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Wednesday, 28 September 2011

IBM announces Smart Analytics System 5710

Posted on 17:50 by Unknown
Last week (September 2011), IBM announced the Smart Analytics System 5710, which is a database appliance for business intelligence and data analytics targeted at the SMB market. The IBM Smart Analytics System 5710 is based on IBM System x, runs Linux, and includes InfoSphere Warehouse Departmental Edition and Cognos 10 Business Intelligence Reporting and Query.

The announcement of this appliance was somewhat lost in the shuffle of Oracle's marketing blitz for its similar Oracle Database Appliance, also announced last week. But IBM's offering is geared and pre-configured for quick deployment of analytics and business intelligence capabilities.

The IBM Smart Analytics System 5710 is powered by the InfoSphere Warehouse Departmental Edition which is built on a DB2 data server, and features Optim Performance Manager, DB2 Workload Manager, Deep Compression and Multidimensional clustering.

The IBM Smart Analytics System 5710 provides key capabilities of reporting, analysis and dashboards to enable fast answers to key business questions delivered as a cost-effective solution designed for rapid deployment. It allows users to quickly extract maximum insight and value from multiple data sources and deliver a consistent view of information across all business channels.

It also provides cubing services giving users a multidimensional view of data stored in a relational database. Users can create, edit, import, export, and deploy cube models over the relational warehouse schema to perform deeper multi-dimensional analysis of multiple business variables improving both profitability and customer satisfaction. Cubing services also provide optimization techniques to dramatically improve the performance of OLAP queries.

Additionally, the powerful, yet simple, data mining capabilities enable integrated analytics of both structured and unstructured data in the system. Standard data mining models are supported and can be developed via drag and drop in an intuitive design environment.

So what does it cost? For a such a rich collection of software, the starting price is just under $50K. Furthermore, the new offering is part of the IBM Smart Analytics System family, which consists of solutions that span multiple hardware platforms and architectures, including the mainframe (System z).
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Posted in analytics, InfoSphere | No comments

Thursday, 1 September 2011

DB2 10 for z/OS: For Developers Only!

Posted on 12:15 by Unknown
Today's blog post is to promote an upcoming FREE webinar that I will be delivering titled DB2 10: For Developers Only! The presentation is sponsored by the good folks at SoftBase Systems. and it will be conducted on Wednesday, September 14th, 2011, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm EST.



This presentation highlights the DB2 10 for z/OS enhancements that directly impact DB2 application developers. Every release of DB2 is chock full of new features and functionality and that can make it hard to focus on those things that are most helpful for programmers. So instead of scanning volumes of manuals, you can watch this presentation distills the DB2 10 information down to cover what should be most important to programmer/analysts.



Examples of areas this presentation will cover include:

• Binding issues and details for V10

• Temporal support with examples

• A new type of function

• New timestamp options and some improvements to existing SQL

• Implicit casting, access to currently committed data, and much more…



If you are a programmer wanting to learn more about DB2 10, or a DBA looking for the programmer’s perspective on DB2 10, this presentation should have something to offer you.



This is sort of a tradition for me... you may have heard me give a similar presentation for previous DB2 versions. Well, this webinar introduces a brand new presentation in this series, this time for DB2 Version 10...



So register today!

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Posted in V10, webinar | No comments

Wednesday, 24 August 2011

DB2 Symposium 2011 – Round Two

Posted on 07:57 by Unknown

Today's blog post is about the DB2 Symposium, a three day training event with one day seminars presented by well-known DB2 consultants. I was fortunate enough to be asked to participate this year by the primary organizer of the event, Klaas Brant. (Klaas is a respected DB2 consultant based in the Netherlands.). Earlier this year, the DB2 Symposium event was held in Dallas, TX and was well-received by attendees. So a second round is planned, this time in Chicago, IL!

What is the difference between DB2 Symposium and events like IDUG and IOD? Well, DB2 Symposium fills the gap between a conference and a multi-day training course. The DB2 Symposium is unique because you can participate for 1, 2, or 3 days, depending on your needs and budget.

Round two of the USA DB2 Symposium is happening soon, so you'll need to act fast if you want to participate. It occurs September 21-23, 2011 in the Chicago, Illinois area. More precisely, at the DoubleTree Hotel in Downers Grove, IL (in the Western suburbs of Chicago). Each day the training sessions start at 9.00am and end at around 5.00pm.

But registration on site is not possible, you must pre-register online... so plan ahead!

My session is on September 23rd and it is called DB2 Developer's Guide Comes Alive! This one day session, covers tips, techniques, and procedures you need to know in order to excel at administering and using DB2 on the mainframe. The material is based upon DB2 Developer's Guide, the best-selling DB2 for z/OS book on the market. Additionally, the course material will contain references to sections of the book for students to find additional material on each topic after the sessions. Topics to be covered will include:

  • A performance tuning roadmap for managing DB2 application, database and system performance. You will learn SQL coding and tuning techniques, guidance for database optimization and reorganization, coverage of buffer pool settings and parameters for performance.
  • Logical and physical database design recommendations for DB2, so you can build and maintain effective DB2 databases immediately. Includes discussion of standards, logical to physical translation, data types, usage of nulls, and more.
  • Information and guidance on BINDing and REBINDing, along with a discussion of the most important parameters.
  • Along the way we'll look at locking, access paths, statistics, indexing and more.
  • And even though the current edition of the book covers through DB2 V8, this course adds coverage of some of the newer features added to DB2 in versions 9 and 10 that can boost your productivity and performance.

