IBM’s InfoSphere FastTrack

Timothy Valihora is an IBM Information Server (IIS)-certified consultant and IT specialist who specializes in data conversion and data warehousing. As the president of TVMG Consulting, Inc., Timothy Valihora helps clients in Canada and the U.S. facilitate data integration and development processes with products such as IBM’s InfoSphere FastTrack.

Data warehouses help businesses manage information to develop insight into sales, products, and customer trends. However, while most data warehouses are time consuming to implement, InfoSphere FastTrack streamlines communications and accelerates the conversion of data. The software includes many features, such as a centralized platform for data integration, a drag-and-drop feature for arranging information, and established data profiles to assist with mapping and searches. Additionally, its integrated Microsoft Excel like interface enables FastTrack to offer a user-friendly import/export feature. Employing these elements, FastTrack increases responsiveness and efficacy to improve collaboration between IT professionals and businesses.

In recent years Mr. Valihora has specialized in supporting the “Grid” system – in terms of DataStage/QualityStage (IBM’s Grid Toolkit for DataStage, the SUN Grid Engine, IBM’s Platform LSF etc.) – and also has worked extensively with Information Analyzer, Business Glossary, Metadata Workbench and Information Services Director.

Tim Valihora is one of the very top DataStage job performance tuners/technical architects in North America.

Mr. Valihora has over 6000 DataStage PX/QualityStage jobs – currently executing in production environments – in Canada and the US.

MPP Computing Systems – A Brief Overview

Timothy Valihora draws on nearly two decades of experience in information technology to provide management consulting services to such notable firms as Southern California Edison, Hilton Grand Vacations, and AMC Theatres. Certified in IBM’s InfoSphere Information Server (IIS), Timothy Valihora is well versed in the technical aspects of data management, including massively parallel processing (MPP) computing.

Also known as “shared nothing” or “loosely coupled” systems, MPP systems consist of several separate central processing units (CPUs) working simultaneously to execute one program. These systems are often used for applications that allow users to search several databases at once, such as decision support systems and data warehouse applications.

MPP systems are similar to symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) systems in that both involve several processors running one application; however, SMP systems share one common operating system and memory.

Over the years, Tim Valihora has conducted over 125 successful installs of IBM Information Server across a wide array of operating systems (Linux, UNIX, Windows) + many patches, fixpacks and upgrades etc. Many of these installations involved complex server topologies and high availability hardware architecture (including active/active Websphere Application Server etc.)

In recent years Mr. Valihora has specialized in supporting and implementing “Grid” architecture in terms of DataStage/QualityStage (i.e. the Grid Toolkit for DataStage along with resource managers such as the SUN Grid Engine, IBM Platform LSF etc.) – and also has worked extensively with Information Analyzer, Business Glossary, FastTrack and Information Services Director.

Tim Valihora is one of the top DataStage job performance tuners/Technical architects in North America.

Mr. Valihora has developed over 6000 DataStage/QualityStage jobs – which are currently in production environments – across various client sites – in North America.

Along with specializing in Grid implementations of IIS – Mr. Valihora has focused increasingly on technical architecture and performance tuning in the more recent years of his 20 year career in Information Technology.

What is an SQL Server?

Timothy Valihora is an experienced technology management consultant who has held positions with South California Edison, Merck, and the American Medical Association. He currently serves as the president of TVMG Consulting, Inc. Over the course of his 17-year career, Timothy Valihora has established himself as an expert in the management and operation of SQL servers.

Pronounced “ess-cue-ell server” or “sequel server,” an SQL server can refer to any database server that employs Structured Query Language. Used to request and access information within the database, this particular form of query language was invented by IBM in the 1970s. It was accepted by the American National Standards Institute in 1987 and is currently used in a great many database management systems.

As a tool for managing and storing information, the SQL server acts as both a relational database and a management system. The relational database stores information in a structure called a “table,” which is laid out like a spreadsheet using rows and columns. The SQL server’s management system allows users to structure, manage, and manipulate all stored data.