(Howard Fosdick) No question about it, DB2 certification exams are challenging. Answering the questions correctly requires real thought. Answers are rarely obvious. Follow these test-taking tips (gleaned from discussions with dozens of IBM-certified DBAs) for an edge on any certification exam. (Alth

(Antonio Cangiano) IBM has just released the new version of DB2 Express-C, the free dataserver without any limits on database size or the number of users. It’s not been posted yet on the official page, but you can already download DB2 Express-C 9.5. Get the Linux version from here and the Windows ve

(Troy Coleman) Continuing on the theme of DB2 certification, let’s return to the planning section of the exam 730, “DB2 9 Fundamentals.” This section requires you to understand what tools are available, so we’ll review them and the menu options they fall under within the DB2 Control Center.

(Robert Crawford) Announced in August 2007, IBM’s mainframe operating system, z/OS 1.9, is now generally available. This release of the operating system has its share of large and small enhancements. What follows are the ones that caught my eye. If you want more information, I suggest reading the z/

(Chris Eaton) In my last entry I posted about the new Automatic Compression capability in DB2 9.5. In this posting I wanted to talk about inline XML as well as compression for XML.

(Amanda Watkinson and Chris Tomkins) This article begins with some background information on the purpose of SOAP headers and the different types available. Then it explains how SOAP headers are represented in IBM WebSphere Enterprise Service Bus as part of the service message object (SMO). After exp

(Craig Mullins) As we continue to wind our way through the multiple improvements that DB2 V9 brings to the IBM utilities, it is time to address the enhancements made to the REORG utility.

(Chris Eaton) I have written a number of blog postings on Compression in DB2 9.1 (just search my blog by putting the word Compression in the search box on the top right corner of this page to find them).

(David Beulke) Companies are realizing that “reduce, reuse, recycle” isn’t just a strategy to save our environment, it’s also a sensible strategy for business. IBM recently consolidated almost 4,000 servers in one of its data centers onto just 30 System z mainframes running Linux — a move it expects

(Ben Budiman, Joe Kidd and Johannes Schuetzner) With multi-tiered applications, there are often topologies with DB2 for z/OS as database backend and the application logic running on another platform like AIX, Linux or Windows. Using the DRDA protocol, the application remotely accesses DB2. An exampl