Controlling DBD size for large databases

A database that contains many objects has a larger database descriptor (DBD).

About this task

Introductory concepts

If a large number of create, alter, and drop operations are performed on objects in a database with a large DBD, Db2 might encounter more contention from the DBD among transactions that access different objects because storage is not automatically reclaimed in the DBD.

Procedure

To control the size of DBDs for large databases:

  • Monitor and manage DBDs to prevent them from becoming too large.
    Very large DBDs can reduce concurrency and degrade the performance of SQL operations that create or alter objects because of increased I/O and logging. DBDs that are created or altered in Db2 Version 6 or later do not need contiguous storage, but can use pieces of approximately 32 KB. Older DBDs require contiguous storage.
  • When you create, alter, and drop objects in a database, use the MODIFY RECOVERY utility to reclaim storage in the DBD.
    Storage is not automatically reclaimed in a DBD for these operations.