IBM DB2 ODBC DRIVER Features
The Most Reliable, Best Performing DB2 ODBC Driver
DataDirect DB2 ODBC Driver vs. IBM 
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The Progress DataDirect Platinum ODBC driver for IBM DB2 delivers the best performance and scalability for applications connecting to IBM DB2. One DB2 ODBC driver simultaneously supports multiple DB2 versions and multiple DB2 platforms, including iSeries and z/OS. The DataDirect Connect for ODBC IBM DB2 driver is available for UNIX and Linux platforms as well as Windows and for 64 bit applications.
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DataDirect's unique wire protocol DB2 ODBC driver eliminates the need for DB2 Connect client libraries to connect to the database. This translates into better response time, throughput, and scalability and reduces the cost of deploying and maintaining applications.
| Improves the performance and scalability of your applications | DataDirect’s DB2 ODBC driver is proven to out-perform competitive drivers demonstrating marked improvement in response time, throughput, and scalability of your applications that connect to DB2. The wire protocol architecture of the ODBC DB2 driver, as well as easy-to-use tuning options, optimizes the rate and efficiency of data transfer. In addition, a high-performance Bulk Load capability enables large amounts of data to be loaded very quickly. |
| Reduces the cost and time of deploying and maintaining applications | DataDirect wire protocol ODBC drivers don’t require IBM DB2 Connect client libraries to connect to the database. This greatly simplifies deployment and eliminates the headache of installing, configuring, and maintaining database software on each client machine. |
| Provides comprehensive coverage from one vendor | DataDirect offers an ODBC driver for IBM DB2 on every major platform – Windows (including v7), Linux and UNIX, iSeries, and z/OS. We also offer a 64 bit ODBC wire protocol driver for DB2 so your 64-bit applications can take full advantage of faster processing speeds. |
| Makes it easy and cost effective to support multiple databases / database versions | One DataDirect driver supports simultaneous connections to all IBM DB2 database versions and platforms, including Windows, UNIX, Linux, iSeries (AS/400), and z/OS (OS/390). A common architecture across drivers and interoperability features such as SQL up-leveling simplify the task of supporting other databases in addition to DB2, such as Oracle, SQL Server, Sybase, MySQL and more. |
| Reinforces your security strategy | DataDirect IBM DB2 ODBC drivers include advanced, industry standard security mechanisms such as SSL data encryption and operating system authentication via Kerberos. |
| Guarantees quality and reliability | DataDirect IBM DB2 ODBC drivers are quality tested and certified with a wide variety of applications and environments and are proven in hundreds of leading commercial software products and thousands of the most demanding corporate environments. |
| Reduces total cost of ownership through superior technical support | In contrast to database vendors and other third-party vendors, DataDirect award-winning support is focused exclusively on data connectivity and includes 24x7 phone, web, email, forum, and an extensive knowledgebase. Resolving data connectivity issues quickly reduces the total cost of ownership of software. |
DataDirect features are 100% driver implemented, allowing you to leverage them quickly, without changes to application code or proprietary IBM DB2 extensions.
