… and IBM launches DB2 Universal - DB2 Universal Database DBMS - Brief Article - Product Announcement

Software Magazine, Jan, 1997

Other major ORDBMS news at DB/Expo came from IBM, with the introduction of the DB2 Universal Database, a multimedia and Web-enabled DBMS that runs on both Unix and PC platforms. DB2 Universal is the marriage of DB2 Parallel Edition and DB2 Version 2, says Janet Perna, general manager of data management, IBM Software Solutions Division. According to Perna, the DB2 team has been working on ways to extend relational technology to handle other data types for the last 10 years. "Part of that research work was a portable, extensible product, or database engine, that we delivered as DB2 Version 2 in 1995," says Perna.

DB2 Universal Database will be able to scale from Unix to SMPs to MPPs, says Perna. The database will also have dynamic bitmap indexing, additional multidimensional database support and support for 64-bit memory. For the application developer, DB2 Universal will provide the capability to schedule backups and replication. The multimedia search capability that was made available in DB2 Version 2 is being integrated into the Universal Database as well. Internet connection will be possible through built-in JDBC support and IBM's Net.Data componentry.