Initialization Best Practices › Protect Critical System and User Data Sets › User Databases

User Databases

Each user database is commonly referred to by its functional purpose and by its assigned database ID (DBID). There are one or more index areas and one or more data areas for each database. Each of these areas has one associated z/OS data set. To refer to the data sets making up the database, we typically use the z/OS DDNAME. The actual data set name is dependent on the site.

For the AD site, user databases refer to the databases that have been implemented to support the CA product that is using the AD environment. The CA product documentation lists the user databases that are being installed.

User database data set protection depends on the data contents of the tables in that data set (data area) and should be externally secured as follows:

• Must be fully accessible to the user ID used to submit the MUF startup
• Must be fully accessible to user IDs used to execute DBUTLTY functions against this database

The user database index data sets, Index Area (IXX) and Index Area (Inn),, contain index entries that are constructed from data values on the table rows in the data areas of that database. These index entries are typically compressed and would be hard to read outside the CA Datacom environment. It is possible to decipher the index blocks in the IXX and Inn and retrieve a secured data item such as an account number.

For this reason, the IXX and Inn should be externally secured at the same level as the highest secured data table in the database as follows:

• Must be fully accessible to the user ID used to submit the MUF startup
• Must be fully accessible to user IDs used to execute DBUTLTY functions against this database