IBM continues to focus on improving index management, with a goal of reducing the overall cost of storing and retrieving data from DB2 by helping customers avoid I/Os.
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Posted: December 09, 2014 |
While I've spent most of my career with DB2 for z/OS, I did work on DB2 for LUW for a few years. So I know what it's like to jump to a new environment. I understand that the terminology and architecture can be confusing when you're starting out. With this in mind, I've collected some resources that provide a helpful introduction for those who are new to DB2.
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Posted: December 02, 2014 |
Last week I wrote about defining, authorizing and using user-defined global variables. This week I'll introduce and explain the built-in global variables that are delivered with DB2 11.
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Posted: November 25, 2014 |
Standard query language (SQL) is used by applications to access and process data stored in relational databases such as DB2. It's common for an application to process some data and pass information to another program so it can process the same data. Using global variables -- now available with DB2 11 for z/OS -- minimizes this type of data movement, thus reducing your CPU usage.
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Posted: November 17, 2014 |
Over the years I’ve written about the EXPLAIN command how it can be used to capture information with SQL statements. Last week I reviewed some of the EXPLAIN tables and explained how information in these tables can be to help improve performance and lower data access costs.
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Posted: November 07, 2014 |
EXPLAIN tables are designed to help you diagnose what DB2 is doing to access the data. With each DB2 release, IBM increases the amount of EXPLAIN analysis information available through these tables.
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Posted: November 03, 2014 |
While I've often written about the value of IBM Redbooks, I was surprised when a friend recommended I check out "IBM DS8870 with Firmware Release 7.3 Product Guide."
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Posted: October 27, 2014 |
Recently I was asked about running SQL and DDL in batch rather than ONLINE using SPUFI. DB2 is delivered with some sample programs that support running DDL or SQL in batch. These programs are called DSNTIAD, DSNTEP2 and DSNTEP4, and detailed information about them can be found in the Utility Guide and Reference manual.
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Posted: October 21, 2014 |
DB2 for z/OS includes a set of directory tables, which are internal tables stored in a system database named DSNDB01. These tables are "internal" because they're intended strictly for DB2 use. However, DBAs can gather key information -- such as listing active or stopped utility jobs -- from directory tables.
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Posted: October 14, 2014 |
As I've mentioned several times over the years, when I research DB2 for z/OS topics, I'll generally start by visiting the online library and downloading any manuals that have changed. Here's my latest finding: almost every manual in the DB2 for z/OS library -- including DB2 9, 10 and 11 -- has been updated in the past two months. So rather than list the manuals that changed, I'll simply advise you to go to the library and download anything that's been updated as of August 2014.
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Posted: October 07, 2014 |
