
My article tags
