Db2 Basics: Getting Data Out of Db2
One of the things that learning a new platform (MySQL) has taught me is just how critical the most basic topics are, so I thought I’d do an overview of how to get data out of a Db2 (on Linux,…
Comparing Db2 and MySQL: Explain
The goal of this article is to to take one query and use the explain facilities of Db2 to walk through it, and then do the same with MySQL, and then show some of the optimizations I might make for…
Comparing Db2 and MySQL: NULL in Indexes
I’ve been spending some time working with indexes as I learn MySQL, and there were a few things I thought were were worth mentioning. As always, I’m writing from my own knowledge with deep experience in IBM DB2, and as…
Comparing MySQL and Db2: Table and Index Structure
I’ve spent some time understanding how MySQL structures tables and indexes, and wanted to share what I’ve learned. This is not the structure as created in the CREATE TABLE or CREATE INDEX statements, but how that data is generally structured…
The Most Shocking Differences I’ve Seen Between Db2 and MySQL (so far)
As I’ve been learning the details of MySQL, there have been a lot of similarities with Db2, and a number of differences. Some of those differences have been things I was expecting, while others have been a bit more shocking.…
SQL Anti-Pattern: Indexing Every Column Individually
Indexes are magic, right? Add one and magically the performance of a query improves. Well, not really. Each index has a cost, and thoughtful multi-column indexes will go a lot further than individual indexes. Let’s dig into the details. What…
RDBMS Concept: Buffer Pool
One of the things that learning a new RDBMS is teaching me is that there are some concepts that are common to RDBMSes. It is helping me to identify some of those concepts, and I learn a lot from the…
DBA Perspective: Open Source vs. Proprietary RDBMS
Moving from being a DBA on a proprietary RDBMS for 20 years to working on an open source RDBMS is teaching me a lot of lessons. Many of them are lessons I expected – remembering how and when to ask…
Cross-RDBMS Content?
The database conference organization I’ve focused on for most of my career – IDUG (International Db2 Users Group) is not interested in cross-platform content. Despite being a top speaker most conferences, they are not interested in content from me that…
Rollback Statements and the IBM Sterling Order Management System
There have been a few times in my career where I have been stunned by something I have seen while at work. Sometimes it was the good type of stunned. Like the first time first time I observed a truly…
My Early Experience Learning MySQL as a Db2 DBA
I’m a couple of months into working with MySQL, and thought I’d share some resources and thoughts on what I’m learning and what is working. At least half of that time was dedicated to a very in-depth onboarding process that…
When an Index is More Than an Index: Clustered Indexes
Many RDBMSes have similar structures and concepts. In this post, I’m going to compare and contrast IBM Db2’s concept of a clustered index and MySQL’s concept of a clustered index. Index vs. Clustered Index An index is generally a way…