Customer Reviews

DB2® Universal Database V8 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows Database Administration Certification Guide (5th Edition)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a must have for production DBAs. Beside being an excellent certification reference, it is very handy as a deskside how-to reference. This edition has been updated to address sequences, MQTs, write-to-table event monitors, Health monitor and Health Center, and common client changes. The book touches on just about every area you need to know about as a DBA.

I have been involved with DB2 for a number of years and this book definitely introduced a few new tricks to me. This is especially good reading for those migrating to v8 or thinking of migrating as it covers many of the new and changed features between v7 and v8. Despite being a good source of information, this is by far the most contradictory book I have read to date (and I have read many technical books). The most annoying contradictions are when a paragraph will state that something is IMPOSSIBLE or there is ONLY ONE WAY to do it, and then the next paragraph will list a way (or many ways) to perform that exact something. One example:

p.298 "Note: The ORDER BY clause, if used, must be the last clause in your SQL statement."

p.299 "TO limit the number of rows sorted in a SELECT, the FETCH FIRST ... ROWS [clause] must be added to the end of the ORDER BY [clause]."

This doesn't really bother me because I know why FETCH would go after ORDER BY, but why state ORDER BY must be the last clause, then go on to show that ORDER BY is in fact NOT the last clause on the next page? How about not say it at all! These types of contradictions are scattered throughout the book, but I am too irritated to list them here.

Another good example of frustrating trends in this book is also on pg.298:

"You can also rename a column using an alias."

Well, what is an alias, and how do you create one? Again, this time I knew what an alias was and how to create one from prior experience, but why Baklarz and Wong do not include an explaination here (or at least a reference) is beyond me. They do not even mention that the concept of an "alias" will used for the first time in an example on pg.315, not to mention that it also won't be clearly explained.

Much of the key material in this book is bludgeoned by contradictions, typos, and lack of information/clarity where you expect it most. If you can wade through it (if you can afford the time to figure out that a parameter in an example was indeed a misprint) then definitely get this book for the reasons listed above. If not, look elsewhere.

So it claims that Chapter 1-8 covers the objectives for Exam 700. It should have said - and MORE, SO MUCH MORE. Which borders on garbage.

Please focus only on the exam objectives. The topic on MDC perhaps should have covered over 30 pages in a book titled "DB2 New Features" instead of this one?

I passed 700 and 701 thanks to FREE IBM Exam Prep Tutorials and the Supplementals. These 2 are ALL one needs.

I boought and read a couple of other IBM press books looking for this one. If you are a DBA or a wanna be BDA then this is the book that you want to read. I found the writting smooth and usefull. I did read a paragraph that was lifted almost directly from the IBM db2 administration guide. I have not made use of the cd yet nor have I taken the certification test so I can not comment on the works usefullness in those two areas.

I recomend this book to the DBA or the developer. I would not recommend this book to the nontechnical reader.

This book is more than a Certification Study Guide, it is a complete DB2 v8.1 reference covering in a clear and well organized manner both standard well-known DB2 features and new less known features introduced in version 8.1.
It is a must read for any administrator trying to get up-to-speed with DB2 UDB v8.1.

While this work may be "The Official Guide" it is a long way from complete or authoratative. It is much more of an overview than a guide. It is an excleent overview or enhancements book for readers with a technical background.

I found the book useful as a new DB2 user but what I had purchased the book for was to learn DB2 and it was incomplete for that purpose.

This is a great book for what I do. I needed to keep on top of the new features in DB2 -- though for the wrong reasons (we are an Oracle business partner), I def'ly got to see all the new features with deep technical explanations and even examples; pretty neat stuff from IBM I must say. I looked at the What's New Guide that was referenced in other comments before buying this book, hoping to save a buck. Too bad they don't have a review forum for that book, horrible. All marketing fluff. Don't bother trying to find it -- it will only make you mad. Buy this book.

Once again, I'm guilty of judging a book by its title. I expected a somewhat comprehensive treatment of DB2 in this one, instead this book focuses on the differences (improvements) over previous versions of DB2. So, if what you're interested in are the new features, you'll find a survey treatment of those here. Of course, Version 9 is the hot thing now, so the "new" features of 8 aren't so new anymore. Hype just doesn't make for a classic book. Not a great book; but it is okay.

When I first started with DB2, this book was recommended to me by someone who read the v7.2 book by the same authors. This was the most confusing techie book I have ever read. Amongst all the typos, my biggest gripe is the index. You may as well rip the index out of the book because it is useless. There hasn't been one time where I wanted to look something up, referring to the index, and found what I was looking for. Its like a 900 page book with a 7 page index... useless.

This is an excellent book to learn about UDB and to help you to prepare for the certification. Fairly easy to follow. You can install DB2 PE on your computer using the CD supplied which makes it even more appealing since you can try out the various commands. An excellent book for readers who want to get 700 and 701 certifications. Thanks, -PK.Ganapathy