SQL Server Magazine

This is not your father's database. IBM's latest server database release, DB2 Universal Database 5.2, still sports the high-tech equivalents of chrome bumpers and wood trim—but we're talking real wood here, and this machine definitely has more horsepower under the hood than you'd want your kids to drive around with.

The DB2 Heritage
In the mainframe world, IBM and database are almost synonymous terms. Various mainframe versions of DB2 store the data that the world's banks, stock exchanges, and airline reservation systems depend on. But on smaller systems, DB2 was never successful outside dedicated IBM shops.

Aside from providing a strong AIX (IBM's UNIX OS) version, DB2 for minicomputer OSs was a halfhearted effort. You could run it on non-IBM systems, but you really didn't want to because you could run Oracle or Sybase instead.

Over the past 3 years, that situation has changed. DB2 is leading IBM's charge into new markets, and nowhere is this advance more visible than in Windows NT-based organizations. IBM is now the only company other than Microsoft that offers a comprehensive server suite for NT. IBM's NT products have become more polished with each release.

Although IBM is a relative newcomer to the NT market, the company isn't bringing untried technology to the table. In the same way that Microsoft is merging all its OS technology into different versions of Windows 2000 (Win2K), IBM has merged its technology from many database projects into DB2.

IBM's DB2 5.0 release shipped in September 1997. That release was a huge event for the company because DB2 5.0 merged the mainframe-based optimizer and query-processor technology of DB2 Common Server 2.x with the raw performance of DB2 Parallel Edition 1.x, which ran exclusively on AIX. The result was substantially improved performance across the board for customers.

DB2 5.2 is now IBM's core database product for minicomputers. The product runs on Windows NT 3.51 or later, OS/2 Warp Server 3.0 or later, AIX, HP-UX 10.0 or later, SCO UnixWare 7.0, and Sun Solaris. IBM also offers a beta for Linux. The one-user Personal Edition of DB2 runs on Windows 9x. Even the AS/400 is moving from its version of DB2 to DB2 5.2 in third quarter 1999.

DB2's expansion to new OSs means NT users now have access to the best database technology that runs on NT. This statement is especially true insofar as performance and scalability are concerned.

In the ease-of-use category, DB2 5.2 is a solid performer. The product is easier to use than Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 and much easier to use than Oracle. However, Microsoft SQL Server 7.0, which came out in December 1998, sets a whole new standard for ease of administration, hands-off operation, and automatic self-tuning. Once again, no company in the database industry can touch Microsoft in these areas.

In terms of scalability, programmability, and multimedia data handling, Oracle and DB2 lead the pack; SQL Server 7.0 and Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise trail behind. You'll have to base your choice of a database product on your specific needs. I describe how DB2 5.2 performs, and you can determine how well it matches up with what you're looking for in a server database.

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