UDB on AS/400 vs UDB on Intel

I am trying to gather information to evaluate the strengths and limitations using UDB on AS400 vs UDB on Intel.

Any information you could share would be greatly appreciated.

CNCTech,

As I understand it, UBD for AS/400 is still trying to catch up with the functionality of DB2 products on non-As/400 platforms. I am running DB2 V5R2 on our AS/400 as I have been trying to catch up to the functionality seen in DB2 UDB 8.1. There were a ton of database improvements in both V5R1 and V5R2, but IBM told me that I will probably have to wait until the next release to capture the functionality of UDB products for platforms such as Intel.

I think it will come down to what you are going to be using it for. DB2 for AS/400 is a great choice for OneWorld. We don't experience limitations until we start building custom SQL for reporting purposes.

Good Luck

Ryan Hunt

CNCTech,

The strengths are the stability of the 400, true 64-bit implementation of the code, 96-128 bit data movement (I'm having a brain fart at the moment and forget the data path width).

The limitations are that stability doesn't come without cost. You won't have the absolute newest implementation of SQL.

I won't get into costs as that is the stuff of holy wars.

JMHO

Tom Davidson

Tom and Ryan,
Thank you for the feedback.
Would you share you Pros and Cons UDB vs SQL2000 for example. I am trying to get a feel what guys think.

Cheers

CNCTech,

While I'm a 400 bigot (unashamed), when talking about Pro's and Con's from a OW standpoint, I believe its a bogus question.

OW does not really exercise the frontiers of SQL or databases, with the exception of when you have terabyte databases.

I believe the decision on which DB is more appropriately approached by where your skill set is. My anology is normally a British car vrs an American car. Both will get me from point A to point B. However, it is much easier for me to drive an American car as everything is on the 'correct' side of the car, from my standpoint. If I was British, the American car would not be as good a choice.

Can I learn to drive the other type, of course. Is it cost effective, maybe. Do I have other constraints, ie time, money. Probably.

This is why I try to recommend that people follow their skill sets.

Now if you have no skill set to start with....Go AS/400 (whoops, another flame war) <VBG>

JMHO

Tom Davidson

CNCTech,
I am actually am more familiar with SQL2000 then DB2, but not with respect to OneWorld. Our OneWorld install sits on our AS400 so I can't offer an oppinion on SQL2000 and OneWorld.

With regard to purposes external to OneWorld, we have found that some of our adhoc reporting, or enterprise reporting is limited with DB2. While there are significant improvements in V5R2, DB2 for AS/400 still lacks some functionality (in contrast to SQL2000) with respect to views and stored procedures (specifically, what you can do within each). However, IBM has told me that the next release of DB2 for AS/400 will be just as much of an improvement as V5R2 was. I can't wait...

If you are looking for a stable platform that runs OneWorld well, DB2 for AS/400 is a great choice. External reporting is a learning curve if you are more SQL oriented.

Good Luck

Ryan Hunt