IBM Updates DB2 Universal Database

Just one week after Oracle told the world that companies should base their file systems and Web sites on its next-generation database, IBM said it has a better idea--keep data where it is and provide links through the database.

And that's what the new release of DB2 Universal Database, unveiled yesterday on the one-year anniversary of its initial release, will offer. Through the new Data Links Manager in IBM's DB2 Universal Database 5.2, external files can be connected through links while maintaining the same referential integrity as though it were in the database, said Janet Perna, general manager, data management for IBM Software Solutions.

"Larry Ellison's view is that all data should move into the database--our view is that we want to link all data to the database wherever it resides," Perna said, adding that DB2 users have had the option of storing files natively in the database for over two years, but for the most part that model is not commonly used for storing traditional documents and Web content.

"If you happen to create the data and the tool creates it such that it's a relational database item, that's fine, [but not] if you're creating Web pages [or documents typically stored in file servers]," Perna said.

Probably true, said Bob Craig, a consultant at Hurwitz Consulting, but some shops may want to keep application logic, such as business rules, in the database. "If I'm going to have an application that has to enforce some business rules that are very closely tied to what I'm doing in the database, then the database is the best place to put those business rules," he said.

Oracle 8i, which debuted last week, will include the Internet File System for storing Web pages and documents in the database.

There is some common ground, however, between the two archrivals. Both Oracle and IBM have added Web servers to their databases. In the new release of DB2, IBM has integrated its WebSphere Application Server. In addition, IBM has added the Web Control Center, a Java-based component that lets users administer DB2 databases with a Web browser.

Performance improvements include support for larger database tables, connectivity to Microsoft Access, support for spatial data, and clustering extensions including integration with Intel's VIA clustering technology.

IBM officials touted that DB2 has grown 67 percent on Windows NT in the past year, and Perna said the company is not concerned about the forthcoming arrival of Microsoft's SQL Server 7.0. "It's a marketplace IBM would be crazy to ignore but it will be a tough haul, outside their installed base to extend into the NT base," Craig said.

In addition to Windows NT, the new release of DB2, which was available for AIX, OS/2, Solaris, HP-UX, is also now available on SCO UnixWare7 and SGI clients. The company also will support Linux by year's end. Pricing starts at $999 per server and $199 per user.

Among other features in the new database:

• Support for the SQLJ standard, for accessing static data from any Java-based client;

• Visual Warehouse 5.2, offering metadata management and support for third-party decision support tools;

• Intelligent Miner for Data Version 2.1, which includes a new Java-based interface, an improved data mining algorithm and now runs on Windows NT in addition to OS/390, AIX and Solaris;

• DB2 OLAP Server Version 1.0, which features performance and data loading improvements, and is now available on Solaris and HP-UX in addition to AIX, OS/2 and Windows NT.

  IBM also said it has released a version of DB2 Universal Database for its System 390 mainframes.

  Related Story:

  Oracle Unveils New Internet Computing Model   (September 14, 1998)