Blog

10 min read

An Intro to Database Design: Logical Database Design vs Physical Database Design

Get insights into a normalized data model with this intro to database design. We cover everything from logical to physical database designs, and more!

3 min read

When Not to Index

Every now and then I take the opportunity to blog about a question I get through e-mail. This time the question was: When does it make more sense not to build an index for a DB2 table?

12 min read

Sequence Objects and Identity Columns

When designing DB2 databases a frequently heard request is for a column that contains sequentially generated numbers. Learn more in this post.

6 min read

The Two Biggest DB2 Performance Things

Learn why the performance of applications is one of the bigger issues that end users complain about and how to fix DB2 performance.

3 min read

A Quick Intro to DB2 SQL Functions

Want to go over DB2 SQL functions at a basic level? This is a review for those who might not have used them before.

14 min read

DB2 Database Table Naming Conventions

What’s in a name? The establishment and enforcing of naming conventions is often one of the first duties to be tackled when implementing new software.

3 min read

To REBIND or Not to REBIND

There are two basic mindsets on when to REBIND your DB2 programs. The first — which I believe is the best approach — is to REBIND regularly after running RUNSTATS.

4 min read

Character Versus Numeric Data Types

Most DBAs have faced the situation where one of their applications requires a four-byte code that is used to identify products, accounts, or some other business object.

6 min read

Dynamic SQL and Performance

In this age of ERP/CRM systems, Java/JDBC programming, and web applications, all of which heavily rely on dynamic SQL, its use is becoming more ubiquitous.

3 min read

Intelligent Automatic Reoptimization?

Most seasoned SQL programmers know that when you use host variables, DB2 may not always come up with the absolutely most optimal access path at bind time.

4 min read

The Most Important Thing is Recoverability

Many DBAs think that managing performance is the most important thing they do, but they are confusing frequency with importance.

3 min read

Selecting Every Other Row

A recent question I received went something like this: “Can I get the odd and even number of rows from a DB2 table?” Learn the answer in this post.