When a DB2 database starts the total memory required  for the bufferpools must be available.

If this memory is not available when a database starts, the database manager will only start with system buffer pools (one for each page size) with a minimal size of 16 pages, and an SQL1478W (SQLSTATE01626) warning is returned 

List buffer pool information by querying the SYSCAT.BUFFERPOOLS system view.

Querying SYSCAT.BUFFERPOOLS

SELECT * FROM SYSCAT.BUFFERPOOLS

BPNAME        BUFFERPOOLID  DBPGNAME  NPAGES  PAGESIZE  ESTORE  NUMBLOCKPAGES  BLOCKSIZE

------------  ------------  --------  ------  --------  ------  -------------  ---------

IBMDEFAULTBP       1              -     1000      4096       N              0          0

1 record(s) selected.