Datastage 7.1 vs 7.5

anupam · Post by **anupam** » Wed Jan 11, 2006 3:20 am

Hi,

1. I want to know Datastage 7.5 is based on 32 bit Architecture or 64 bit Architecture.
2. We are planning to upgrade from 7.1 to 7.5. Is it really advisable to upgrade.
3. Please let me know the technical differences between these 2 versions which will effect the performance. I have already seen the differences mentioned in upgrade document.

We do not have Enterprise licences so any enhancement made to Parallel Jobs related stuff will not be of any benefit to us.

Pls advice.

ray.wurlod · Post by **ray.wurlod** » Wed Jan 11, 2006 6:15 pm

DataStage 7.5 is (remains) a 32-bit application. There are lots of goodies in 7.5, especially in job sequences, that it's definitely worth having.
As for performance, that depends on your definition of performance.

chulett · Post by **chulett** » Wed Jan 11, 2006 6:28 pm

ray.wurlod wrote:DataStage 7.5 is (remains) a 32-bit application.

From what I recall, depends on your platform. DataStage on Tru64 is 64-bit, I do believe.

ray.wurlod · Post by **ray.wurlod** » Wed Jan 11, 2006 6:59 pm

Only because it has to be!

I think a better description in this case is a 32-bit application pretending to be a 64-bit application. Main hassle for this port was (is?) "word" alignment in shared memory segments.

anupam · Post by **anupam** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 12:02 am

By Performance I mean, if 1 of my Job is taking 2 Hours in 7.1, then how much time it will take in 7.5 without redesigning the Job.

Elapsed time of the Job will be reduced without changing the design or it will be almost the same.

ray.wurlod · Post by **ray.wurlod** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 2:54 am

Depends. Probably about the same, given that you told us it's a server job. Not much changed there. Big changes in job sequences (more activities), and some changes in the way parallel jobs work. Read the readme file that accompanies 7.5 for more complete information about what changed.

anupam · Post by **anupam** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 3:04 am

So if it is not going to improve upon on performance then does it make sense to upgrade to 7.5.

We are not very keen on upgrading because of the reasons which are mentioned in the upgrade pdf document related to Job Sequencer etc.

Pls suggest.

ray.wurlod · Post by **ray.wurlod** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 3:10 am

I'm working on a 7.0 site this week, and it's horrible not having the job sequencer goodies such as expressions everywhere. You know what the issues are, you can avoid them.

In general no upgrade of the product will improve performance. ETL performance is primarily a function of efficient design and what the hardware can deliver. What you get with new versions is improved or increased (or sometimes decreased) functionality, and a whole different range of bugs.

Your conservative approach, only being prepared to upgrade if performance (whatever that means) improves by magic, suggests to me that you'll be on 7.1 forever, or at least until they withdraw support for it.

anupam · Post by **anupam** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 3:19 am

We don't have conservative approach. As per our knowledge, Datastage version 8 also is planned in 2006, so we were in the mode of discussion to upgrade directly to 8 instead of 7.5.

ray.wurlod · Post by **ray.wurlod** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 2:43 pm

Anupam,

Start learning as much as you can about 8 (the "Hawk" release) as soon as you can. It is radically different. It uses a services-based architecture, it is not UniVerse-based under the covers any more, all Manager functionality and QualityStage functionality is incorporated into Designer, all ProfileStage, AuditStage and QualityStage investigation functionality is incorporated into a new tool called Information Analyzer.

There is a wealth of knowledge out there, particularly from the presentations from IBM Information Integration Live, the event held last November in Las Vegas.

Do you get/make any time to play sitar still?