Learning DB2 for Mainframe - how "hard" is it? How do you do it ?

[uli2003wien]

Dear group,

i am a seasoned DB2-veteran (6 years exp.) on the Windows- and
Linux-Server platform. Once in a while i had a look into DB2 on the
mainframe but mostly only watching other people do the job.

Currently i have an offer to go into a very big shop which runs DB2 on
the mainframe (OS is not yet specified, but they talk about VSAM, so it
will be no UNIX on mainframe). From my knowledge DB2 on Linux or
Windows is a different product then DB2 on the mainframe. On the other
hand most commands are compatible. (?)

So my question is: how hard is the switch from the small machine to the
big machine ? Which documents could be helpful for me ? Do the
administration tools (e.g. control center) work with DB2 for mainframe
?

I would kindly thank you for any hint

Greetings from Vienna

Uli

[Mark A]

<ul*********@lycos.at> wrote in message
news:11*********************@g43g2000cwa.googlegro ups.com...

Dear group,

i am a seasoned DB2-veteran (6 years exp.) on the Windows- and
Linux-Server platform. Once in a while i had a look into DB2 on the
mainframe but mostly only watching other people do the job.

Currently i have an offer to go into a very big shop which runs DB2 on
the mainframe (OS is not yet specified, but they talk about VSAM, so it
will be no UNIX on mainframe). From my knowledge DB2 on Linux or
Windows is a different product then DB2 on the mainframe. On the other
hand most commands are compatible. (?)

So my question is: how hard is the switch from the small machine to the
big machine ? Which documents could be helpful for me ? Do the
administration tools (e.g. control center) work with DB2 for mainframe
?

I would kindly thank you for any hint

Greetings from Vienna

Uli

From a DBA point of view (administration) DB2 for z/OS (mainframe) is quite
a bit different than DB2 on other platforms. The concepts are similar
(runstats, reorg, etc) but how you do them is vastly different because the
mainframe they are run as batch jobs under TSO. The biggest problem you have
is learning mainframe JCL, TSO, CICS, VSAM, etc.

I would assume that they also have some DB2 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows (or
want to move in that direction) or I don't understand why they would hire
you (unless there is an extreme shortage of DB2 mainframe DBA's in your
area).