Technical Overview of the Key Features of IMS Versions 7 and 8... Original call Wednesday March 12, 2003 @10:00AM PT/11:00AM MT/12:00PM CT/1:00PM ET
With its Highly Available Large DataBase (HALDB) support, IMS Version 7 removed constraints on database size that limited growth, while reducing the number of occasions and duration of time that databases must be off-line for maintenance. It further enabled access to legacy IMS data and application function from web and other modern front-ends by supporting Java and XML, paving the way toward web services.
IMS Version 8 has been available now for over three months. Its main focus is on operations control, workload management and sysplex exploitation in complexes with multiple IMS operational systems—but many of these functions can benefit small and medium shops as well.
With the latest release of IMS, and many of the new and enhanced Data Management Tools, IBM is well down the track toward the goal of autonomic computing and has developments planned for further releases of IMS every second year for the rest of the decade and beyond.
If you are still running Version 6, remember that it will reach the end of its supported life span in September of this year. This TechTalk is intended to highlight the new functions in Versions 7 and 8 as well as to help identify the valuable features that will assist you in justifying your migration to Version 8.