Db2 Text Search server deployment scenarios

Db2 Text Search supports an integrated installation of the text search server as well as well as a stand-alone one separate from the Db2 database product. The stand-alone server deployment is the preferred option for using Db2 Text Search.

A stand-alone text search server, also known as Enterprise Content Management (ECM) Text Search server, can be installed and administered on supported host platforms. Db2 Text Search is not supported with the High availability disaster recovery (HADR) standby database with reads on standby feature.

The Db2 database instance uses TCP/IP to communicate with the stand-alone Db2 Text Search server. SSL or IBM Global Security Kit (GSKit) support are not available. However, encryption channels can be used through the stunnel program or SSH tunneling. Restrict access to your document repository and text search index files depending on your security requirements. The stand-alone text search server must be installed on computers with a secure network connection behind a firewall to prevent unauthorized access to the text search indexes. Setting up TCP/IP access restriction to the stand-alone text search server ensures that it can only be accessed by the host on which the database server is installed.

The following are high-level illustrations of Db2 Text Search server deployments, including integrated and stand-alone setups. You can set up and configure an integrated Db2 Text Search server and switch to a stand-alone server later. However, there is no automated support to move text search indexes to a different text search server. Depending on the setup it might therefore be necessary to drop existing text indexes before assigning a new text search server to the database instance.

Figure 1. Integrated Db2 Text Search server setup
The stand-alone text search server and Db2 server are collocated on the same system
Figure 2. Stand-alone Db2 Text Search server setup
The stand-alone text search server and Db2 server are located on remote systems
Figure 3. Stand-alone Db2 Text Search server setup in a partitioned environment
The stand-alone text search server located in a remote partitioned environment
Note: The Db2 Text Search installation directory depends on the type of deployment.
  • For an integrated server:
    • <TS_HOME> represents the ../sqllib/db2tss path on Windows, Linux® or UNIX operating systems.
  • For a stand-alone setup, <ECMTS_HOME> represents the install location of the text search server.
    • By default, <ECMTS_HOME> represents the /opt/ibm/ECMTextSearch path on Linux or UNIX systems.
    • By default, <ECMTS_HOME> represents the C:\Program Files\IBM\ECMTextSearch path on Windows systems.
Deployment of a stand-alone text search server should be considered for:
  • security management: the stand-alone Text Search server allows to define a text server process owner other than the database instance owner.
  • workload management: the stand-alone Text Search server separates the resource-intensive text search processing from database server tasks.

Each database instance is associated with a single Text Search server. In partitioned database environments involving multiple partition servers, a stand-alone setup avoids a concentration of resource-intensive processing on a single partition server.

The stand-alone and the integrated Text Search server only differ in the initial configuration, most notably, the stand-alone Text Search server is already configured for processing of rich text/proprietary format documents.