Db2 Month
The Backbone of Resilience: Mainframe DBAs and the Modern Db2 Experience
Enterprise systems don’t stay online by accident. Behind every seamless ATM transaction, insurance policy update, or healthcare claim processed in milliseconds, there’s a mainframe running—and behind that mainframe, a database administrator (mainframe DBA) ensuring...
Caching Query Results with QuickSelect Improves Db2 z/OS Workload Performance
In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, the ability to access and process data as quickly as possible is of utmost importance for businesses striving to gain a competitive edge. As such, a significant trend in the database world is utilizing memory for more types of...
What Db2 for z/OS People Should Know About Data Fabric
"Data fabric" is an increasingly hot topic in IT circles, and with good reason—an effectively implemented data fabric can deliver significant dividends by enabling an organization to get more value from its data assets. Db2 for z/OS people should have some familiarity...
All About zIIPs
If you work with Db2 then you need to know about the IBM zIIP specialty processor. This is true whether you are a DBA or a developer... and, let's face it, if you work on a mainframe in any capacity, you'll want to know at least something about zIIPs. With that in...
What Should a Modern Db2 for z/OS Client-Server Application Environment Look Like?
The distributed data facility (aka DDF) is the component of Db2 for z/OS that enables data access by applications that connect to Db2 via TCP/IP communication links. DDF has been around for over 30 years, but especially during the past 10 years or so DDF workloads...
Db2 for z/OS: The Online Path from a Partition-by-Growth Table Space to Partition-by-Range
Last month, I posted to this blog an entry on the long-awaited capability to migrate tables, in an online way, from a multi-table segmented or simple table space to multiple single-table partition-by-growth table spaces (a capability delivered with function level 508...
The DB2Night Show #246: Db2 Advanced Log Space Management – Unleashed
Show Host Martin Hubel Commentary Michael did a great job in providing an important update for log management. Search #DB2Night to learn more. Get the Download Replays To download a recorded replay of Episode 246 in WMV format:"Episode 246, 10 Jun 2022, Db2 Advanced...
Time to Download the Db2 13 for z/OS Manuals!
Yesterday I posted a brief piece about the new version of Db2 for z/OS that is now generally available: Db2 13 for z/OS is Here! It is always an exciting time when a new version of Db2 for z/OS is unleashed on the world and one of the first things I recommend is to...
Db2 Month
Db2 for z/OS: Clearing Up Some Matters Pertaining to PGSTEAL(NONE) Buffer Pools
I have written a few entries for this blog in which I provided information about Db2 for z/OS buffer pools defined with PGSTEAL(NONE), including one from a few years ago in which I differentiated the PGSTEAL and PGFIX buffer pool specifications, and another...
Where do Db2 Containers Come From and How are they Used
In my last post, I wrote an overview of running Db2 in containers. Today, I’d like to talk a bit about where we get Db2 containers and several common ways they are used. Catch my next post about a critical mistake I think IBM is making with containerization. Ways...
The Developer-DB Love-Hate Relationship
There’s a reason why database administration or engineering remains a separate specialty. There are a large number of rabbit holes you can go down. I’m well aware that there’s probably 40% of Db2 LUW alone that I don’t know, even though I’ve spent 20 years working...
Accelerating Your Db2 Database
Your Db2 database The IBM mainframe and its Db2 database is the transaction processing workhorse for the world’s biggest banks, insurers and financial services companies. It was designed to execute their high-intensity transaction processing workloads very...
Db2 for z/OS EXPLAIN: What an Access Path Is, and What it Would Be
The EXPLAIN functionality of Db2 for z/OS, by which the query optimizer's access path determinations are externalized, has been around as long as I can remember, and Db2 people, by and large, are familiar with the concept. In recent weeks, however, I discovered that...
Db2 12 for z/OS Buffer Pools – Recommendations for PGSTEAL, PGFIX and FRAMESIZE
Not too long ago, I received a note from the leader of a Db2 for z/OS database administration team, asking for my take on a Db2 12 buffer pool configuration set-up that his team had devised. An interesting characteristic of the configuration was the use of the options...
Removing Duplicates From a List in Elixir
Thanks to the Enum module, in Elixir we can trivially remove duplicates from a list. In the following example, we take a list of integers and pass it to the Enum.uniq/1 function which removes duplicates from the list without altering the original...
Developing with Elixir/OTP Course Review
Ruby was the first programming language I truly fell in love with. Yes, I had used several others before (and have since), but Ruby was and still is something dear to me. I can appreciate the usefulness of Python, the simplicity of Go, and the mind-expanding nature of...
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Upcoming Events
Events
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Virtual Db2 User Group | My All-Time Db2 Top Ten Lists
Virtual MeetingDate: November 17, 2026 - 11:30am ET Presenter: Craig Mullins What do Db2 performance, application development, database administration, and David Letterman have in common? Top Ten lists, of course! Join […]
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Virtual Db2 User Group | November 17, 2026
Zoom - Virtual Meeting -
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Virtual CICS User Group | Latest Update on Security in CICS TS 6.3: The Journey to Zero Trust
Zoom - Virtual MeetingCICS has been advocating zero trust principles and introducing security-focused enhancements since CICS TS 6.1. This session will explore the latest security capabilities available in CICS TS 6.3 and how […]
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Virtual IMS User Group | December 15, 2026
Zoom - Virtual Meeting
Agentic AI on the Mainframe
It’s AI month at Planet Mainframe, and for Round Two of our Trivia Challenge, we’re turning to agentic AI. On the mainframe, this emerging technology is moving beyond answering questions and generating code. Agents can interpret goals, reason through multi-step...
Risk and Compliance Portfolio for IBM Z Environments, IBM Z Datathon, and more
Rocket Software Launches Rocket® z/Assurance™, a Risk and Compliance Portfolio for IBM Z® Environments IBM Z Datathon: Build AI for Good. In 24 Hours. At Global Scale. Broadcom 2026 North American Mainframe Technical Exchange LTM Collaborates with IBM and Red Hat on...
❓Think You Know Mainframe AI
Mainframes have powered intelligent decisions for decades. Today, artificial intelligence (AI) takes that role further – spotting fraud as transactions happen, anticipating workload demands, helping developers understand legacy code, and strengthening system...
Next-Generation Dual-Architecture Processor, Advances in AI Enablement for Application Modernization, and more
IBM Unveils Next-Generation Dual-Architecture Processor for IBM Z and LinuxONE BMC Survey Finds 94% Confidence in the Mainframe as Enterprises Scale AI With Human Oversight Rocket Software Advances AI Enablement for Application Modernization Across Mission-Critical...
Partnership to Accelerate Secure AI Deployment, Introduction of New Agentic Modernization, and more
IBM Partners with OpenAI to Accelerate Secure AI Deployment for Enterprises Across Core Operations Kyndryl Introduces New Agentic Modernization Services-As-Software Scaled Through Kyndryl Bridge BMC Achieves the AWS AI Competency Kyndryl Named 2026 CIO 100 Award...
Mainframe Jargon Challenge
Every technical field develops its own language, and the mainframe world is no exception. Whether we’re talking about the alphabet soup of multi-letter acronyms or terms that have been part of the platform for decades, mainframe jargon serves as a kind of shorthand...