Book Review: DB2 11: The Database for Big Data and Analytics

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For anyone planning a DB2 11 upgrade or migration to capitalize on its superior technology advancements and the business values it brings, this book easily serves as a starting point.

Written by Prasad Mani

The book DB2 11: The Database for Big Data and Analytics offers a high-level overview of the latest version of DB2 11 for z/OS and insight into how it is strongly positioning itself to be ready for big data and analytics. Most importantly, it takes us through various perspectives, mainly technology, business, and cost, offering ample information about the significance of DB2 11 in the new era of data explosion.

It is a widely known fact that big data is already here, and it's here to stay. As an utmost need of the hour, every data/database management group in their respective organizations is already assessing or will soon have to assess whether their database platform is ready for data growth in terms of velocity, veracity, and volume and make sure that it is well positioned to offer seamless analytics support for making better business decisions. In Surekha Parekh's "Introduction to DB2 11" chapter, followed by Julian Stuhler's detailed write-up on how DB2 11 is ready for big data and analytics, you'll get first-hand information on the topics of efficiency, resilience, and business analytics.

The section called "Improved Query Performance" by Terry Purcell precisely talks about what we can expect in DB2 11 in terms of performance and how the DB2 Optimizer engine yet again is expected to offer savings right out of the box.

Lastly, as with any upgrade or migration plans, there is a need for a strong business case, especially around cost savings. The section on how DB2 can help reduce TCO, written by Cristian Molaro, offers a wealth of information. It is easily one of the most comprehensive TCO studies done around the latest version of DB2.

Other highlights of this book that deserve special mention are high-level information on how DB2 11 for z/OS tightly integrates with the z-Enterprise EC12 DB2 11 customer experiences, IBM internal testing results, and pictorial representations of how new features work, making them easy to understand.

I recommend this book for database technology managers, team leads, database administrators, and system programmers, and anyone else who is considering or evaluating platforms for big data and analytics and looking to understand how DB2 11 can seamlessly fit into that portfolio. For anyone planning a DB2 11 upgrade or migration to capitalize on its superior technology advancements and the business values it brings, this book easily serves as a starting point.

Disclaimer: The book review for DB2 11: The Database for Big Data and Analytics presented above is solely my opinion and is based on my knowledge and experience from working on various database technologies including DB2. It does not in any way reflect the opinions or positions of my employer or any of my clients.

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