IBM and Centerfield Technology
The purpose of this document is to describe the differences between Centerfield’s HomeRun suite of
tools and iSeries Navigator. The functional areas covered by each tool are explained as well as the
value-add of each.
Differences in objectives
iSeries Navigator and HomeRun, while both provide benefit to system and database administrators,
have different overriding objectives.
iSeries Navigator
The database support within iSeries Navigator is designed to provide a set of tools to accomplish
basic database creation and administration tasks. Almost all existing support is focused on the use of
SQL for data definition, data import/export, procedure/function creation, performance collection and
analysis, and some simple real-time monitoring. The focus of iSeries Navigator is to provide
database administrators a graphical interface to do their job. In light of this, iSeries Navigator does
the following things very well:
Creating and displaying all types of database objects and associated procedures, functions,
constraints, and triggers.
Showing relationships between database objects graphically.
Providing the infrastructure to manually collect and analyze detailed performance data
(collections, reports, visual explain)
These tools are very useful in the hands of an expert database administrator or programmer well
versed in SQL, database design, and query optimization. They are also helpful in situations where
the user must work interactively with the database and there isn’t much a to automate the work.
HomeRun
The functions within HomeRun are focused on ease of use and automation. HomeRun is built on top
of i5/OS features and iSeries Navigator functions. Where appropriate, HomeRun will invoke iSeries
Navigator functions to provide customers with easy access to features Centerfield does not plan to
implement but are useful to the administrator. All software within HomeRun is driven by rules set
up by the administrator. HomeRun advanced features include:
Data collection that results in advice being generated based on best practices for DB2 for i5/OS.
The advice is intended to optimize DB2 and system resources for SQL-based and legacy
applications.
Automate performance optimization tasks such as identifying new indexes and properly tuning
existing indexes.
Provides functions to automate and safely implement advice in production databases.
Fully audit all tool use.
Allow the administrator to “undo” any action taken with the tool as an additional safety net for
production systems.
Addresses issues related to database security (from a network perspective), unbridled use of ad
hoc query tools, and diagnosing complex problems related to an application’s use of DB2.
HomeRun is most useful in the hands of the system administration group that may not have enough
people or expertise to efficiently manage DB2 and SQL – yet have the responsibility for making the
system run efficiently.
Graphical view of the relationship between iSeries Navigator and HomeRun:
The information provided within this, or any other document supplied by Centerfield Technology, Inc., is to be considered strictly confidential and
shall be considered proprietary to Centerfield Technology, Inc. This information is not to be shared with individuals outside of your organization
unless Centerfield Technology, Inc. has specifically provided either written or verbal consent allowing said individuals access to this information.
HomeRun
These are the strengths of the HomeRun product and Centerfield.
Centerfield is in the business to provide answers – through software, support, consulting and
training. We have a team of support people and consulting expertise to help when time is tight and
the fire is hot.
Because our customer base is not always on the latest release of i5/OS, we support features on
older releases of the operating system and not just the latest. This reduces the risk to our
customers by allowing them to get the same function without having to move as quickly to the next
release to get new features.
Centerfield’s HomeRun suite focuses on providing advice not just raw data. Most tools show a
plethora of cryptic data requiring an expert level of expertise to decipher. While it is easy to show a
grid on a screen, it is more useful to interpret the data and provide actionable suggestions. This
reduces the learning curve, expertise, and the time needed to solve a problem. Specifically:
We are focused on products that automate processes not just improve manual analysis.
We are focused on delivering value through software expertise and through our people
expertise. We reduce the learning curve and time investment required of our customers.
We are focused on providing prioritized, actionable advice not just volumes of raw data.
We are focused on reducing the time between problem identification and problem
resolution. We know your time and the time of your end-users is valuable.
Centerfield has the desire and ability to customize our software or service based on your needs
rather than providing a one-size-fits-all package.
Our products are improved 2-3 times a year not every 1.5-2 years.
Centerfield does not forget that you have legacy databases and applications that don’t use SQL.
The information provided within this, or any other document supplied by Centerfield Technology, Inc., is to be considered strictly confidential and shall
be considered proprietary to Centerfield Technology, Inc. This information is not to be shared with individuals outside of your organization unless
Centerfield Technology, Inc. has specifically provided either written or verbal consent allowing said individuals access to this information.
HomeRun and iSeries Navigator detailed comparison
The following chart compares the HomeRun package with the functions in iSeries Navigator.
V5R3
V5R4
Automatically generate index advice
NO
YES
YES
Can build indexes directly from advice
N/A
YES
YES
Can build indexes automatically from advice
N/A
NO
Prioritize advised indexes
N/A
NO
YES
Support CQE
N/A
NO
YES
Identifies unused indexes
N/A
NO
YES
Methodology to minimize the overhead of unused indexes
N/A
N/A
YES
Identifies duplicate indexes
N/A
NO
YES
Identifies redundant indexes
N/A
NO
YES
Identifies poor S/O logical files
N/A
NO
YES
Identifies “clustered index” candidates
N/A
NO
YES
Identifies other sub-optimal indexes (disk I/O & CPU)
N/A
NO
YES
Full undo capability for changes made with tool
N/A
NO
YES
Extensive include/exclude filtering to focus data analysis
N/A
NO
YES
Identifies changes that will help RPG programs using native
database I/O
N/A
NO
YES
Perfect index advice for V5R3
NO
N/A
YES
Recommend EVI
NO
YES
YES
Collect for all jobs
YES
YES
YES
Collect for selected jobs
YES
YES
YES
Collect based on filtered jobs
YES
YES
YES
Collect for jobs that are yet to start
NO
NO
YES
Automated collections (scheduled)
NO
NO
YES
Filter by IP address
NO
YES
NO
Option to filter out i5/OS SQL
NO
YES
Show actual user profile
YES
YES
YES
Create profile for later use
NO
NO
YES
Set maximum amount of DASD to use for a collection
NO
YES
YES
Compress data collection files
NO
NO
YES
Index management
YES
(if given permission)
SQL performance Data Collection
NO
(only collects user SQL)
The information provided within this, or any other document supplied by Centerfield Technology, Inc., is to be considered strictly confidential and
shall be considered proprietary to Centerfield Technology, Inc. This information is not to be shared with individuals outside of your organization
unless Centerfield Technology, Inc. has specifically provided either written or verbal consent allowing said individuals access to this information.
