DB2® is IBM's family of information management software products. Most often, though, when people say DB2 they are referring to IBM's flagship relational database management system, DB2 Universal Database (DB2 UDB). International Business Machines Corporation (IBM, or colloquially, Big Blue) (NYSE: IBM) (incorporated June 15, 1911, in operation since 1888) is headquartered in Armonk, New York, USA. The company manufactures and sells computer hardware, software, and services. ... A relational database management system (RDBMS) is a database management system (DBMS) that is based on the relational model as introduced by Edgar F. Codd. ...

History

DB2 has a long history and was what some consider to be the first database product to use SQL. SQL (commonly expanded to Structured Query Language — see History for the terms derivation) is the most popular computer language used to create, modify and retrieve and manipulate data from relational database management systems. ...

The name DB2 was first given to the Database Management System or DBMS in 1982 where IBM released SQL/DS and DB2 on its mainframe platform. Prior to this the product was named System Relational, or System R, which launched in 1978. DB2 has its roots back to the beginning of the seventies where Dr. E.F. Codd, working for IBM, described the theory of relational databases and in June of 1970 published the model for data manipulation. To apply the model Codd needed a relational database language which he named Alpha. IBM didn't believe in Codd's idea's potential, leaving its implementation to a group of programmers who weren't under Codd's supervision, violating several fundamentals of the relational model; the result was Structured English QUEry Language or SEQUEL. SEQUEL was already a trademarked name, so IBM renamed the acronym to SQL, short for Structured Query Language. The acronym SQL still stands to this day. Big Blue redirects here. ... SQL/DS (Structured Query Language/Data System) was IBMs first commercial implementation for its mainframe computers of a DBMS (Database Management System) built around the SQL language. ... System R is a database system built as a research project at IBM San Jose Research (now IBM Almaden Research Center) in the 1970s. ... System R is a database system built as a research project at IBM San Jose Research (now IBM Almaden Research Center) in the 1970s. ... Edgar Ted Codd Edgar F. Ted Codd (August 23, 1923 – April 18, 2003) was a British computer scientist who made seminal contributions to the theory of relational databases. ... Big Blue redirects here. ... Big Blue redirects here. ... SQL (commonly expanded to Structured Query Language — see History for the terms derivation) is the most popular computer language used to create, modify and retrieve and manipulate data from relational database management systems. ... SQL (commonly expanded to Structured Query Language — see History for the terms derivation) is the most popular computer language used to create, modify and retrieve and manipulate data from relational database management systems. ...

Historically, it is interesting to note that when Informix acquired Illustra and made their database engine an object-SQL DBMS by introducing their Universal Server, both Oracle and IBM followed suit by changing their database engines to be capable of object-relational extensions. Moreover, in 2001, IBM bought Informix and in the following years incorporated Informix technology into the DB2 product suite. Technically, today, DB2 can be considered to be an object-SQL DBMS. Informix is a family of relational database management system products from IBM, acquired in 2001 from a company (also called Informix or Informix Software) which dates its origins back to 1980. ... An object-relational database (ORD) or object-relational database management system (ORDBMS) is a relational database management system that allows developers to integrate the database with their own custom data types and methods. ... Big Blue redirects here. ... Informix is a family of relational database management system products from IBM, acquired in 2001 from a company (also called Informix or Informix Software) which dates its origins back to 1980. ... Informix is a family of relational database management system products from IBM, acquired in 2001 from a company (also called Informix or Informix Software) which dates its origins back to 1980. ... An object-relational database (ORD) or object-relational database management system (ORDBMS) is a relational database management system that allows developers to integrate the database with their own custom data types and methods. ...