If you own the book already, bring it along and I'll be happy to autograph it for you. And then you can use it along with the course materials... and if you don't own it already, you'll probably want to grab a copy after attending the seminar... you can always find a link to buy my books on the front page of my web site at http://www.craigsmullins.com.

So register for the DB2 Symposium today... and I'll see you in Chicago!

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Posted in conference, DB2 Developer's Guide, education | No comments

Tuesday, 23 August 2011

Plan to Attend IDUG This November to Improve Your DB2 Skills

Posted on 10:48 by Unknown

It is almost that time of year again, time for the annual European IDUG conference. And as anyone who has ever attended this conference can tell you, it will be chock full of news, education, and networking opportunities for DB2 programmers, DBAs, sysprogs, and users! And you can take advantage of great offers including FREE IBM certification training and DB2 migration workshops!

So be sure to register for the IDUG DB2 Tech Conference in Prague, Czech Republic, 13-18 November 2011, at the Clarion Congress Hotel Prague. If you register on or before 17 October 2011 and receive a discount of EUR 275.

IDUG is also extending the following special offers:

  • Multiple Delegate Discount

    For every three individuals who register from the same organisation, a fourth may attend at the discounted rate of EUR 730.
  • Mentor Program

    If you have attended three previous IDUG DB2 Conferences, you are eligible to bring a first-time colleague to Prague for an 80% discount off the full registration fee.
  • One-Day Educational Seminars - Friday, 18 November 2011

    Registration for paid full conference delegates is EUR 450; the cost for just the one-day seminar is EUR 495. Select from the following session topics:

    - DB2 10 for z/OS - In Depth, Phil Grainger, Cogito

    - DB2 Intermediate and Advanced SQL, Daniel Luksetich, Yevich Lawson & Assoc Inc.

    - I Didn't Know DB2 did THAT!, Bonnie Baker, Bonnie Baker Corporation

    - Optimising DB2 for z/OS System Performance Using DB2 Statistics Trace, John Campbell, IBM Corporation

    - Rocket Science: DB2 for LUW Performance Analysis and Tuning Workshop, Scott Hayes, DBI

Register Today!

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Posted in conference, IDUG | No comments

Friday, 12 August 2011

Do You Still Use That DB2 Program?

Posted on 10:11 by Unknown

A recurring problem for programmers and IT folks in general is determining whether or not a particular program is still required. As your organization grows and the number of programs increases, keeping track of them all can become quite difficult.

As administration and management burdens increase, a common desire is to get rid of programs that are no longer being used. But it can be difficult to determine which programs are no longer used.

You can always “ask around,” but few IT professionals would be willing to delete anything based on such a general tactic. Another common method is to review performance reports or extracts from a performance warehouse. But perhaps your performance traces are not turned on all the time.

The question is probably more common in DB2 environments because of the plans and packages that consume storage and "sit around" taking up space if their associated program is no longer being used.

Well, for DB2 professionals this type of question becomes easier to answer once you migrate to DB2 10 for z/OS. DB2 maintains a new column, LASTUSED, in the DB2 Catalog. The column exists in both SYSIBM.SYSPACKAGE and SYSIBM.SYSPLAN and is defined as a DATE data type. The date is changed when the package header is requested from EDM. The column is also maintained for triggers and stored procedures. After BIND (REPLACE) this column is reset to the default value (CURRENT DATE).

This is similar to the LASTUSED column added to SYSIBM.SYSINDEXSPACESTATS in DB2 9, which is used to show the last time an index was used.

Of course, you will have to give it some time –- because you might have a program that is used only rarely, yet still used. Most shops have queries and programs that run quarterly, or even annually, but nevertheless are very important. So don’t just start freeing packages a month after you’ve migrated to DB2 10!

But it is good to know that we now have additional usage information at our fingertips in the DB2 Catalog, isn’t it?

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Posted in DB2 10, packages, programming | No comments

Monday, 25 July 2011

Bad Database Standards

Posted on 09:26 by Unknown

Today's blog post is a metapost, of sorts. I am using my DB2 blog to point you to a series of posts I made in my other blog (Data and Technology Today). You see, I write for two blogs, this one that focuses on DB2 and mainframe topics, and another one on data and database management topics in general.

One of my more popular series of posts on Data and Technology Today was the one on bad database standards. The general idea of these posts is to dissect and criticize standards that are outdated, or simply wrong. The seven part series ran about a year ago and has generated a bunch of comments. And it will be useful to DB2 folks to read these posts, too.

So without any further ado, here are links to the seven bad database standards:

  1. Limiting the number of indexes.

  2. Too Many Columns!

  3. Limiting The Number of Tables in “Online” Joins

  4. Duplication of Data

  5. None Shall Pass!

  6. What’s In A Name?

  7. What Does Support Mean?

Take a moment to click through to these links and peruse the "bad" standards and, if you are so inclined, post a comment (either here on this blog, or over on the other one) to share your "favorite?" bad standards.


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Posted in standards | No comments

Tuesday, 19 July 2011

Updating DB2 Developer's Guide (6th edition)

Posted on 08:49 by Unknown
Just a brief blog post today to inform regular readers who might be concerned that I have not been blogging as frequently as in the past.

I am currently working on updating my book, DB2 Developer's Guide, for DB2 versions 9 and 10. This will be the sixth edition of the book and if all goes as planned, it should be available on IBM Press before the end of the year (2011).

Be sure to keep an eye on this blog and my web site (http://www.craigsmullins.com) for further details about the next edition of the book.
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Posted in DB2 10, DB2 9, DB2 Developer's Guide | No comments
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