IBM InfoSphere DataStage
IBM InfoSphere DataStage is an ETL tool and part of the IBM Information Platforms Solutions suite and IBM InfoSphere. It uses a graphical notation to construct data integration solutions and is available in various versions such as the Server Edition and the Enterprise Edition.
DataStage originated at VMark, a spin off from Prime Computers that developed two notable products: UniVerse database and the DataStage ETL tool. The first VMark ETL prototype was built by Lee Scheffler in the first half of 1996. Peter Weyman was VMark VP of Strategy and identified the ETL market as an opportunity. He appointed Lee Scheffler as the architect and conceived the product brand name "Stage" to signify modularity and component-orientation. This tag was used to name DataStage and subsequently used in related products QualityStage, ProfileStage, MetaStage and AuditStage. Lee Scheffler presented the DataStage product overview to the board of VMark in June 1996 and it was approved for development. The product was in alpha testing in October, beta testing in November and was generally available in January 1997.
VMark acquired UniData in October 1997 and renamed itself to Ardent Software. In 1999 Ardent Software was acquired by Informix the database software vendor. In April 2001 IBM acquired Informixand took just the database business leaving the data integration tools to be spun off as an independent software company called Ascential Software. In November 2001, Ascential Software Corp. of Westboro, Mass. acquired privately held Torrent Systems Inc. of Cambridge, Mass. for $46 million in cash. Ascential announced a commitment to integrate Orchestrate's parallel processing capabilities directly into the DataStageXE platform. In March 2005 IBM acquired Ascential Software and made DataStage part of the WebSphere family as WebSphere DataStage. In 2006 the product was released as part of the IBM Information Server under the Information Management family but was still known as WebSphere DataStage. In 2008 the suite was renamed to InfoSphere Information Server and the product was renamed to InfoSphere DataStage.
- Enterprise Edition (PX): a name give to the version of DataStage that had a parallel processing architecture and parallel ETL jobs.
- Server Edition: the name of the original version of DataStage representing Server Jobs. Early DataStage versions only contained Server Jobs. DataStage 5 added Sequence Jobs and DataStage 6 added Parallel Jobs via Enterprise Edition.
- MVS Edition: mainframe jobs, developed on a Windows or Unix/Linux platform and transferred to the mainframe as compiled mainframe jobs.
- DataStage for PeopleSoft: a server edition with prebuilt PeopleSoft EPM jobs under an OEM arragement with PeopleSoft and Oracle Corporation.
- DataStage TX: for processing complex transactions and messages, formerly known as Mercator. Now known as WebSphere Transformation Extender.
- ISD (Information Services Director, ex. DataStage RTI): Real Time Integration pack can turn server or parallel jobs into SOA services.
InfoSphere DataStage is a powerful data integration tool. It was acquired by IBM in 2005 and has become a part of IBM Information Server Platform. It uses a client/server design where jobs are created and administered via a Windows client against central repository on a server. The IBM InfoSphere DataStage is capable of integrating data on demand across multiple and high volumes of data sources and target applications using a high performance parallel framework. InfoSphere DataStage also facilitates extended metadata management and enterprise connectivity
IBM WebSphere DataStage provides these unique capabilities: The Most Powerful ETL Solution - Supports the collection, integration and transformation of high volumes of data, with data structures ranging from simple to highly complex. DataStage manages data arriving in real-time as well as data received daily, weekly or monthly.
The Most Scalable Platform
Enables companies to solve large-scale business problems through high-performance processing of massive data volumes. By leveraging the parallel processing capabilities of multiprocessor hardware platforms, DataStage Enterprise Edition can scale to satisfy the demands of ever-growing data volumes and stringent real-time requirements and ever shrinking batch windows
The Most Comprehensive Source and Target Support
Supports a virtually unlimited number of heterogeneous data sources and targets in a single job, including: text files; complex data structures in XML; ERP systems such as SAP and PeopleSoft; almost any database (including partitioned databases); web services; and SAS.
Real-time Data Integration Support
Operates in real-time capturing messages from Message Oriented Middleware (MOM) queues using JMS or WebSphereMQ adapters to seamlessly combine data into conforming operational and historical analysis perspectives. IBM WebSphere RTI Services is a service-oriented architecture (SOA) enabling middleware that brokers enterprise-wide the benefits of the Ascential Enterprise Integration Suite across a continuum of time constraints, application suites, interface protocols and integration technologies.
Advanced Maintenance and Development
Gives developers maximum speed, flexibility and effectiveness in building, deploying, updating and managing their data integration infrastructure. Full data integration reduces the development and maintenance cycle for data integration projects by simplifying administration and maximizing development resources.
Complete Connectivity Between Any Data Source and Any Application
Ensures that the most relevant, complete and accurate data is integrated and used by the most popular enterprise application software brands, including SAP, Siebel, Oracle, PeopleSoft and J.D. Edwards.
