IBM Touts Self-Management Talents Of New DB2

IBM

Version 8 (see related story)adds a bevy of management and performance tools, including a new Health Center feature that gives DBAs automatic updates on system performance, flags problems in the database or application that rides on it, and alerts DBAs when a fix has been generated. The alerts can be sent via e-mail, pager, PDA or cell phone, IBM said.

Also new is a configuration advisor to detect hardware present, an online index reorg, an online buffer pool management and automatic XML schema validation and transformation using XSLT, said analysts who have been briefed. Also new is null and default compression and materialized query tables, said Mark Shainman, senior analyst with The Meta Group.

"DB2 version 8 addresses a key customer pain point--easing the cost and complexity of managing their data management infrastructure," said Janet Perna, general manager of IBM's data management group. "Advanced self-managing and self-tuning features in DB2 will enable customers to automate tasks and, in turn, reduce their total cost of ownership."

Database integrators say the trend toward smoother, more automated performance tuning and management is key. "Self-healing is an enormously big deal," said Chris Koontz, a member of Core-Techs, a database consultancy based in Greensboro, N.C. "Microsoft, to its credit, upped the bar with SQL Server 2000 with self-tuning and self-optimizing, in reducing the DBA's burden [of doing a lot of tuning out of the box. That's where IBM is trying to go and and maybe even leapfrog Microsoft."

Beta versions of DB2 Version 8 for Windows NT/2000, Linux and Unix will be available this week.

IBM said its database business is going gangbusters. A spokeswoman said data management revenue was up 33 percent and DB2 revenue increased by 11 percent for its most recent quarter. But, IBM does not provide raw numbers other than percentages.

"What's important [with Version 8 is that IBM recognizes that once they leave the glass house, databases have to be easier to run and use," said Mike Schiff, an analyst with Current Analysis, Sterling, Va.

Longer term, IBM faces some issues with its database strategy. For one thing, it still fields a large array of database code bases stemming from its acquisition last year of Informix, said Gartner analyst Betsy Burton. The company also needs to respond forcefully to marketing claims by Oracle, which is touting its own shared-everything architecture, Burton said.

Additionally, both IBM and Oracle are facing more competition from SQL Server 2000 on Wintel machines, which is starting to come into enterprise-class situations, others said.

"We're definitely seeing much more acceptance of SQL Server in the enterprise. It's definitely growing in scalability and acceptance, especially when you look at the new Intel platforms," said Shainman.