Providing pureXML for business agility critical to success

DB2 9: Optimized pureXML data server

Highlights
Store and manage both XML and conventional relational data in a single database engine Exploit existing staff skills to speed application development and lower costs Gain greater business insight from XML and relational data Manage, share and secure XML data using a proven database management system backed by the worlds leading IT vendor

In the last decade, storage requirements for data have grown exponentially. Increasingly, much of this data is stored in eXtensible Markup Language (XML) format. Because XML is vendor and platform independent, it is rapidly becoming the de facto standard as the data exchange and integration format. As a result, countless business documents such as purchase orders, insurance applications and claims, financial trades, transaction records, etc. now reside in XML. Also documents created in Adobe programs, Microsoft Office and front office products continue to be transferred to XML. To derive the greatest benefit from this data, it must ultimately be transformed into actionable business information. The challenge is to store, manage and protect your XML data in a way that enables you to unlock its latent potential. At the same time, you dont want to sacrifice the high levels of availability, performance and accessibility long associated with traditional relational database management systems (RDBMSs).

As the worlds first hybrid data server designed with both pureXML data management and conventional relational data capabilities, DB2 9 represents the next evolution in information managementcombining the high performance and ease of use that relational databases offer with the flexible, self-describing benefits of XML. XML drives business forward An important business driver for many organizations, XML is emerging in more and more organizations as an important driver for business agility and growth. Because its not tied to any specific platform, language or system, and due to its self-describing nature, flexibility, platform, language, and operating system independence, XML is often used as the messaging format in a service-oriented architecture (SOA). XML can also enable businesses to gain insight by bringing together information from multiple representations a claims adjustor can review damage estimates from multiple garages using XML. Or an organization might

XML in a Service Oriented Architecture environment

The pureXML capability of DB2 is a benefit to Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) implementations, which rely on access to a myriad of data stored across multiple formats. pureXML allows a much more natural and flexible data representation compared to the inflexible data organization of relational-only database products. Thus, DB2 is better suited to deliver information as a service in SOA applications.

of the application. And XML-only DBMSs introduce a new, largely unproven environment into an IT infrastructure and offer limited integration with existing RDBMS, which can prevent you from gaining a cohesive, enterprise-wide view of your critical data assets. DB2 9 represents a significant evolution in information management, giving companies an opportunity to fundamentally change the way they manage information. A single hybrid engine that

The result is a high-performance, scalable platform that enables you to access and integrate traditional corporate data as XML documents stored using a pureXML structure. pureXML for next-generation data management DB2 provides two distinct, but wellintegrated, storage mechanisms both relational and pureXML under a single data server to efficiently manage traditional SQL data types and XML data. Unlike existing relational data servers that stuff XML documents in character or binary large objects (CLOBs or BLOBs), DB2 is the only hybrid XML and relational database

use XML to process and obtain insight from forms and other large documents that change from year to year, such as tax information. XML is present in the majority of organizations today, however much of this XML information is neither protected nor utilized to the same extent as other data. In the past, the time and cost of managing XML data effectively have been seen as prohibitive. Traditional relational database management systems offer high levels of scalability, reliability, availability, concurrency and customer support but can only store each XML document intact as a single large object, or by shredding it into multiple columns across multiple tables. Most of the time these options introduce more performance problems, administrative challenges and increase the complexity

can manage both XML and relational data, DB2 9 incorporates proven relational capabilities with first-class support for storing, searching, sharing, validating and managing XML data.

Integrated tooling like the new Eclipse based Developer Workbench simplify development of XML applications.

server on the market today that stores XML in its natural parsed form, as an annotated tree. With DB2 9, the XML is stored in a hierarchical node-based model in which each node is linked not only to its parent, but also to its children. This unique storage model does not isolate XML data. In fact, DB2 9 supports XML as a first-class native data type fully integrated into the query language, optimization, popular APIs and database utilities. DB2 9 also provides new indexing technology to speed up retrieval of subsets of XML documents and extensive capabilities for validating XML data and managing changing XML schemas. DB2 9 also supports shredding XML, thus maintaining the ability to populate existing relational schemas. Discover new insights from your existing data With DB2, a single join query can enable you to combine rich XML business data and traditional relational data. For example, a purchase order can be constructed from relational data and then a shipping manifest can be added as XML data. Through this end-to-end view of your data, you can gain the critical business insight you need to respond quickly to dynamic conditions. Manual searches for and inside spreadsheets, contracts, fax images or

receipts can be replaced with a simple query. And through the ability to define special-purpose XML indexes, you can help accelerate searches across large amounts of XML data. Standard access mechanisms to this XML data ensure that existing reporting tools and interfaces can deliver this new data directly to your desktop. Maximize existing skills to support fast application development Most companies have relational data servers along with staff to support them. And although DB2 9 represents new, sophisticated XML technology, it doesnt require you to hire XML-savvy developers. Your current developers can also easily utilize their existing or acquire the SQL skills necessary to use the relational function within DB2 9. DB2 9 provides a comprehensive set of APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) for all developers including: Java (JDBC/SQLJ), .NET, C/C++, and PHP. DB2 9 application developers can now utilize the power of SQL/XML and XQuery, and stored procedures to rapidly

build and deploy more agile applications. Simplified access to XML data from popular IDEs (Integrated Development Environments) is important to reduce development time. DB2 9 introduces the new DB2 Developer Workbench (Eclipse-based) and the IBM DB2 add-ins for Visual Studio 2005 to provide integrated tools to extend the most popular IDEs used today. DB2 also makes it easy to implement homegrown or off-the-shelf applications. A newly designed Developer Workbench, based on the popular Eclipse integrated design and development platform enables interoperability with Eclipsebased tools such as Rational Application Developer. The workbench, as well as all supported developer interfaces and APIs, include support for the new XML technology. A new, easy-to-use XQuery builder provides a graphical interface to build XQuery statements with syntax coloring, automatic code completion, and many other utilities that speed the creation of XQuery and XML documents.

Our development time using IBM DB2 9 data server is a radical improvement over existing XML shred technology. We are now able to make schema changes in minutes rather than days and will be able to dramatically improve our customer response time.
hore Thomassen, Senior Enterprise Architect for Storebrand T

A new era With the release of DB2 9, IBM is leading the way to a new era in XML data management. By enabling you to leverage the high performance and availability of a traditional RDBMS with the flexibility of an XML data server, DB2 9 can help you: Increase productivity by accessing both relational and XML data within a single request. Preserve the integrity of XML documents by removing the need to shred or decompose XML data. Improve search performance with highly optimized XML indexes. Scale the application with a database proven to manage terabytes of data. Reduce costs by utilizing existing IT skills familiar with either SQL or XQuery. Protect XML data with the same mature and reliable techniques to administer security, recoverability and high availability. For more information For more information about DB2 9 and how it can help you solve real business problems faster at a lower cost, contact your local IBM Business Partner or visit: ibm.com/db2/viper/
Copyright IBM Corporation 2006 IBM Software Group Route 100 Somers, NY 10589 U.S.A. Produced in the United States of America 07-06 All Rights Reserved DB2, IBM, the IBM logo, the On Demand Business logo and pureXML are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. Java is a trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States, other countries, or both. Microsoft is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. Other company, product or service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.

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