DataLoader/MX Reference Manual (G06.24+)

Running DataLoader/MX
DataLoader/MX Reference Manual—525872-002
3-14
Analyzing Your Configuration
more import processes. Configuring and tuning your loading application are
discussed next.
You can create customized versions of DataLoader/MX with combinations of user
routines appropriate to what you want to do. As you customize each version with the
appropriate user exits, you should give these versions names that indicate their
purpose or position in the application hierarchy.
Configuration Recommendations
Many factors influence the design of your loading application, but first consider two
factors in your initial configuration decisions:
•
The data source. Your data can come from a single source (a tape drive) or from
multiple sources (multiple drives or communication lines). In either case, exactly
one DataLoader/MX process is required for each data source.
•
The data destination. Usually, your data is to be loaded into multiple partitions of an
SQL table using import. When this is the case, you must configure exactly one
import process for each partition, as two import processes writing to the same
partition would cause locking errors. To ensure this, the KEYRANGE values
specified for DataLoader/MX must match the table KEYRANGE values exactly.
These next suggestions will help when your requirements differ from those listed
previously, or when you are refining and tuning your initial configuration:
•
Loading with SQL INSERT in DataLoader/MX. You can write your own user exits to
perform table inserts or deletes in the DataLoader/MX process. In this case, you
need not maintain a one-to-one relationship between processes and partitions.
•
Load balancing. Under some conditions, you might be able to split or combine the
work done by the loading processes for better balance. You will need to experiment
with this strategy. For example, you can start with one data source and one
DataLoader/MX process feeding into multiple downstream processes. You might
discover that, if you use two or more DataLoader/MX processes for input, your load
becomes better balanced and throughput improves.
•
IPC costs. When splitting the load by adding processes, be aware of increased IPC
costs. With too many processes, your configuration can reach a point of
diminishing returns, and performance can actually decrease. Another important
consideration is that managing fewer processes is easier.
In addition to these guidelines, examples of the four basic loading configurations are
provided in Section 6, DataLoader/MX Examples. These scenarios are the basis for
nearly every loading situation you will encounter.
Analyzing Your Configuration
After your configuration is defined, you should analyze and measure it for performance
by running DataLoader/MX and analyzing the results of a few simple experiments.