Monday, March 11, 2024

Mixing Db2 Database Administration with DevOps - Part 3: Automating DevOps Toolchain

Understanding what is meant by DevOps and the many requisite pieces of the DevOps toolchain is just the first step in adopted DevOps.

The key to success with automating DevOps is a well-constructed toolchain for automating all of the afore-mentioned processes in an integrated and cooperative manner. If you have been an IT professional for any length of time most of the categories we just discussed will not be new to you. What is new, however, is likely the integration of the tools hooked up together to work in concert for the purpose of delivering application software quickly and accurately.

Additionally, the list of activities we just reviewed is not comprehensive. A glaring omission is the lack of integration with your database management systems. The orchestration of application changes in the DevOps toolchain is fairly well established, but this is not so much the case for database changes. And this has especially been the case for the mainframe world in terms of incorporating Db2 for z/OS into the DevOps toolchain.

As any good DBA or performance analyst knows, there are multiple management and operational activities required to assure functionality and optimal performance when applications rely on Db2 databases for persistent storage. Perhaps the single most difficult task is managing database schema changes. 

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