What's new in IBM Data Replication for Availability

These new features are available in IBM® Data Replication for Availability.

May 2023 (Db2® Warehouse V11.5.8.0)

Restarting Q Capture from user specified timestamp (DPF) - LUW: You can now restart reading the log, for the timestamp specified in the Data Partition Facility (DPF) Db2 configuration. Two new parameters, Q Capture (asnqcap) LSN and MAXCMTSEQ are implemented for the same. Q Capture now maps this timestamp to a valid entry and corresponding log reads the LSN for each partition of the Data Partitioning Facility configuration.
For details, see Implementing new parameters for log read.

December 2021 (Db2 Warehouse V11.5.7.0)

Replication from IAS to Db2 Warehouse on Cloud: You can now replicate from IBM Integrated Analytics System to Db2 Warehouse on Cloud. For configuration details, see Replicating from IAS to Db2 Warehouse on Cloud.
Faster catch-up after initial target loading: The apply spill agent is improved to use multi-partition external table files in a DPF environment, which helps replication catch up faster after the initial target table loading process is complete. This change especially enhances performance for large tables in terabytes.

July 2021 (Db2 Warehouse V11.5.6.0)

Support for parallel truncate operations: Replication of truncate operations at source databases is now performed in parallel, greatly reducing latency, especially for streaming transactions. The capture process sends the truncate row DDL in one transaction message and publishes the rest of the transaction in another transaction message. The apply process does a table-level dependency check for every transaction.

December 2020 (Db2 Warehouse V11.5.5.0)

Console and API support for Db2 SSL certificate: In the web console, when you add a replication target you can now click Trust Target to configure the source database to trust the target Db2 SSL security certificate. After this step you can use the console to create replication sets, add tables, and start replication. You can also use the replication REST API to update the Db2 SSL certicate in the Bludr-REST trust store.
Ability to monitor performance of target table loading: You can better track the performance of the target table loading process by using four new columns that are added to the replication control table that stores monitoring statistics. The TABLES_LOADED, ROWS_LOADED, TABLES_LOADED_PHYSICAL_SIZE, and TABLES_LOADED_LOGICAL_SIZE columns now store these statistics for each monitoring interval in the IBMQREP_APPLYMON table.
Customer LDAP admin user name: When configuring external LDAP to manage access to the replicated databases, you can now use a custom bluadmin user name such as bluadmin.iias to improve management of users and groups.

June 2020 (Db2 Warehouse V11.5.4.0)

Support for backup and restore with row modification tracking: Schemas and tables that are enabled for backup and restore with row modification tracking can now be replicated after you set a unique replication identifier at the source and target databases. The row modification tracking feature allows you to continue DML operations on Db2 column-organized tables during a schema backup and restore operation. For more information, see Replicating schemas and tables enabled for row modification tracking.
Replication between mixed-level environments: You can now replicate between source and target databases that are at different versions as long as either the source or target is at Db2 Warehouse v11.5.4.0 or IBM Integrated Analytics System v1.0.23.0. For details, see Compatibility between different source and target versions.

April 2020 (Db2 Warehouse V11.5.3.0)

Alert monitoring for changes in replication environment: You can now receive an email alert when something changes in the status of your replication environment by setting up the Replication Alert Monitor within IBM Data Replication for Availability. The monitor program runs in the source database and monitors the status of the replication capture and apply programs. It monitors for conditions in the replication environment and sends email alerts to a specified list of addresses when an alert condition is met. For details, see Setting up email alerts for replication.
Last consistency point added to replication home page: You can now view the replication last consistency point on the home page. The last consistency point helps you determine how caught up replication at the target is with respect to database activity at the source.
Improved safety for in transit replicated data: Safety is improved for messages that contain replicated data when IBM MQ is stopped for problem determination or during a controlled shutdown. In-transit messages are kept safely in the transmission queue until the channel and queue manager are restarted.
Automatic creation of target tables: Target tables are now automatically created when you are configuring replication, removing the need to predefine compatible tables on the target system before replication starts.
MQ upgraded: The MQ bundle that is included in IBM Data Replication for Availability is upgraded to Version 9.1.3.

