What is IBM DB2 – Everything About DB2

Introduction to What is IBM DB2:

DB2 provided by IBM is a Relational Database Management System, which means DB2 is a collection of various computer programs to perform a particular type of task. The main purpose of DB2 is to control the analysis and storage of data in a much better way. It was initially designed to run on IBM Mainframe platform only. Later it is ported to other popular platforms like Windows, Linux and Unix. DB2 is a high performance database, which is able to manage a large size of data. It can handle a wide variety of data like research experiments results, locations.

MVS (Multiple Virtual Storage) server is used to run DB2. This server encompasses backup and recovery utility and provide great security. The main function of DB2 is to manage data that need to be store securely, and the data that are to be analysed and manipulated interactively. Moreover, DB2 provides all basic facilities, which are provided by other databases, such as data input, data storage, data extraction and data update.

Latest Version of DB2: The latest version of DB2 released by IBM is DB2 10.5 named as Kepler, runs on Linux, Unix and Windows.

Why use DB2?

The features of DB2 make users use DB2 in routine. Now, What are those features, are discussed below:

1. Supports Multiple Platform:
   Initially DB2 was designed for IBM Platform only. After that a new version of DB2 is released that run on other platforms also such as Unix, Linux. This database has the ability to run on many available platforms, which is not offered by many other databases. As it can run on various platforms, it produces better performance and provide more reliability than others.
2. Hashing For Fast Data Access:
   Hashing is a technique used to find location of data in database by matching key to the physical location of the row that contains data. DB2 take advantage of this hashing technique for better access of data and helps in saving CPU time.
   DB2 also take advantage of index concept for faster access of data. In this technique an index is assigned to each column and offers better access to data in the database.
3. Offers Better Security:
   The latest version of DB2 provides better security than others. With the help of SYSADM (System Administrator) and DBADM (Database Administrator), DB2 offers any kind of data access security.
   It offers more flexible security, which helps in separating duties to be performed, administrators can work without any fear of losing access to data and able to control access of data in much simpler way.
4. Minimize Administration Cost:
   DB2 allows users to support their business rather than distributing the database system with the help of new features like response file installation. Moreover, features like memory allocation helps in minimizing the time required to administer and tune the database
5. Better Supports of Vendors:
   DB2 is having much better supports of IBM. DB2 is a continuously growing database, as it has kept on increasing features after features over the years. Various software updates after a complete testing is offered by IBM. The main reason of DB2 popularity is high quality support provided by IBM to it. The research and development team of IBM is still working on DB2 to make it as the ideal choice for RDBMS.

How to Setup DB2 Database?

To set up a DB2 database, one need to follow the below mentioned instruction carefully:

1. First, a user need to log on to the system, using the local administrator account.
2. In case of DVD of product, insert it into the DVD drive and run it.
3. If you have downloaded the DB2 database product, run the executable files.
4. After that, double click on the icon of setup to start launching it.
5. Now, you see the installations requirements and releases, you can read them or directly proceed to installation.
6. After that click on Install a Product option and current status window is displayed in front of you.
7. In case of no existing DB2 database, click on Install New option and complete the installation by following the DB2 setup wizard’s prompts.
8. In case of existing DB2 database, you can choose any two:
   Click on Install New option to create a new copy
   Click on Work with Existing option to update the previous one
9. DB2 Setup will automatically detect the system language and complete your installation in that language. You are allowed to click cancel button to end installation any time.
10. In case of any Online help, click on Help option or press F1.

Basic Commands of DB2

In this section the basic set of DB2 commands is discussed. This set of list for DB2 helps a user in getting start with DB2. The list of basic commands is discussed below:

• To Manage Database
  For managing database, further there are three more categories which are explained one by one.
  • Create Database In DB2
  • To Start And Stop DB2
• To work with schemas
  Working with schemas is important task in any database. How schemas are created and used are discussed below:
  • Create New Schema
  • Grant Privileges
  • Obtain Schema Users
• Details about databases and tables
  To get any information about database and database connection, perform the commands mentioned below:
  • Connect With Database
  • Information About Tables
  • Information About Database
    To list databases:
    Database names without titles:

FAQs on DB2

• What is DB2 fact table?
  The DB2 fact table is a central table in star schema, stores lots of information and always denormalized.
• How to check version of DB2?
  To check the version of DB2, a user need to run the db2level and dblicm -l. It will provide all the information related to products such as version and build number.
• Does it support Linux Platform also?
  Yes, a user can run it on Linux platform and it supports Unix and Windows also.
• What is DB2 full form?
  The DB2 is a family of relational database management system and its full form is DataBase2.

Conclusion:

DB2 is a database service provided by IBM. It provides various different services which make user use it. Now, the latest version of DB2 supports multiple platforms. Keeping the problems faced by beginners with DB2, we have discussed the procedure to build setup with DB2 database and all basic commands to start with DB2.