 | Carlton Doe (cdoe@us.ibm.com), Executive IT Specialist, Informix Technical Sales, Americas, IBM
10 Jan 2008
Updated 04 Jun 2009 Confused about the various editions of IBM® Informix
Dynamic Server (IDS)? In this article you'll get an introduction to each
edition, and then you can compare features, benefits, and licensing
considerations in a side-by-side table. Regardless of which edition you
choose, IDS brings you legendary ease-of-use, reliability, stability, and
access to extensibility features.
Introduction
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.
Easy comparison table
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. |
 |
Conclusion
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.
Notice
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.
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About the author | | | Carlton was an Informix customer for years and joined Informix just before the IBM
acquisition. A member of the IBM TechWorks team, he has technical pre-sales responsibility for Informix in the North, Central, and South American territories. |
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