DB2 Connect User's Guide

Scenarios for Using DB2 Connect

DB2 Connect can provide a variety of solutions to your host or AS/400 database access needs. This section will outline several scenarios that may apply to your particular needs or environment.

DB2 Connect Personal Edition is used to connect a single Windows 32-bit system, Linux, or OS/2 workstation to an S/390 or AS/400 database. DB2 Connect Personal Edition is best suited for environments where native TCP/IP support is provided by the database servers, and the application being deployed is a traditional 2-tier client-server application.

For example, DB2 Connect Personal Edition is a good choice for enabling traditional 2-tier VisualBasic and Microsoft Access applications. Applications that require mid-tier application server need to use DB2 Connect Enterprise Edition. For information on deployment scenarios using DB2 Connect Personal Edition, see Direct Database Access.

DB2 Connect Enterprise Edition is often installed on an intermediate server to connect DB2 clients to a host or AS/400 database. It can also be used on machines where multiple local users want to access the host or AS/400 servers directly.

For example, DB2 Connect Enterprise Edition may be installed on a large machine with many local users. It may also be installed on a web server, Transaction Processor (TP) monitor, or other 3-tier application servers with multiple local SQL application processes and threads. In these cases, you can install DB2 Connect Enterprise Edition on the same machine for simplicity, or on a separate machine to off-load CPU cycles.

DB2 Connect Enterprise Edition is most appropriate for environments where:

• Host and AS/400 database servers do not support native TCP/IP connectivity and direct connectivity from desktop workstations via SNA is not desirable. See DB2 Connect Enterprise Edition as a Connectivity Server.
• Web servers run web-based applications. See DB2 Connect and Web Applications.
• Web servers run web-based application using data-aware Java applets.
• A middle-tier application server is used. See Using DB2 Connect with Application Servers.
• TP monitors, such as CICS, Encina, Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS), Tuxedo, Component Broker, and MQSeries, are used. See Using DB2 Connect with Transaction Processing Monitors.

DB2 Connect Unlimited Edition is a unique package offering that allows complete flexibility of DB2 Connect deployment and simplifies product selection and licensing. This product contains both DB2 Connect Personal Edition and DB2 Connect Enterprise Edition with license terms and conditions that allow the unlimited deployment of any DB2 Connect product. License charges are based on the size of the System/390 that DB2 Connect users will be working with. This new package offering is only available for OS/390 systems and licensing is only valid for DB2 for OS/390 data sources.