- Wire protocol architecture – doesn't require IBM DB2 Connect client libraries
- Easy-to-use tuning options and automatic driver tuning via Performance Wizard
- Bulk Load
- Load balancing
- Built-in debugging capabilities
- Enterprise-quality driver logging
- Pooling and managing connections
- Statement pooling
- Data conversion
- Socket management
- Network wire management
- Batching and throughput optimization
Comprehensive Database / Platform Coverage
- One driver supports simultaneous connections to all IBM DB2 database versions running on Windows, UNIX, Linux, iSeries, and z/OS
- 64-bit ODBC driver for IBM DB2 available
- Operating system authentication (aka Single Sign-On) via Kerberos
- SSL data encryption
Enterprise Application Functionality
- Application failover
- Windows ODBC Driver Manager for Unix/Linux
- Unicode and ANSI character sets
- Stored procedures
Interoperability
- Interoperability between databases and different versions of each database
- SQL up-leveling simplifies the task of supporting other databases in addition to Microsoft SQL Server, such as Oracle, IBM DB2, Sybase, MySQL, and more
- Common architecture across drivers makes it easy to support different databases
Quality and Reliability
- Quality tested and certified with the DataDirect ODBC Verification Suite (OVS), the largest, most mature ODBC testing infrastructure
- 100% ODBC specification compliance – leverage IBM DB2 functionality without proprietary extensions or code
Additional DB2 ODBC Driver Functionality
- Scalar and catalog functions
- Parameter arrays
- Data type conversions
- Support for IBM DB2 data types: Bigint, Blob, Clob, Char(), Varchar(), and Long Varchar() for Bit Data, and Timestamp
- Support for IBM DB2 Unicode data types: Dbclob, Graphic, Vargraphic, and Long Vargraphic
- IBM DB2 Remote Procedure Calls (RPCs)
- Supports the ability to execute a single SQL statement using multiple rows of values
- IBM DB2 V10.1 on Linux/Unix/Windows features:
- 256-bit AES encryption
- Currently Committed Transaction Isolation
- Statement Concentrator
- Inline LOBs
- Oracle compatibility data types
- New Functions and SQL Syntax
| Advantages of DataDirect Driver | Limitations of IBM Driver |
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Best ODBC driver performance DataDirect drivers outperform competitive drivers in throughput, CPU efficiency, and memory usage. DataDirect's DB2 Wire Protocol driver doesn’t require DB2 client libraries, communicating directly with the DB2 server for significantly better application performance. The DB2 driver is tunable for an infinite variety of application usage scenarios so no matter how you use the driver, your application will always run faster and support more users with the same hardware resources. |
Requires the DB2 Client, IBM's client libraries for DB2, which creates communication overhead that degrades performance and affects scalability. |
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Eliminates the need for DB2 Connect client libraries It also eliminates the pain and cost of installing, configuring, maintaining, and upgrading the DB2 Client. |
Requires the deployment of the IBM DB2 Client on each machine where the ODBC driver is deployed. The DB2 Client is cumbersome to install, configure, and deploy, with a footprint of over 200MB, and can be a huge support burden. In addition, applications that have different requirements for IBM DB2 drivers will experience conflicts when multiple versions of the IBM DB2 client libraries are installed side-by-side on the same machine. |
| Bulk Load Includes a high-performance Bulk Load capability for loading large amounts of data very quickly. Can boost application performance for parameter array insert operations without requiring code changes, and delivers the best bulk load performance for DB2 without requiring the deployment of additional bulk load tools. |
Requires the use of a proprietary, command-line bulk load tool which performs significantly slower than DataDirect’s bulk load implementation. ODBC applications must be specifically coded for and deployed with this external tool. |
| Application failover and load balancing The DataDirect driver completely manages application failover, disaster recovery, and balancing of work load across multiple DB2 databases without requiring changes to application code. |
Support for application failover and load balancing requires either licensing expensive data replication or failover management add-ons for DB2 or a higher-cost DB2 Edition license. In addition, making use of these application failover and load balancing features for DB2 requires the use of proprietary code in your application. |
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One driver supports multiple DB2 platforms/versions You can deploy multiple applications to a single platform and connect with different versions of DB2 seamlessly. Costs of testing and deploying applications that use different versions or back-end platforms of DB2 are significantly reduced. |
To offer the same level of support for all of the DB2 versions and back-ends that one DataDirect DB2 ODBC driver supports, IBM requires multiple ODBC drivers as well as multiple versions of the DB2 Client. |
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Reliability for demanding production environments Mission-critical environments can avoid data corruption, unusable connections, and application downtime. |
IBM’s testing infrastructure for data connectivity is unknown. Quality issues include application crashes, failures during multi-threaded testing, problems handling Unicode catalog names, and inconsistency problems with SQLStates. |
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Complete interoperability between databases Interoperability between relational databases reduces the total cost of development, testing, and deployment for environments where applications must access data from more than just DB2. |
IBM's driver requires the use of multiple IBM-specific implementations of many common DB2 features and ODBC functions. This introduces "vendor lock-in" and increases the cost of developing an application that can support DB2 as well as other relational databases. |
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Comprehensive technical support Focused on database connectivity, our award-winning support includes 24x7 phone, web, email, forum, and an extensive knowledgebase. Fast, high-quality technical assistance from data connectivity experts is essential for critical systems. |
Because IBM is not focused primarily on data connectivity, troubleshooting problems with IBM’s DB2 driver is more difficult and can take much longer. |
THE INDUSTRY STANDARD FOR ODBC DRIVERS
Progress ® DataDirect Connect ® , Connect XE ® and Connect64 ® for ODBC are the fastest, most comprehensive suite of ODBC drivers for all major databases — Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, DB2, Salesforce.com, Sybase, Sybase IQ, database. com, force.com, and Progress ® OpenEdge ® 11 MT. Our unique “wire protocol” design eliminates the need for database client libraries, which greatly simplifies installation and administration and dramatically improves performance. In fact, these clientless drivers even outperform applications that use the database’s native (proprietary) API for database access. Progress DataDirect ODBC drivers are the industry standard for ODBC drivers, providing the advanced functionality, performance, and reliability developers need to quickly deliver high-quality, database-independent applications.
