DB2 Product Fundamentals

In This Chapter

[check] DB2 for z/OS

[check] DB2 for Linux®, UNIX® and Windows®

[check] DB2 middleware, connectivity, and information integration

[check] DB2 application development

[check] DB2 administration

This chapter introduces you to IBM's DB2 family of products for System z®, System i®, Linux, UNIX, and Intel® platforms. DB2 has the ability to store all types of electronic information — traditional relational data and Extensible Markup Language (XML), as well as structured, semi-structured, and unstructured information; documents and text in many languages; graphics, images, and multimedia (audio and video); and application-related objects, such as engineering drawings, maps, insurance claims forms, and numerical control streams. In this chapter, we introduce IBM's DB2 and related Information Management products and describe some of the features and functions of each offering.

The DB2 product family is an important part of IBM's Information Management software portfolio, which integrates data and enterprise content to leverage information on demand. Popular Information Management tools include Rational® Application Developer for WebSphere® for developing Java programs or components; Rational Developer for zEnterprise™ for developing traditional C/C++, COBOL, Java, and PL/1 programs; Rational Data and Application Modeling for data and applications development; and Tivoli® software for distributed systems management.

As for application server software, IBM offers several types of servers depending on the business requirement, from message queuing with WebSphere MQ to Java-based transaction processing with WebSphere Application Server. The most popular IBM software servers are its data servers, specifically the DB2 family.

The DB2 family executes on pervasive devices and on mainframe, midrange, Linux, UNIX, and Intel servers. Supported operating environments include z/OS, VSE/VM, IBM i, OS/400®, AIX®, HP-UX, Linux, Solaris, and Microsoft Windows. To ensure maximum performance, the DB2 code base is optimized for each platform. Common to all platforms is the SQL API, permitting applications written on one platform to access data on any platform. Internally, DB2 on z/OS, VSE/VM, and IBM i differs from DB2 on the Linux, UNIX, and Intel platforms, but the common SQL API enables applications to work together. The DB2 code base on Linux, UNIX, and Intel platforms is the same. DB2 provides seamless database connectivity using the most popular network communications protocols.

DB2 and the On Demand Business

The DB2 family of database products is part of the IBM DB2 software brand. With respect to leveraging IBM information assets, this group of products has expanded to include Cognos®, Information Management System (IMS™), Informix®, InfoSphere® Optim™, Netezza®, and SolidDB® database products; a variety of tools; and products in the areas of business analytics, information integration, and content management. In addition, DB2 incorporates an optimized management of both relational and XML data.

As a core component of IBM's Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) direction, DB2 is a catalyst for delivering applications that directly impact a company's operations. SOA technology enables organizations to quickly develop solutions based on loosely coupled software services that can use independent technologies. Common applications in this area include electronic commerce, enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), supply chain management (SCM), and content management (CM). DB2 as the database is an integral part of this service.

Today's companies face several major business challenges, including continuous change, rigorous competition, financial pressures, security and compliance issues, and unpredictable risks. Information integration involves business modeling, process transformation, application and information integration, access, collaboration, security, compliance, and business process management. Implementing these elements lets companies further integrate their people, processes, and information. Infrastructure management, another challenge, includes areas such as availability, security, optimization, business service management, and resource virtualization. Addressing these areas of the business lets companies optimize and simplify their infrastructure.

Focusing on the database, we see business challenges manifested through unpredictable workloads with reduced problem tolerance, business partners of all types with evolving language standards, increased real-time decision making, continuous growth in size and form of data, and skyrocketing systems complexity. Successful management of the integration and infrastructure is critical. Successful application development and the ability to thrive in today's on-demand world will, to a significant degree, be determined by how well the organization is able to meet information challenges at the database level. Using IBM's mainframe and DB2 for z/OS, you can reduce cost and complexity in your IT infrastructure, simplify compliance, and leverage your core asset: your data.

The DB2 Product Family

The DB2 family of products spans many platforms that can coexist in a distributed environment.

• DB2 for z/OS. This hybrid relational and XML database management system is the largest of the DB2 family, often serving as an enterprise server handling many transactional systems (including e-business), content management, enterprise resource management, business intelligence, and mission-critical systems. The DB2 for z/OS offering is most often used to support the very largest databases and the highest transaction rates. Utilizing IBM's latest hardware platforms — z990, z890, z9®, z10™, and z196 — with DB2 and today's innovative programming models, you can derive new value from mainframe data and applications. With the wealth of corporate data on the mainframe, you can leverage open standards and advanced virtualization capabilities in other IBM products to help position the platform as a data hub for the enterprise.

• DB2 for i. DB2 for i provides a common database architecture in that many of...