Advantages of 8.7 over 8.5

[sambitsamantray]

Hello,

I'm currently looking for options to migrate my current version (7.5 Server Edition) to Datastage 8.7 or Datastage 8.5. Is there any link in which i can find some documentation in order to check for advantages of 8.7 over 8.5 especially in the server edition.

If in case of Server edition there isn't much difference between 8.7 and 8.5 then upgrading to which edition would is recommendable?

[ray.wurlod]

Have you read the Release Notes for 8.7? They include "what's new in this release". They're available from IBM Information Center for InfoSphere Information Server version 8.7

[sambitsamantray]

I did some research on the documentation available in the link provided above. I didn't find ample information regarding advantages of server edition of 8.7 over older versions. Indeed there are a lot of advantages when it comes to the parallel edition of 8.7.

Can you please share any additional info regarding advantages of 8.7 over older versions specific to server edition?

[ray.wurlod]

Off the top of my head:

• Connectors (including DRS Connector)
  
  Data Connection objects
  
  Parameter Sets
  
  Support for connection to newer versions of databases
  
  Job log visible in Designer
  
  New XML handling - effectively unlimited document size
  
  Faster startup of Designer, particularly with complex job designs

[vmcburney]

I would go with 8.7. There are some arguments that 8.5 has been around longer and is therefore more reliable but that is countered by the extra defect fixes that are in 8.7 and the absence of any fix packs or patch requirements. For DataStage use the main advantage is the new DataStage Operations Console. If you add a Metadata Workbench license the a big advantage is the new Asset Manager for snapshots and comparisons of imported metadata.

These advantages are across the Server and Parallel editions.

[qt_ky]

Yes, the Operations Console you mentioned looks very cool...