For many years DB2 was exclusively available on IBM mainframes. Later IBM brought DB2 to other platforms, including UNIX and Windows servers, then Linux (including Linux on zSeries) and PDAs. This process was mainly undertaken through the 1990s. DB2's implementation details inspiration came in part from IBM DL/1 and IBM IMS, both initially hierarchical and then later network (or CODASYL) databases. DB2 is also embedded in the i5/OS operating system for IBM iSeries (formerly the AS/400), and versions are available for z/VSE and z/VM. An earlier version is available for OS/2 and is called DB2/2. An IBM mainframe is a large, high-performance computer made by International Business Machines (IBM). ... Unix or UNIX is a computer operating system originally developed in the 1960s and 1970s by a group of AT&T Bell Labs employees including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, and Douglas McIlroy. ... Microsoft Windows is a series of proprietary operating environments and operating systems created by Microsoft for use on personal computers and servers. ... Linux (also known as GNU/Linux) is a computer operating system. ... Linux on zSeries (or Linux on System z9) is the preferred collective term for the Linux operating system and GNU/Linux software compiled to run on IBM mainframes, especially zSeries servers. ... palmOne Tungsten T5 Dell Axim X51v Pocket PC Personal digital assistants (also called PDAs) are handheld devices that were originally designed as personal organizers, but became much more versatile over the years. ... Big Blue redirects here. ... Big Blue redirects here. ... Information Management System (IMS) is a joint hierarchical database and information management system. ... CODASYL (often spelt Codasyl) is an acronym for COnference on DAta SYstems Languages. This was a IT industry consortium formed in 1959 to guide the development of a standard programming language that could be used on many computers. ... OS/400 is an operating system used on IBMs line of AS/400 (now called iSeries) minicomputers. ... Enterprise class server and the successor to the AS/400. ... The Application System/400 (also known as AS/400, iSeries (since 2000) and System i5 (since 2006)) is a type of minicomputer produced by IBM. It was first produced in 1988 and, as of 2006, is still in production. ... VSE (Virtual Storage Extended) is an operating system on the IBM System/370 and System/390 mainframe computers. ... VM is an early and influential virtual machine operating system from IBM, apparently the first true virtual machine system. ... OS/2 is an operating system created by Microsoft and IBM and later developed by IBM exclusively. ...

Over the years DB2 has driven numerous hardware enhancements, particularly on IBM zSeries. In fact, DB2 UDB Version 8 for z/OS now requires a 64-bit system and cannot run on earlier processors. Although the ultimate expression of software-hardware co-evolution is the IBM mainframe, to some extent that phenomenon occurs on other platforms as well, as IBM's software engineers collaborate with their hardware counterparts. Since December, 2001, IBM designates all its mainframes with the name eServer zSeries, with the e depicted in IBMs well-known red trademarked symbol. ... z/OS Welcome Screen seen through a terminal emulator The title of this article begins with a capital letter due to technical limitations. ... In computing, a 64-bit component is one in which data are processed or stored in 64-bit units (words). ...

As of December 2005, IBM has begun talking about "Viper," the codename for DB2 UDB Version 9 on distributed platforms, and "V.Next," referring to the next release of DB2 UDB for z/OS. IBM claims that the new DB2 will be the first relational database to "natively" store XML. Other likely enhancements include OLTP-related improvements for distributed platforms, business intelligence/data warehousing-related improvements for z/OS, more self-tuning and self-managing features, additional 64-bit exploitation (especially for z/OS), and continued convergence of the SQL vocabularies between z/OS and distributed platforms. To suggest a relevant news story for the main page, refer to the criteria then add your suggestion at the candidates page. ... This article or section may contain external links added only to promote a website, product, or service – otherwise known as spam. ... The Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a W3C-recommended general-purpose markup language for creating special-purpose markup languages, capable of describing many different kinds of data. ... OLTP (Online Transaction Processing) is a form of transaction processing conducted via computer network. ... The phrase business intelligence (BI) may refer to: a set of business processes for collecting and analyzing business information. ... A data warehouse is a record of an enterprises past transactional and operational activities, stored in a database. ...

On April 6th 2006, IBM made an early release of DB2 Viper (DB2 Viper Release Candidate 1) available (www.ibm.com/db2/viper) for evaluation purposes for various platforms.

