DSXchange

Two questions:
(Information Server 9.1.2 on AIX)

1) Does Oracle ODBC driver have an alternative server mechanism?
We have two Oracle databases and (A and B) and we want to connect to Oracle database B when Oracle database A fails, using ODBC driver.

2) Does CDC transaction stage uses only ODBC driver to connect to databases?
Is there any other way to connect?

1) In your shoes I would ask someplace more official, like Oracle forums or support. From what I recall, that's controlled by your tnsnames.ora / sqlnet.ora configuration, not the drivers themselves. And if you're thinking about anything like TAF you'll need the JDBC drivers.

2) Yes. No.

Thanks for responding.

We are using odbc.ini to connect to oracle . Since CDC uses only odbc driver.

I think its time to contact official support.

What you are describing is only done automatically (and transparently) if your Oracle database is using Oracle Real Application Cluster (RAC) software that is separately purchasable.

If you have an Oracle RAC, here is how it can be done...

How to define Data Source for ODBC to Oracle RAC in IBM InfoSphere Information Server
http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.w ... wg21404446

Personally I've never tried the Oracle RAC with ODBC, we always used the Oracle connector since it was so much faster and uses the Oracle tnsnames.ora definitions to connect. That gives the Oracle DBA's a lot of flexibility in configuring RAC connections.

Without Oracle RAC, you'd have to swap manually using two different definitions in the ODBC file. You'd have to use an environment variable in your jobs so you can change it when appropriate. However, the swap wouldn't be transparent since any active jobs would fail when "A" died and you had to point to "B".

Thank you for responding.

Since we are using CDC and it connects using only odbc driver we have no other option.
As a final option I will open a Case with IBM. Will keep you all posted.

Andy, I don't think they were asking about TAF, a.k.a. Transparent Application Failover, which is why I only made a peripheral mention of it. And agree, seems to me a parameter of some kind to switch between the two ODBC configurations needed would be the way to go.

While you're talking with Support, you may also want to ask what to replace the CDC Transaction stage with in the future after you upgrade to DataStage 11.7 or newer because that stage has been deprecated, and documentation on a replacement stage or migration path has not yet surfaced.