Query execution plans play a crucial role in identifying performance bottlenecks within an IBM Db2 database. When a query is executed, the d...

In this 7th, and final installment of this series on influencing the DB2 optimizer's access path choices, we will take a look at a coupl...

Today's blog offers up yet another Top Ten list for DB2 users, perusers, and abusers... This time counting down the most common myths th...

Today's blog post is about a great symposium dedicated to the topic of DB2. It is called, appropriately enough, the DB2 Symposium . DB2 ...

After publishing the last blog post here on the topic of pesky problems that crop up when dealing with nulls, I received a comment lamenting...

A null represents missing or unknown information at the column level. A null is not the same as 0 (zero) or blank. Null means no entry has b...

Lock avoidance is a mechanism employed by DB2 for z/OS to access data without locking while still maintaining data integrity. It prohibits a...

Just started a new series on bad standards over on my Data Management Today blog. Check it out when you get a chance and share your favorit...

Database administration is a very technical discipline, but it is also a discipline in which the practitioner is very visible politically wi...

Availability requires much more than just having a reliable hardware and database platform. Most companies cannot afford significant downtim...

One of the fun things about publishing is getting questions from readers that make you think. A recent question I received went something li...

Here is a question that was posed to me recently: Q : We have a CHAR(10) column that cannot contain alphabetic characters. How can we make ...

If you live in or around Birmingham, Alabama or Dallas, Texas or Phoenix, Arizona I will be in your neck of the woods the next two weeks spe...

Table expressions are frequently overlooked as a potential solution for resolving problems using only SQL. Table expressions can be used to ...

I was going through the many random files stored on my PC when I came across this useful nugget. A year or so ago a reader sent me this code...