Editions

DB2 is available in several "editions," i.e. licensing arrangements. By opting for a reduced-feature "edition," IBM allows customers to avoid paying for database features which they do not need. Sample editions include the Workgroup, Workgroup Unlimited, and Enterprise Server Edition. A high-end edition is called DB2 UDB Data Warehouse Enterprise Edition, or DWE for short. This edition is intended for mixed workload (OLTP and business intelligence) or business intelligence (BI) implementations. DWE includes several BI features such as ETL, data mining, OLAP acceleration, and in-line analytics. The phrase business intelligence (BI) may refer to: a set of business processes for collecting and analyzing business information. ... ETL may stand for: Extract, transform, load, a data warehousing function ETL SEMKO (formerly Edison Testing Laboratory) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... It has been suggested that Tech mining be merged into this article or section. ... It has been suggested that FASMI be merged into this article or section. ...

DB2 UDB for z/OS is available under its own licensing terms. Starting with Version 8, IBM brought DB2 UDB for z/OS and for the other platforms into much closer alignment. (Previously there were significant differences in SQL vocabularies, for example.) DB2 UDB for z/OS has some exclusives — notably Multi-Level Security (MLS), extremely large table sizes, and hardware-assisted compression — owing to its special environment and the demanding needs of its customers. DB2 UDB for z/OS has always been known for its leading OLTP performance and capabilities, but the z/OS version is now starting to acquire BI features as well, such as materialized query tables (MQTs). Oracle's CEO Larry Ellison, in a widely reported October, 2003, quote, commented that DB2 UDB for z/OS is the one competitive database he respects and admires. z/OS Welcome Screen seen through a terminal emulator The title of this article begins with a capital letter due to technical limitations. ... Lawrence Joseph Ellison (born August 17, 1944) is the co-founder and CEO of Oracle Corporation, a major database software firm. ...

On January 30th, 2006, IBM released a no-charge edition of DB2 called DB2 Universal Database Express-C. This was an expected response to the recently announced free versions of Oracle 10g and Microsoft SQL Server. Express-C will have no limit on number of users or database size. It's deployable on Windows and Linux machines with up to two processors and up to 4GB of memory. oracle, see Oracle (disambiguation) An Oracle database, strictly speaking, consists of a collection of data managed by an Oracle database management system or DBMS. The term Oracle database sometimes refers — imprecisely — to the DBMS software itself. ... Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT, SEHK: 4338) is an international computer technology corporation with 2005 global annual sales of $39. ...

Competition

Currently, there is a dogfight going on between DB2 and Oracle for the number 1 position in the market. On May 3, 2004, IBM's head of database development and sales, Janet Perna, claimed their main competitors were Oracle in the context of advanced transaction handling and Teradata in the context of decision-making systems (e.g. data warehousing). However, there are competitors in smaller markets, including Microsoft SQL Server (which is only available for Microsoft Windows), open source products such as PostgreSQL and MySQL, and niche players such as Sybase. oracle, see Oracle (disambiguation) An Oracle database, strictly speaking, consists of a collection of data managed by an Oracle database management system or DBMS. The term Oracle database sometimes refers — imprecisely — to the DBMS software itself. ... oracle, see Oracle (disambiguation) An Oracle database, strictly speaking, consists of a collection of data managed by an Oracle database management system or DBMS. The term Oracle database sometimes refers — imprecisely — to the DBMS software itself. ... Teradata is a relational database management system initially created by the firm with the same name, founded in 1979. ... A Data warehouse is a repository of integrated information, available for queries and analysis. ... Microsoft SQL Server is a relational database management system (RDBMS) produced by Microsoft. ... Open source refers to projects that are open to the public and which draw on other projects that are freely available to the general public. ... PostgreSQL is a free object-relational database server (database management system), released under a flexible BSD-style license. ... MySQL is a multithreaded, multi-user, SQL Database Management System (DBMS) with an estimated six million installations. ... Sybase Inc. ...

