Book Review: DB2 10.1/10.5 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows Database Administration: Certification Guide

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This is a practical book for everyday use. If you'll be working with DB2 for LUW Version 10.1 or 10.5, you should have a copy on your desk.

Reviewed by Troy L. Coleman

If you’re looking for a book that presents a well-rounded overview of DB2 for LUW and you’d like to know what’s new in versions 10.1 and 10.5, look no further. DB2 10.1/10.5 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows Database Administration: Certification Study Guide (Exams 611 and 311) can serve as a training guide for a beginner, a DB2 certification preparation tool for an advancing professional, or a reference guide for a database expert.

I like the flow of the chapters, starting with the topic of IBM DB2 10.1 Certification, which explains the different tracks—Database Administrator, Database Application Developer, Database Solution Development—and exactly which exams you need to pass in order to obtain the certificate.

What’s in the DB2 10.1/10.5 for LUW Study Guide?

This book also includes the following chapters with a few highlights of exam objectives:

DB2 Server Management

• Demonstrate the ability to create and manage DB2 instances
• Demonstrate the ability to view and modify DB2 system registry variables
• Demonstrate the ability to use automatic maintenance
• Demonstrate the ability to throttle utilities

Physical Design

• Demonstrate knowledge of SMS, DMS, and automatic storage table spaces
• Demonstrate the ability to create a DB2 database
• Demonstrate the ability to range partitioned tables and range clustered tables (RCTs)
• Demonstrate the ability to work with XML data and construct XML indexes

Business Rules Implementation

• Demonstrate the ability to create base tables that contain one or more constraints
• Demonstrate the ability to create and use triggers
• Demonstrate the ability to use the SET INTEGRITY command
• Demonstrate the ability to examine the contents of the system catalog tables

Monitoring DB2 Activity

• Demonstrate knowledge of the various monitoring tools available with DB2
• Demonstrate the ability to use the monitoring table functions to collect activity data and analyze it
• Demonstrate the ability to use the workload management table functions to validate the health and efficiency of your system
• Demonstrate the ability to use the Explain facility to capture and analyze both comprehensive Explain information and Explain snapshot data

DB2 Utilities

• Demonstrate the ability to understand data movement file formats in DB2
• Demonstrate the ability to use the REORKCHK and REORG commands to locate and remove fragmentation in table space containers
• Demonstrate the ability to use the Import utility to transfer data from an external file to a database table
• Demonstrate the ability to use the Continuous Data Ingest (CDI) utility to perform high-speed data loads into a database table

High Availability

• Demonstrate the ability to understand the various transaction-logging features
• Demonstrate the ability to configure a database log mirror
• Demonstrate the ability to configure HADR with ROS
• Demonstrate the ability to return a damaged or corrupt database to its previous state at any given point in time

DB2 Security

• Demonstrate the ability to identify the methods to use to restrict access to data stored in a DB2 database
• Demonstrate the ability to identify the authorization levels used by DB2
• Demonstrate the ability to identity the privileges used by DB2
• Demonstrate the ability to implement column or row permissions by using row and column access control (RCAC)

Connectivity and Networking

• Demonstrate the ability to understand the communications protocols within DB2
• Demonstrate the ability to configure connections between the DB2 database server and clients
• Demonstrate the ability to manage connections to System z and System i databases
• Demonstrate the ability to identify and resolve any client/server connectivity problems

DB2 10.5 Exam Crash Course

• Demonstrate the ability to configure DB2 workload for an analytics system
• Demonstrate the ability to use autonomic features in DB2 10.5 BLU Acceleration
• Demonstrate the ability to understand pureScale enhancements in DB2 10.5
• Demonstrate the ability to convert row-organized tables to columnar-organized tables

DB2 10.1/10.5 Questions Bank

DSFA Guidelines

• Understand what Database Services Flexible Architecture guidelines are and how they help provide the highest possible level of reliability, availability, scalability, and performance

Resources

Comprehensive DB2 Exam Preparation

The amount of information can be overwhelming, but the authors (Mohankumar Saraswatipura and Robert (Kent) Collins) do a good job of explaining the concepts and features, and they give examples of how it all works. You will find each chapter starting with a bullet-point list of topics that will be covered in the chapter. The concepts are explained, and then the authors provide the step-by-step instructions to complete the task. Many of the examples in the book use the standard line commands, and when available in Data Studio, the same step-by-step instructions are given using the rich GUI interface. You will find more than 50 step-by-step DB2 feature implementation procedures throughout the book.

Finally, at the end of each chapter is a summary of what was just discussed followed by a sample exam. I found having the sample exam very helpful to see whether I was retaining the material or needed to go back and review some topics when I didn’t quite understand or was just distracted and didn’t pay attention. Working through the practice exam helped to build my confidence in my knowledge of the exam topics; as a result, I feel I’m now better prepared to pass the exam. The sample exams are quite extensive, including more than 400 practice questions, with detailed answers and explanations at the back of the book.

One of my favorite chapters is chapter 10, DB2 10.5 Exam Crash Course, because it covers all the new, cool things delivered with DB2 10.5. If you’ll be working with large volumes of data and need to perform business intelligence analytics, then you will want to take advantage of the new DB2 BLU Acceleration. The other area I’m really interested in learning more about is pureScale, and the authors provide diagrams that help explain the architecture and what it takes to set up pureScale.

This is a practical book for everyday use. If you'll be working with DB2 for LUW Version 10.1 or 10.5, you should have a copy on your desk.

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