November 2019 (Db2 Warehouse V11.5.1.0)

Interactive API console: The new web-based API console enables you to use the IBM Data Replication for Availability REST APIs to create, change, and administer replication sets, monitor replication health, and enable sources and targets among other tasks. You can view usage information and responses from each API call with a Try it out! button, and the console provides sample values for API input parameters. For more information, see Using the IBM Data Replication for Availability REST APIs.
Faster file transfer by using parallel processing: Replication uses a more robust file transfer method of data transmission for column-organized tables, and you can now increase performance for this method by creating multiple pipelines for file transfer. The parallel degree feature enables you to create up to four sets of IBM MQ send queues, receive queues, and channels to fully saturate the bandwidth between the source and target systems. Parallel transmission can be especially effective when the systems are separated by long distances. For more information, see Using multiple file transfer queues when replicating column-organized tables and bludr-config-mq-file-transfer-degree.sh script.
Support for replication of binary format for supplemental logs: When DATA CAPTURE CHANGES is enabled on a column-organized table, the supplemental logs that Db2 creates are read by the replication capture process and transmitted to the target system. Replication now uses binary format for the supplemental logs, significantly reducing the size of the data that is sent from the source to the target when massive transactions of the type that are typical in large data warehouses are performed.

August 2019 (Db2 Warehouse V3.10.0)

Support for SAN or NFS storage: You can now use external SAN or NFS storage for Db2 transient logging to support replication in the IBM Integrated Analytics System (IAS) appliance for workload volumes that might exceed the capacity of the disk space from /scratch. Setup instructions are available here.
Replication of tables without unique identifiers: Replication for IAS and Db2 Warehouse is now enabled for tables with no primary key, unique constraint, or unique index at the target. In these cases, replication creates its own key that includes all valid columns in the table; however, this type of key can impede performance and it is recommended that you provide some kind of uniqueness for replicated tables, which can include the use of a hidden identity column.
Script to remove replication environment: You can now use a built-in script to undo all changes that were made to enable replication, for example to restore an inconsistent replication environment by removing all replication objects and starting over. See Removing the replication environment for details.
Support for Active Directory: You can now configure your IAS appliance to use Windows Active Directory, and replication also supports this service. You should still create a dedicated replication user for enabling the source and adding a target.

July 2019 (IBM Data Replication for Availability V1.2 and Db2 Warehouse V3.9.0)

Product name change: IBM Data Replication for Db2 Continuous Availability is now IBM Data Replication for Availability V1.2, bringing support for near real-time data synchronization between Db2 databases, Db2 Warehouse (local), and Db2 Warehouse in IAS appliances.
Support for Db2 database V11.5: The non-containerized version of IBM Data Replication for Availability (also known as Q Replication), offers full support for Db2 V11.5, including replication of column-organized tables. The product is integrated with the Db2 engine and requires only a license key to begin using Q Replication.

June 2019 (Db2 Warehouse V3.8.0)

Ability to trust target certificate from console: You can now configure the source database to trust the target security certificate from the Replication Console. Simply click the Trust Target button while adding a target to your configuration. The console checks for the certificate and gives you a success message to confirm.

May 2019 (Db2 Warehouse V3.7.0)

Support for private IP networks: You can now specify a private IP address and port for the replication source database, enabling replication over a dedicated network between source and target servers.
Ability to update source credentials: You can now update the user ID and password that are used for connecting to the replication source database, for example if these credentials expire. When replication credentials expire, the web console provides an alert that enables you to open the Edit Source Information window to update the user ID and password and test the connection. See Managing source credentials for more details.
Support for IBM MQ encryption in apsetup utility: On IBM Integrated Analytics System, you can now use the apsetup utility to configure encryption for IBM MQ between the source and target databases. The Add trusted target system step in the utility now configures MQ encryption in addition to configuring the source to trust the target security certificate.

April 2019 (Db2 Warehouse V3.6.0)

Replication of create and drop table operations: You can now specify that when tables are created within a given schema, changes to the tables are automatically replicated and matching target tables are created at the target database. You activate this option by selecting a schema and choosing Replicate create and drop tables when you add or edit a replication set. With this option, when tables are dropped from the schema the operation is also automatically replayed at the target.

March 2019 (Db2 Warehouse V3.4.0)

Support for Db2 Warehouse as a source: You can now use IBM Data Replication for Availability to replicate from Db2 Warehouse sources, further enhancing continuous availability use cases, enabling you to replicate or consolidate data from operational data warehouses to a primary data warehouse, and making it easier to offload workloads for reporting, business intelligence, and analytics.
Renaming of replication sets: You can now use the Edit Replication Set window to change the name of an existing replication set rather than needing to drop and recreate the replication set.
Boolean data type: Replication of data in Boolean columns is now supported.

February 2019 (Db2 Warehouse V3.3.0)

Support for Db2 Warehouse as a target: You can now use IBM Data Replication for Availability to replicate to Db2 Warehouse targets. This enables Db2 Warehouse for a full range of continuous availability use cases, including disaster recovery for critical applications from one Db2 Warehouse to another, application concurrency for zero downtime between Db2 Warehouse environments using bidirectional replication, and high availability via unidirectional replication.
apsetup utility enhancements for certificate security: The apsetup utility for IBM Integrated Analytics System is enhanced to enable you to upload security certificates to the replication target system and to trust the certificates from the replication source system.