V5R3
V5R4
Create SQL tables
YES
YES
NO
Create SQL views
YES
YES
NO
Create SQL indexes
YES
YES
YES
Create EVI indexes
YES
YES
YES
Database management
History of index creation
NO
NO
YES
Show indexes over file
YES
YES
YES
Create the index in batch
NO
NO
YES
Create the index at a scheduled time
NO
NO
YES
(reverse
engineer
only)
NO
YES
Select specific collection to analyze
YES
YES
YES
Analyze multiple collections in same session
NO
NO
YES
Select a collection timeframe to analyze
YES
YES
YES
Analyze data by file, SQL statement, index usage, program, job
YES
YES
YES
Analyze detail data about individual executions
YES
YES
NO
Store the create index script
Data Analysis
Analyze data from ODBC/JDBC by user profile rather than
QUSER
NO
YES
YES
YES
(with Insure/Diagnostics
audit support enabled)
NO
NO
(can only
be done by
modifying
reports by
hand)
(can only
be done by
modifying
reports by
hand)
Print quality reports
NO
NO
YES
Easy report navigation
YES
YES
YES
Graphics in reports
NO
NO
YES
Data is sortable
NO
YES
YES
NO
NO
YES
Allow only specific users to use multiple processors for a query
NO
NO
YES
Audit query requests
NO
NO
YES
Prevent long-running queries based on user, time of day, and
query tool
NO
NO
YES
Drill down [Easily combine selection criteria by job, user, file,
indexes, and time frames.]
YES
Control ad hoc queries
Automatically adjust priorities of ad hoc queries
The information provided within this, or any other document supplied by Centerfield Technology, Inc., is to be considered strictly confidential and
shall be considered proprietary to Centerfield Technology, Inc. This information is not to be shared with individuals outside of your organization
unless Centerfield Technology, Inc. has specifically provided either written or verbal consent allowing said individuals access to this information.
V5R3
V5R4
Protect database tables from unrestricted access from ODBC,
FTP, DRDA, DDM, Remote Command, etc.
NO
NO
YES
Audit use of ODBC, FTP, DRDA, DDM, Remote Command, etc.
NO
NO
YES
Report on attempts to use restricted interfaces
NO
NO
YES
NO
NO
YES
Quickly resolve record and object lock issues
NO
NO
YES
Diagnose and solve semaphore and mutex wait issues
NO
NO
YES
Quickly diagnose database transactions in limbo (commit
cycles)
NO
NO
YES
Quickly identify jobs that use a high amount of temporary
storage
NO
NO
YES
Correlate iSeries jobs with specific OneWorld and EnterpriseOne
users (JDE/Oracle)
NO
NO
YES
Visual representation of SQL statement implementation for easy
analysis
YES
YES
YES
Pop-up information about implementation steps
YES
YES
YES
Data security
Advanced diagnostics
Quickly identify record and object locks
Detailed query analysis
Import existing SQL statements from AS/400 programs, service
programs, data collections, Query/400 objects, Query Manager
objects, text files, AS/400 source files, data collections, or via
the Windows clipboard
NO
NO
(only data
collections)
(only data
collections)
YES
Will work with Query/400 queries and OPNQRYF commands
NO
NO
YES
Integrated support for QAQQINI settings
NO
NO
YES
Optional levels of detail & analysis for a statement
NO
YES
YES
Ability to try 144 different combinations of performance and
functional options to tune the SQL statement including
advanced features such as database parallelism
NO
NO
YES
Some
Some
YES
YES
YES
YES
<
YES
N/A
NO
YES
Displays all of the new information captured in V5R4
NO
YES
NO
Shows grouping functions
YES
YES
NO
Does subqueries
YES
YES
Attempts
Built-in help so new users can learn the nuances of query
optimization and techniques to improve performance
Ability to run a query and see data in a grid
YES
Ability to see joblog messages related to query optimization
Option to save existing optimization information for later
analysis or comparison after system changes
but not
integrated
with
Explain
The information provided within this, or any other document supplied by Centerfield Technology, Inc., is to be considered strictly confidential and
shall be considered proprietary to Centerfield Technology, Inc. This information is not to be shared with individuals outside of your organization
unless Centerfield Technology, Inc. has specifically provided either written or verbal consent allowing said individuals access to this information.
V5R3
V5R4
Tree view of database structure and related objects
YES
YES
Quick view of data in file
YES
YES
Metadata display
YES
(including file
dependency information)
YES
(in Insure/Explain)
YES
YES
YES
(functions
controlled
by system
authority)
(functions
controlled
by system
authority)
(functions controlled by
system authority and
authority granted within
Insure components)
Show most table properties
YES
YES
NO
Visually represent table, index, and view relationships
YES
YES
NO
Define constraints, procedures, sql scripts, views, etc.
YES
YES
NO
Visual relationships
YES
YES
Partial
Security
The information provided within this, or any other document supplied by Centerfield Technology, Inc., is to be considered strictly confidential and
shall be considered proprietary to Centerfield Technology, Inc. This information is not to be shared with individuals outside of your organization
unless Centerfield Technology, Inc. has specifically provided either written or verbal consent allowing said individuals access to this information.