When you create a DB2 enabled Notes database, it is automatically assigned to the next available DB2 group. In most cases, Domino's management of groups is sufficient and you will not need to manage groups in any way. But there are some circumstances in which you may want or need to manage groups.

• As used by Domino, DB2 tablespaces are limited to a maximum size of 256 GB. The default is to store ten DB2 enabled Notes databases per group; therefore, this creates a maximum DB2 enabled Notes database size of 25.6 GB. You may want to isolate large databases in their own groups to avoid this limit.
• In DB2, the tablespace is the smallest unit of backup and restore; therefore, you may want to store DB2 enabled Notes databases with the same backup policy in the same group.
• Grouping similar DB2 enabled Notes databases in one group enables you to better reuse the existing DB2 indices which can impact the length of time needed to reorganize the tablespace using Compact.

Each DB2 group is assigned one of the following statuses:

• Open -- The DB2 group does not yet contain the maximum number of DB2 enabled Notes databases and is not full, and the DB2 group has not been locked by an administrator. DB2 enabled Notes databases can be added or moved to any group that has a status of open. When the number of databases added to the DB2 group reaches the maximum, the DB2 group is automatically assigned a status of Full.
• Full -- The DB2 group contains the maximum allowed number of DB2 enabled Notes databases. No additional databases can be added or moved to this DB2 group, unless you change the maximum number of databases allowed in the group. If you move a database from this DB2 group to another DB2 group, the DB2 group status will change from Full to Open.
• Locked -- An administrator has manually locked the DB2 group. The DB2 group can be locked prior to its being associated with the maximum number of DB2 enabled Notes databases that are allowed per DB2 group, or when the DB2 group is full. When a DB2 enabled Notes database is locked, no additional databases can be associated with it, but a database can be moved out of a locked group into another group.

The maximum number of DB2 enabled Notes databases is set to ten by default, in the Maximum number of NSFs in Group field on the DB2 tab of the Server document. This value is set to ten for performance purposes. If you change the entry to a value greater than ten, the next time a database is created, the DB2 groups will backfill until the new maximum number of DB2 enabled Notes databases per group is reached. For example, the next DB2 enabled Notes database will be associated with GRP1 unless it is explicitly locked. You cannot reset the maximum number of databases allowed in a DB2 group that is locked.

DB2 group classes

Each group created in DB2 has a class property associated with it. This property can be used by users or applications to label groups. For example, a backup vendor might label groups Nightly, Weekly, or Manual. Domino itself makes no use of the Group Class label other than to allow sorting in the Domino Administrator. The default DB2 class is named DEFAULT, but you can add additional classes and rename existing classes. You can also change the name of a class associated with one or more DB2 groups, and thereby create new classes.

The DB2 Group administration tools are enabled for DB2-enabled Domino servers only.

You can also view and sort DB2 enabled Notes databases and DB2 group information.

Note The Group Administration user interface is not available from the Domino Web Administrator client.

Related topics

Managing DB2 groups and classes

Glossary