Product Overview
- DB2 Universal Database
- DB2 Middleware and Connectivity
- DB2 Application Development
- DB2 Administration
- DB2 Data Management Tools
This chapter introduces you to the DB2 Universal Database (DB2 UDB) family of products for S/390, zSeries, UNIX, and Intel platforms. DB2 has the ability to store all kinds of electronic information: traditional relational data as well as structured and unstructured binary information; documents and text in many languages; graphics; images; multimedia (audio and video); information specific to operations like engineering drawings, maps, insurance claims forms, numerical control streams; and any type of electronic information. This chapter illustrates some of the ways to access data in a DB2 database using some of the interfaces provided with the products. A description of each DB2 product is provided to illustrate some of the features and functions.
The DB2 database is an important part of IBM's e-business software portfolio. The e-business Application Framework (see Figure 1-1) provides an open blueprint on how to build e-business applications. Popular IBM e-business tools include Visual Age for Java for developing Java programs or components 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 (MQ) software to Java-based transaction processing with WebSphere Application Server.
Figure 1-1. The e-business Application Framework.
The most popular IBM software servers are its database servers, specifically the DB2 family.
The DB2 family executes on pervasive devices, Intel, UNIX, AS/400, and mainframe platforms (OS/390, z/OS, and Linux). Supported operating environments include OS/2, Windows 95/98/2000/NT, Linux, AIX, Hewlett-Packard's HP-UX, Sun Microsystems' Solaris, NUMA-Q, OS/400, VSE/VM, OS/390, and z/OS. The DB2 code base is optimized for each platform to ensure maximum performance. The SQL API is common to all platforms, which allows applications written on one platform to access data on any platform. Internally, DB2 on OS/400, VSE/VM, and OS/390 differ from DB2 on the UNIX and Intel platforms, but it is the common SQL API that enables applications to work together. The DB2 code base on Intel and UNIX platforms are identical.
DB2 provides seamless database connectivity using the most popular network communications protocols, including NetBIOS, TCP/IP, IPX/SPX, named pipes, and Advanced Program-to-Program Communication (APPC).
DB2 and E-Business
As a core component of IBM's e-business cycle, DB2 is a catalyst for delivering applications that transform a company's operations (see Figure 1-2). Transform is the process that takes a business to an e-business; common applications in this area include electronic commerce, enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), and supply chain management (SCM). Build is the process of exploiting the integrated Java and multimedia features of DB2. Run is the part of the e-business cycle that ensures performance and scalability; this is especially important with the new Internet-based companies. Finally, with respect to leveraging data assets, DB2 offers a variety of business intelligence tools to enable end users to make more effective business decisions.
Figure 1-2. The e-business cycle.
In leveraging information in an e-business environment, IBM's Enterprise Information Portal (EIP) provides a secure foundation for a single point of access to diverse information, business processes, and expertise. Figure 1-3 shows the high-level integration of the EIP. Today's high demand for complete and correlated information requires portal access not only to structured transactional and warehouse data, but also to a broader range of content, including XML, HTML, host computer-generated output, images, and audio/video. The IBM Enterprise Information Portal offers access to business data from sources such as spreadsheets, document libraries, company literature, databases, data warehouses, and unstructured information from Web pages. The information can also be searched using parametric or contextual search technologies, with results aggregated across multiple sources and relevant information presented in a context tailored to the user's needs.