MOST COMPREHENSIVE SUITE OF ODBC DRIVERS FROM ONE VENDOR
You can count on Progress Software for reliable ODBC connectivity regardless of database or platform. Progress DataDirect ODBC drivers support all major databases, on every major platform, across a wide range of processor architectures.
In addition, a single driver supports multiple simultaneous connections to all supported versions of each database. This broadens the versions of databases you can support in a commercial product and eliminates the need to change drivers every time you change database versions in an enterprise environment
- Supports all major databases —Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, DB2, Salesforce.com, Sybase, Greenplum, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Informix, Apache Hive and more.
- Supports all major platforms—Windows, UNIX, Linux, and more
- Full 32-bit (Connect for ODBC ) and 64-bit (Connect64 for ODBC ) ODBC application support
- Each single-tier driver supports multiple database versions:
- Microsoft SQL Server 7, 2000, 2005, 2008, and 2012
- Windows Azure SQL Database
- Oracle (8i, 9i, 10g, and 11g)
- Multiple versions of DB2 running on Windows, UNIX, Linux, z/OS (OS/390), and iSeries (AS/400)
- Sybase 11.x, 12.x, 12.5.x, 15, and Sybase IQ
DataDirect DB2 ODBC Driver vs. IBM
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HIGH-PERFORMANCE WIRE PROTOCOL DESIGN
Progress DataDirect ODBC drivers are available as “wire protocol,” meaning that the drivers do not require installation and maintenance of database client software and libraries. This unique wire protocol architecture dramatically improves performance and eliminates the need to install and keep up with the various versions of database client libraries such as Oracle Net (formerly Net8 and SQL*Net) and DB2 Connect for IBM DB2. Other benefits include:
- Simplified installation, configuration, and administration of applications
- Fastest available application data access performance—even faster than using the database’s native interface (such as Oracle OCI)
- Elimination of the need to test and certify against multiple versions of the database client libraries
PROVEN, RELIABLE DRIVERS OFFER BEST-IN-CLASS FUNCTIONALITY
Progress DataDirect ODBC drivers are the most widely used third-party ODBC drivers on the market and are tested under production conditions using the most comprehensive ODBC testing facility in the industry. Progress DataDirect consistently supports the latest, most complete implementation of the ODBC specification and the latest database versions and features, and offers enterprise functionality across all databases such as:
- No database client libraries required through unique wire protocol architecture
- Multiple performance tuning options and a Performance Tuning Wizard to achieve optimal driver performance for any application scenario
- Performance-oriented features such as connection pooling, statement pooling, data conversion, network wire management, and batching and throughput optimization
- 100% driver-implemented application failover and client-side load balancing, which do not require application code changes or expensive clustering software, such as Oracle RAC
- Robust security features such as Kerberos-based operating system (OS) authentication for Single Sign-on (SSL) and SSL-based data encryption over the network
- 100% driver-implemented, high-performance Bulk Load feature which does not require application code changes or database vendor bulk load tools
- Advanced connection pooling which does not require application code changes to enable or configure
- The industry’s best ODBC Driver Manager for UNIX/Linux
- Standards-based implementations of the latest database features and functionality
- Complete, consistent Unicode support across all platforms
- Built-in debugging capabilities
- Certified for leading virtualized environments
To learn more or download a free, 15 day trial of Progress® DataDirect Connect® or Connect64® for ODBC, go to www.progress.com/datadirect
