Planning for DB2
The use of a separate data store is a requirement for both the SSC and any Sametime Meeting Servers you are installing. The only supported database for Sametime is DB2 and there is a limited use license for DB2 9.5 and 9.7, which comes as part of the Sametime licensing entitlement. This allows you to install a customized version of DB2 for use with Sametime databases only.
Many companies also have their own DB2 infrastructure using enterprise licensing and, assuming it is a supported version, this pre-existing infrastructure can be leveraged for the Sametime databases. Your company or organization may have dedicated database staff as well. Consult them about storage requirements, database growth, and how to manage your backups and restore processes.
Understanding how many DB2 instances will be required
Each Meeting Server that doesn't exist in a cluster will require its own DB2 database but not necessarily its own DB2 instance. It is acceptable to have multiple DB2 databases...
