Planning your Db2 on AWS configuration

Before you deploy Db2 on Amazon Web Services (AWS), you need to choose an AWS managed service option, as well as an Amazon EC2 instance type and cloud storage option that meet your needs.

Overview of a Db2 on AWS configuration

Deploying a Db2 instance on AWS can be summarized as follows:

  1. Your system administrator creates an AWS account and chooses a managed service platform for your Db2 instance. You can run your Db2 instance on the following AWS managed services:
    • Db2 on the Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS (ROSA)
    • Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS)
  2. Using a series of command line tools, your administrator creates an AWS cluster based on your specific requirements. An EC2 instance is selected and a file system and storage class are created.
  3. Your administrator then runs the Db2 Operator and deploys your Db2 instance to your AWS cluster.

Once your Db2 instance is deployed, users can connect to a database in the instance in much the same way as they connect to an on-premise data source.

Figure 1 shows how users interact with the database instance when it is hosted on AWS:
Figure 1. Db2 on AWS reference architecture

Choosing an Amazon EC2 instance type

Use the information in Table 1 to determine the size requirements of your Db2 on AWS system. Based on your selection, go to the list of Amazon EC2 instance types to find the AWS instance type that's right for your Db2 deployment. In addition to the sizing values shown in Table 1, the EC2 instance type list shows other factors to consider, such as cost and region.

Table 1 provides sizing guidelines for small, medium, and large Db2 on AWS systems.
Table 1. Sizing guidelines for Db2 on AWS systems
Size CPUs Memory (GB) AWS Instance Type (Suggested) Description
Small 7 98
  • r6g.4xlarge
  • r6i.4xlarge
  • r5.4xlarge
  • r5a.4xlarge
  • r5b.4xlarge
  • r5n.4xlarge
  • 2 TB uncompressed data
  • 500 GB storage
Medium 15 226
  • r6g.8xlarge
  • r6i.8xlarge
  • r5.8xlarge
  • r5a.8xlarge
  • r5b.8xlarge
  • r5n.8xlarge
  • r4.8xlarge
  • 4 TB uncompressed data
  • 1 TB storage
Large 31 482
  • r6g.16xlarge
  • r6i.16xlarge
  • r5.16xlarge
  • r5a.16xlarge
  • r5b.16xlarge
  • r5n.16xlarge
  • 8 TB uncompressed data
  • 2 TB storage

Choosing cloud storage

When choosing cloud storage options for your Db2 on AWS configuration, consider the following points:
  • For database storage, log storage, and use of temporary table spaces, use a block storage solution.
  • For metadata and backup storage, use a shared file storage solution.
Amazon provides block storage (EBS) and shared file storage (EKS) options for your Db2 deployment. The following diagram shows how storage is distributed in a Db2 formation:
Figure 2. Db2uCluster formation for a Db2 instance on AWS

Cloud storage solutions are available for both the EKS and ROSA web services. See the following tutorials for step-by-step configurations on both EKS and ROSA: