Creating a Db2 pureScale instance in a virtual environment using a single physical server (Linux)

You might find that creating a Db2 pureScale instance on a single physical server is useful in some environments.

Before you begin

Creating a Db2 pureScale instance in a virtual environment using a single physical server is not supported in a production environment. It is only for demonstration, education, and internal testing.

You must have a network adapter for the service console or VMkernal, and a separate network adapter for the public network to be able to connect to remote clients. You must have a local disk or FC SAN storage that you export as virtual disks to the guest VMs.

About this task

In a single physical host environment, the Db2 pureScale instance remains available if there is a software or operating system failure on a virtual machine (VM). If the physical server that is hosting the Db2 pureScale instance is unavailable, you cannot access that Db2 pureScale instance. Figure 1 shows the network topology of a Db2 pureScale instance on a single physical server.

To create a Db2 pureScale instance in a Linux® virtual environment with one physical server:

1. Install and configure VMware ESX/ESXi 5.0
2. Configure a host-only IP address to be used as the private network for all VMs on this host.
3. Configure a shared host IP address to be used as the public network for all VMs sharing host IP address. You must configure a shared host IP address to access the external network.
4. Create a guest VM image for the first Db2 pureScale member on the physical server.
5. Assign your exported virtual disks to the member VM. Refer to pureScale disk requirements for how many shared disks that are required
6. Install Linux operating system on the guest VM.
7. You can create more Db2 pureScale members, the primary cluster caching facility (CF), and the secondary CF by cloning the VM image of the first member or following the same procedure. All guest VMs that you create must reside on the same physical server.
8. Install the Db2 pureScale Feature. When you create the pureScale instance, choose the guest VMs that you created on the same physical server.
9. Create a database or move existing databases to the instance you created.

What to do next

You can repeat this procedure to define other instances on the same set of physical machines. Each instance can host one or more databases. You must configure the client application machine to connect to the server that hosts the Db2 member before you are able to use it.