IBM Posts 'Stinger' DB2 Beta

The new release will incorporate LEO query optimization capabilities from IBM Research as well as automatic partitioning help.

"LEO dynamically looks at [query] results and how the query interacts with the data, learning from each interaction, so next time queries will run faster," said Bob Picciano, vice president of database technologies for IBM Software.(For more on LEO, see related story.)

Other "autonomic" features let the database perform and adjust its own maintenance cycles. "All of the utilities can be throttled back, so if they're running during a peak workload, they can be throttled down so they won't compete with the workload itself [for resources]," Picciano told CRN.

The beta cycle is expected to last six to nine months. The current DB2 version 8.1 shipped in November 2002.

IBM is positioning the latest database as an ideal embeddable technology for ISVs.

"With Stinger, we go a long way to help partners and ISVs develop solutions in their natural environment. They don't need to understand the nuances of DB2 to do it," Picciano said. The goal is that the database can disappear inside the ISV application but utilize its own autonomic features to optimize the installation and tune itself for best performance.

IBM executives have already promised extensive DB2 support for Microsoft's popular Visual Studio.Net toolset. "We've seamlessly added DB2 into palettes of developers for Visual Studio and Eclipse. If you point that Visual Studio palette at DB2, more features come along. You can be writing stored procedures in CLR [the Microsoft common-language runtime] and get more powerful context sensitive help," Picciano said.

In fact, Picciano claims the product, when it debuts some six to nine months from now, will offer tighter integration and support for the current Visual Studio.Net than Microsoft's own SQL Server 2000.

In fact, many observers see IBM moving heaven and earth to get this release out well in advance of the delayed Microsoft Yukon database or SQL Server 2005.

On the recent Microsoft third-quarter earnings call, CFO John Connors indicated that Yukon remains on track for release in the first calendar half of next year, but probably toward the end of that period.

With this release, IBM continues to pledge it will be development-tool- agnostic, offering support for both the Java-centric Eclipse and Windows-centric .Net toolsets. "With Stinger, in particular, you won't compromise on Java and .Net--you can do both well," said Peter O'Kelly, analyst with The Burton Group.

With Stinger's Eclipse and Visual Studio IDE plugins, developers are able to build DB2-based applications efficiently with their familiar tools, agreed Joshua Steffan, director of DB2 development for Quest Software, an Irvine, Calif., ISV partner. "IBM has also taken [its] DB2 SQL Procedure Language [SQL PL] a big step forward, which will drive development of applications that place processing logic in the database for performance gains," said Steffan. Quest will offer a DB2 version of its TOAD database administration and development tool timed to debut at the same time as the database itself, he said.

Accpac, an accounting software vendor, supports DB2 along with Pervasive SQL, Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle databases for its SMB customers. Stinger, with its more automated performance tuning and management features, is particularly well-suited for customers like this that do not typically field a lot of DBAs to monitor their applications, said Craig Downing, vice president of product management at the Pleasanton, Calif., company.

O'Kelly said IBM is well-positioned with its database dominance on mainframes as well as strong offerings both on Windows and Linux. "For future [sales] opportunities, two platforms matter: Lintel [Linux on Intel] and Wintel. On Windows, Microsoft has 50 percent market share and that will grow. Then the issue on Wintel is whether IBM or Oracle wins the non-Microsoft piece of that business. On Lintel, IBM, Oracle and MySQL are the contenders, he added.