Hi, I hope someone can guide me.

A contractor has told me he needs a dual-boot machine to load both the 5.2 and 7.2 versions of DB2 connect so he can access the different versions of the databases we have scattered around.

[As an FYI, the information he collects will be put into Erwin]

Is this so? Why can't 7.2 do it all? Or is he being a prima donna PITA?

Thanks!

Brick

Hi Brick,

your contractor has some good points going for him.

First of all, I guess you are talking Windows, not Linux nor Unix. As opposed to the Unix installations, I believe DB2 does not support multiple DB2 versions under Windows.

Second, IBM doesn't support access to servers if the client is more recent than the server installation. This means you are stuck with DB2 Connect 5.2. Then again, version numbers may not be too far apart, i.e. DB2 vs. 6 would be ok with DB2 Connect 5.2, but not version 7.

That doesn't necessarily mean that DB2 Connect 5, 6 or 7 won't do the job. I didn't try, so you are free to check this out yourself. It only means that it (most) probably won't work and you are not entitled to ask IBM for support.

Btw., why not migrate the version 5 databases?

Another very nice option would be installation of virtual maschines under VMWare. This would rid you of the dual boot installation. This would require recent hardware with enough RAM, though.

Johann

I truly appreciate your reply, your consideration, and your guidance. We are limited in what we can do OS-wise (corporate governance), and I just needed independant confirmation of my consultant's woes.

He's very intellignet, very experienced, but his focus leaves a lot to be desired. Why is it that most DBA's with more than 15 years in the trenches seem insane?

Thanks again! Enjoy!