This Tuesday IBM is going to formally announce a new version of DB2, the first enterprise-ready wearable
database system (wDBMS, "DB2 Wearable" or "DB2W"). With mobile and wearable technology on the
rise and wearable computers getting more powerful, IBM is creating the enterprise market
for wearable database systems. The first version, which will be
called DB2 Wearable Workgroup Edition (WWE), is aimed at departmental
deployment. A DB2 Wearable Enterprise Edition and advanced editions
of both products are planned for 2015. An open beta is planned to start thissecond quarter of 2014.
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| Wearable Computers, Wikipedia |
The DB2 Wearable Workgroup Edition
enables small to mid-sized groups or departments to efficiently
manage their data on the go, embedded in fashionable housing. It is a
new form of fabric with mesh networking and storage. As
enterprise-ready dbms, a focus is on high-availability and
performance. All wearers of DB2 can be active, allowing a high degree
of productivity. If someone has to step out for a break, even ower
longer periods, other members of the availability group can take over
the workload. Proven algorithms taken from advanced DB2 pureScale
features have been employed.
Inter-node communication and transfer
rates have been a concern with early prototypes. Hence IBM Research
developed new prefetching and communication protocols. The so-called
“transparent early access method” (TEAM) has been an astonishing
breakthrough. With this TEAM communication in place an increase in
transfer rates by 20x and access rates by 80 percent has been
observed. To improve transfer rates with DB2 group members in short
range, data can be transmitted by simple handshake via RDMA 2.1.3
(really direct manual attention). Based on experience from first
customer tests, it is advised to wash hands regularly to reduce
transmission-related failures.
It is planned to improve energy consumption of DB2 Wearable over the next months (read: fixpack 1). Research is ongoing regarding
nutrition of DB2 group members. Generally, users of DB2 Wearable are advised
to focus on a healthy diet. Depending on the type of breakfast,
different endurance rates have been observed. Studies in a lab
environment show performance boosts after certain CAC (candy and
coffee) feeds. A best practices paper is in the final stages and will
provide details on right CAC mixes depending on group size, type of
workload, and office conditions.
Be sure to sign up for the DB2 Technology Preview once it becomes available this week. Your feedback on this new and exciting technology is important. I will keep you posted on new details when they emerge. Let me know if you have questions.