DB2 is a family of relational database software solutions offered by IBM. It includes standard Db2 and Db2 Warehouse editions, either deployable on-cloud, or on-premise.
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Percona Server for MySQL
Score 9.7 out of 10
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Percona Server for MySQL is a free, compatible, enhanced, open source drop-in replacement for MySQL. Percona states it provides superior performance, scalability, and instrumentation. Boasting over 5,300,000 downloads, Percona Server’s self-tuning algorithms and support for high-performance hardware delivers excellent performance and reliability Percona Server for MySQL delivers enterprise-grade features and higher uptime, along with a number of key benefits that…
I have primarily used it as the basis for a SIS - but I have migrated more than a few systems from there database systems to DB2 (Filemaker, MySQL, etc.). DB2 does have a better structural approach, as opposed to Filemaker, which allows for more data consistency, but this can also lead to an inflexibility that can sometimes be counterintuitive when attempting to compensate for the flexibility of the work environment as Schools tend to have an all in one approach.
It is a good tool to carry out tests that measure the level of effectiveness of the database and it behaves well when, at the project level, we need to process large volumes of data in a massive way. It is not an optimal solution for applications oriented to the distribution of data between different machines.
DB2 maintains itself very well. The Task Scheduler component of DB2 allows for statistics gathering and reorganization of indexes and tables without user interaction or without specific knowledge of cron or Windows Task Scheduler / Scheduled jobs.
Its use of ASYNC, NEARSYNC, and SYNC HADR (High Availability Disaster Recovery ) models gives you a range of options for maintaining a very high uptime ratio. Failover from PRIMARY to SECONDARY becomes very easy with just a single command or windowed mouse click.
Task Scheduler ( DB2 9.7 and earlier ) allows for jobs to be run within other jobs, and exit and error codes can define what other jobs are run. This allows for ease of maintenance without third party softwares.
Tablespace usage and automatic storage help keep your data segmented while at rest, making partitioning easier.
Ability to run commands via CLI (Command Line Interface) or via Control Center / Data Studio ( DB2 10.x+) makes administration a breeze.
A distributed database offering to scale writes with native sharding. Currently we make use of sharding managed by the application to scale writes. There is the option to place ProxySQL in front of the shards, but we need a true cloud native distributed option with an easy migration path. I would not say this is negative in terms of Percona Server for MySQL, but if Percona had a distributed database offering at some stage, we would follow Percona.
The DB2 database is a solid option for our school. We have been on this journey now for 3-4 years so we are still adapting to what it can do. We will renew our use of DB2 because we don’t see. Major need to change. Also, changing a main database in a school environment is a major project, so we’ll avoid that if possible.
You have to be well versed in using the technology, not only from a GUI interface but from a command line interface to successfully use this software to its fullest.
I have never had DB2 go down unexpectedly. It just works solidly every day. When I look at the logs, sometimes DB2 has figured out there was a need to build an index. Instead of waiting for me to do it, the database automatically created the index for me. At my current company, we have had zero issues for the past 8 years. We have upgrade the server 3 times and upgraded the OS each time and the only thing we saw was that DB2 got better and faster. It is simply amazing.
The performances are exceptional if you take care to maintain the database. It is a very powerful tool and at the same time very easy to use. In our installation, we expect a DB machine on the mainframe with access to the database through ODBC connectors directly from branch servers, with fabulous end users experience.
Easily the best product support team. :) Whenever we have questions, they have answered those in a timely manner and we like how they go above and beyond to help.
With the other two mentioned above, I needed to have processes and frameworks that executed outside of the environment driving DB management operations. Yes, these are completely different solutions; however, the support you get for framework, library, and language support allows for runtime at a different layer than with other solutions.
Performance and stability sets Percona Server for MySQL apart from the rest. Percona embraces the upstream version and contributes towards the upstream version making MySQL stronger on two fronts and thus having a much larger community. Many quality contributions have been made by Percona into the base code. Percona provides great tools to support Percona Server for MySQL and this makes the monitoring and management easier
DB2 can be configured and can work with a variety of applications as opposed to how it was designed initially to only with with IBM mainframes. It's easy implementation process makes it a good buy for many organizations to scale their applications to be the best in terms of versatility, resilience and application performance
