In order to provide advanced capabilities and simplify the usability of IBM Db2® on Cloud, we are retiring the following Db2 on Cloud plans and replacing them with simpler and more-flexible plans.
You must take action by October 15, 2020 to avoid service disruption.
What plans are being affected?
- IBM Db2 on Cloud Flex
- IBM Db2 on Cloud Precise Performance 2.8.500
- IBM Db2 on Cloud Precise Performance 12.128.1400
- IBM Db2 on Cloud Precise Performance 48.1000.10000
Instances under affected plans will become inaccessible after November 1, 2020, if you don’t start the upgrade process by October 15, 2020.
The Db2 on Cloud Lite (free) Plan is not affected by this change.
New replacement plans
Having to sunset plans is a difficult decision, and we fully understand the inconvenience this may cause. Nevertheless, we’d love you to continue your journey with us by upgrading your service to one of our recommended alternative plans ready for production use:
- Db2 on Cloud Standard Plan: Ideal for most business workloads
- Db2 on Cloud Enterprise Plan: Recommended for high throughput workloads
The new plans will introduce the following capabilities:
- On-demand scaling of storage and compute without any downtime
- Self-service maintenance to let you choose your own maintenance schedule
- High availability across multiple zones for your mission critical apps
- Compatibility with IBM Cloud Activity Tracker with LogDNA
- Db2 V11.5 engine’s latest capabilities
- Dynamic private endpoints for enhanced security on demand
See “All-New IBM Db2 on Cloud Elastic Plans for Customers’ On-Demand Needs” for configuration and details of new plans that have been released.
Upgrade path
If your account is impacted by this announcement, then you must take action by October 15, 2020 to avoid service disruption. But don’t worry—for a similar environment, you will pay comparable amount.
To facilitate a smoother upgrade, we have automated the process to limit any impact to your business. Once you instantiate the new instance, the upgrade will run online behind the scenes while you continue to operate without any downtime. Your IBM Cloud dashboard will allow you to track the progress of the upgrade, and once complete, you have 14 days to update your applications to point to the new instance.
Your action is needed
- Read the upgrade process and FAQ: Please read our step-by-step guide to prepare for the upgrade.
- Upgrade your workloads: Db2 instance upgrades must be initiated by October 15, 2020 and be completed by November 1, 2020. Initiating is as simple as creating your new instance and providing your old instance’s CRN at the time of creation.
- Delete your old instance after upgrade: After we notify you that the new instance is ready, you will have 14 days to test and make changes to your applications to point to the new Db2 instance and delete your old Db2 instance. After 14-day transition time, you will be billed for both old and new Db2 instances.
After November 1, 2020, any instances of the affected plans that are still provisioned will become inaccessible until you go through the recovery process.
Assistance and questions
As always, we’re here to help. Please feel free to open a support ticket.
Learn more about IBM Db2 on Cloud.
FAQs
Q: What will I need to change after I upgrade to a new plan?
A: We’ll move your data, DDL, and all of your database users. All that you must do is update your applications to use a new hostname and port.
Q: What happens if I don’t initiate the upgrade by October 15, 2020?
A: After October 15, 2020, the self-serve upgrade will no longer be available. This will lead to your instance becoming inaccessible on November 2, 2020 until you go through a recovery process.
Q: In which situation can I get billed for the old system and new upgraded system?
A: After the upgrade is initiated, we will notify you when the new Db2 instance is ready to be used. Once the customer is notified, both the systems will be available to you for 14 days to test your applications. However, it’s a tough decision for us to continue to make both systems available further. Beyond 14 days, customers will be charged for both the instances. So, it is important that you delete the old Db2 on Cloud instance.