DB2 UDB for z/OS arguably has fewer direct competitors, but Oracle is attracting customers to its Linux on zSeries products, although apparently not at the expense of DB2. CA-Datacom and Software AG's Adabas are competing relational databases for z/OS, and there are certain niche products as well (Model 204, SUPRA SQL, NOMAD, etc.) Oracle has a 31-bit RDBMS available for z/OS. Non-relational databases that "compete" include IMS, VSAM (arguably), and CA-IDMS, among others. Datacom refers to the following: * a large international support group for CA-Datacom (http://www. ... Adabas is Software AG’s advanced database management system. ... Model 204 is a database system for IBM and compatible mainframes, running under OS/390. ... ESA/390 (Enterprise Systems Architecture/390) is IBMs 31-bit mainframe computing design, copied by Amdahl, Hitachi, and Fujitsu among other competitors. ... Information Management System (IMS) is a joint hierarchical database and information management system. ... Virtual Sequential Access Method (VSAM) is an IBM disk file storage scheme first used in the S/370 and virtual storage. ... IDMS (Integrated Database Management System) is a (network) CODASYL database management system first developed at B.F. Goodrich and later marketed by Cullinane Database Systems (renamed Cullinet in 1983). ...

IBM and DB2 are frequently at or near the top of the TPC-C (OLTP) and TPC-H (data warehousing) industry benchmarks published on the Transaction Processing Council's website. OLTP (Online Transaction Processing) is a form of transaction processing conducted via computer network. ...

Technical Information

DB2, like Oracle, can be administered from either the command-line or a GUI. The command-line interface requires more knowledge of the product but can be more easily scripted and automated. The GUI is a multi-platform Java client that contains a variety of wizards suitable for novice users.

DB2 has APIs for .NET CLI, Java, Python, Perl, PHP, C++, C, REXX, PL/I, COBOL, RPG, FORTRAN, and many other programming languages. DB2 also supports integration into the Eclipse and Visual Studio .NET integrated development environments. The Microsoft . ... The Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) is an open specification developed by Microsoft that describes the executable code and runtime environment that form the core of the Microsoft . ... Java is an object-oriented programming language developed by James Gosling and colleagues at Sun Microsystems in the early 1990s. ... Python is an interpreted programming language created by Guido van Rossum in 1990. ... Perl, also Practical Extraction and Report Language (a backronym, see below) is a dynamic procedural programming language designed by Larry Wall and first released in 1987. ... PHP is a scripted programming language that can be used to create websites. ... For a WikiBook on programming with C++, see Wikibooks: C++ Programming. ... The C Programming Language, Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie, the original edition that served for many years as an informal specification of the language The C programming language is a general-purpose, procedural, imperative computer programming language developed in the early 1970s by Dennis Ritchie for use on the UNIX... REXX (REstructured eXtended eXecutor) is an interpreted programming language which was developed at IBM. It is a structured high-level programming language which was designed to be both easy to learn and easy to read. ... PL/I (Programming Language One, pronounced pee el one) is an imperative computer programming language designed for scientific, engineering, and business applications. ... COBOL is a third-generation programming language. ... RPG is a native programming language for IBMs iSeries servers - the latest generation of midrange servers which included System/38, System/36, AS/400, iSeries and System i5 systems. ... Fortran (also FORTRAN) is a computer programming language originally developed in the 1950s; it is still used for scientific computing and numerical computation half a century later. ... Eclipse is an open source platform-independent software framework for delivering what the project calls rich-client applications, as opposed to thin client browser-based applications. ... The Visual Studio . ...

Leadership

Janet Perna was General Manager of IBM Software Group's Information Management division until her retirement from IBM in July, 2005. She was replaced by Ambuj Goyal.

See also

• List of relational database management systems
• Comparison of relational database management systems

It has been suggested that List of truly relational database management systems be merged into this article or section. ... It has been suggested that List of relational database management systems be merged into this article or section. ...

External links

• DB2 product family home page
• DB2 resources for developers
• An Expert's Guide to DB2
• Ambuj Goyal's IBM Research home page
• DB2noise.com - the Alternative DB2 community
• Blox Chronicles - DB2 Alphablox User's Blog
• DB2 Portal for Mainframe Users
• DB2 Developer's Guide