TeraData Sync Tables From DataStage

Question>
I need to find out how and What TeraSync Tables are in Datastage using Teradata

The Teradata DBA says these are a Datastage thing.

What is the purpose of these Tables? Can these be shut off?
Are these tables used with the TD Connector as well ?

Answer>
The Teradata sync tables are indeed created by certain DataStage stages. Teradata Enterprise creates one named terasync that is shared by all Teradata Enterprise jobs that are loading into the same database. The name of the sync table created by the Teradata Connector is supplied by the user, and that table can either be shared by other Teradata Connector jobs (with each job using a unique Sync ID key into that table) or each Teradata Connector job can have its own sync table.

These sync tables are a necessity due to requirements imposed by Teradata's parallel bulk load and export interfaces. These interfaces require a certain amount of synchronization at the start and end of a load or export and at every checkpoint in between. The interface requires a sequence of method calls to be done in lock step. After each player process has called the first method in the sequence, they cannot proceed to call the next method until all player processes have finished calling the first method. So the sync table is used as a means of communication between the player processes. After calling a method, a player updates the sync table and repeatedly checks the sync table until all the other players have also updated the sync table.

In Teradata Enterprise, you cannot avoid using the terasync table. In the Teradata Connector, you can avoid using the sync table by setting the Parallel synchronization property to No, however that stage will be forced to run sequentially in that case.