DB2 10.1 for LUW now online!

My alarm went off, I just tested that the DB2 Information Center for DB2 10.1 is now online. You can also now download DB2 trial editions or the free DB2 Express-C at this website. What more to say? To get hands-on experience and insight into the new edition, you can also take a look at where and when the free DB2 bootcamps are offered. The same applies of course to InfoSphere Warehouse and other related, updated products.

DB2 and important stuff my smartphone can do...

My smartphone can do a lot of cool stuff (and I won't tell you whether it is Android-based or an iPhone). I can make calls on it, I can check and write emails, get directions within cities I travel to, I can listen to music, take and watch pictures, use it for boarding airplanes or trains (mobile ticket), and I can read interesting blog posts on the upcoming DB2 10:

• Matthias Nicola on new XML features and enhancements in DB2 10
• Serge Rielau on more than 98% Oracle compatibility and on faster PL/SQL in DB2
• Dave Beulke on why DB2 10 for LUW extends IBM's DBMS leadership

Last but not least, my smartphone has two advanced features that I will use over the following days:
It has this tiny power button that I will use to turn it off over the weekend. And finally it has a calendar and alarm function: DB2 10 will be available on April 30th, this next Monday. My alarm is set, so I can download DB2, access the Information Center with details on the cool new stuff. Yes, DB2 is cool, too...

Consistency checks: Failed Groupon email

This morning I had the usual mix of emails in my private inbox: Filtered and unfiltered spams, some emails directly for me, and a set of marketing emails. When I wanted to delete an email sent by the German Groupon site, I spotted something that didn't make sense. My first reaction was to re-read the email, then to press the button to load the "remote content" (for safety and privacy reasons this is disabled by default). Now with pictures, the content still didn't make sense:

Screenshot of Groupon email

As a database guy and also lecturer my reaction was that this will be a great talking point when the topic of consistency checks and constraints is on the agenda again. But how to make sure, I can always access it and point others to it? Here we go... ;-)

Webcast: Architecting with XML and temporal data

You may have heard that the upcoming release of DB2 10 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows includes support for temporal data ("time travel queries"). You know for sure about the DB2 family and that we strive for compatibility across the family members. Thus, I recommend listening in to the upcoming webcast "Architecting with IBM pureXML and Temporal Data in IBM DB2 10 for z/OS". Even though it says DB2 for z/OS, most of it will apply to DB2 LUW as well.

IBM Distinguished Engineer Guogen Zhang will be the speaker next Tuesday, April 24th. You will learn about the following:

• Improving productivity, performance and regulatory compliance with XML and time-based data
• Automatically managing multiple versions of data
• Enforcing uniqueness over time
• Reducing query complexity and enhanced analysis of time-dependent events
• Eliminating hard-coding temporal logic into triggers, stored procedures, or home-grown applications

As I said, the webcast should be interesting and apply to those working with DB2 LUW, too.

New DB2 10 Bootcamps are coming

With the new version of DB2 we will be rolling out new free education classes for business partners and select customers. These so-called bootcamps, the DB2 10 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows Bootcamp, the DB2 10 Workshop for Oracle Professionals, and the DB2 for LUW Performance Tuning and Monitoring Clinic will have updated content to introduce or utilize the DB2 10 features.

If you are a business partner and want to get up to speed (and certified!) on the new DB2 10 features, including trying them out through hands-on labs, then the DB2 10 Bootcamp is something you should look into attending. Starting in May we will be teaching them worldwide. For us who teach these classes it will also be exciting as there are probably tons of new questions we have to deal with...

DB2 10.1 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows announced!!!

IBM today announced the next version of DB2, DB2 10.1 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows (the press release is here). If you, like I, worked with the new version already as part of the alpha and beta programs, you couldn't await talking about the great new features. Some of them are listed in the announcement letter.

I especially like the Row and Column Access Control (RCAC) that gives really fine-grained access control and allows to implement things like multi tenancy. Another great thing is multi-temperature data management that without lots of administrative overhead allows to automatically place, e.g., new data on fast (SSD) devices and then, over time, to move the data to slower, bigger, and less expensive devices. With that the most frequently accessed data, e.g., your recent bank transactions, is on fast devices.

What will be new according to the annoucement is an increase of the memory limits for the DB2 Express-C, Express, and Workgroup editions, i.e., allowing you to do more with the free and entry-level editions.

DB2 10.1 will be available later this month. Take a look at the annoucement and read yourself.

BTW: There are more product annoucements today, covering InfoSphere Warehouse, Replication, DB2 Connect and other related products. You can read them here.