IBM Db2 — June 2020 Update
Last month IBM announced that Db2 v11.5.4 is planned to be generally available on June 30, 2020. As in prior releases, each of the Db2 v11.5.4 editions have the same capabilities including BLU Columnar tables, Adaptive Compression, Encryption, and many more. Db2 v11.5.4 offers four Db2 editions, with the newly announced Db2 Base edition. Db2 Base Edition is intended for smaller deployments and has a limit of 8 cores and 64 GB RAM. Db2 Standard Edition has a limit of 16 cores and 128GB RAM, and Db2 Advanced Edition does not have limitations on cores, memory or storage. Db2 Community Edition is also available for unit testing or small test prototypes. Db2 v11.5.4 Community Edition has a limit of 4 cores, 16GB RAM and 100 GB storage. Additionally, Db2 v11.5.4 offers a 90 day trial, a try and buy with a simple license update!
For more information on Db2 v11.5.4, register for these webcasts hosted by the IBM Db2 Offering management team.
Replays will be listed in the monthly Db2 Offering Management Newsletter. Subscribe to the Db2 Technical Newsletter to keep up to date.
IBM Db2 teams and IBM Db2 users have always provided a plethora of Db2 documentation resources, which is fabulous! However, sometimes it can be challenging to find information on a specific topic when you need it. I have included links to the Db2 content that my clients request most often, along with a short description of it.
Communities:
The International Db2 User Group (IDUG) was started by a group of Db2 users over 30 years ago! They have conferences in North America and EMEA each year, along with Regional User Groups (RUGS). IDUG’s website, has great information for both Db2 and Db2 on z/OS. Members can attend webinars, post questions and receive answers from Db2 Users from all over the world using the IDUG listserv forum! Worldwide Db2 events are also posted on the listserv forum.
Another “go-to” favorite is the IBM Hybrid Data Management Community. Simply join any or all of the listed Communities of interest, along with the sub-communities called “Topic Groups”. There are over a dozen Db2 Topic Groups including Data Management Console, Db2 Early Access Program, and Database Conversion Workbench. New webinars and user group events are posted on the Db2 (On-Premises and Cloud) Topic Group Event page, so definitely join that one :) The IBM Communities site also has a notification feature that can be turned on to send daily or weekly updates.
World of Db2 is the Db2 Community site for Db2 z/OS and includes information on events, groups, and resources.
The IBM Developer site contains a wealth of information including a section on Db2 targeted to developers. It also includes Db2 tutorials.
Blogs:
Dean Compher has been writing about Db2 for years. His blog is a great source of information and updates on Db2. db2dean is also on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.
Ember Crooks is another wealth of Db2 information. Follow her fabulous blog and follow ember_crooks on Twitter.
Webinars:
DBI hosts regular Db2 webcasts and also has several replays available.
Data and AI webcasts and replays can be found at the data view show site.
IBM also has a site with demos of products, including Db2!
Useful Links:
The Db2 v11.5 Knowledge Center is one-stop shopping to find out release notes, command syntax, best practices, etc.
Prior to implementing or updating Db2, make sure you read the latest Db2 v11.5 Requirements.
The IBM support portal for Db2 contains APARs, Fix Packs, Flashes, etc.
Within the Support portal, drill down to locate information on:
- Db2 Fix Paks
- Update-able preferences for your Db2 notifications
- Where to Download Db2
IBM has numerous Youtube videos
The IBM Db2 “Requests for Enhancements” (RFE) process is a way to personally contribute your ideas! If there is a feature that is not available in Db2 yet, it can be requested for consideration at this site.
All of the Data and AI Planned Roadmaps openly available.
For “how to” questions, check out the db2-luw tag on Stack Overflow.
Db2 Drivers and Samples can be found on GitHub
Db2 Samples on GitHub can be very helpful!
Db2 Python drivers are also available on GitHub.
PHP driver download and information are on GitHib.
Along with Node.js driver information
eBooks
Quick start Guide to Db2 Development with Python
I hope this helps you in your journey with Db2 on-premises, on Cloud, on Cloud Pak for Data or wherever you would like to deploy Db2, your enterprise AI-ready database.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this publication represent those of the author and not of IBM.
