IBM Db2 is a family of related data management products, including relational database servers, developed and marketed by IBM.
Since the 1970s, IBM has developed a complete family of database servers, started on mainframe platforms such as Virtual Machine (VM), Virtual Storage Extended (VSE), and Multiple Virtual Storage(MVS).
In 1983, IBM released Db2 for MVS version 1. IBM used Db2 to indicate a shift from a hierarchical database such as Information Management System (IMS) to the new relational database.
Since then IBM continued to develop Db2 on mainframe and distributed platforms. The distributed platforms are referred to as open system platforms such as Linux, UNIX, and Windows.
In 1996, IBM released Db2 Universal Database for distributed platforms, or Db2 UDB version 5. This was the first Db2 version that IBM designed to optimize for the web.
Since the DB2 UDB version 5, IBM continued delivering a number of releases of Db2 over the years with lots of innovations such as pureXML that supports XML documents in 2006. In 2009, IBM introduced the Db2 SQL compatibility feature that makes it easy for customers to migrate from other relational database products to Db2.
In 2012, IBM released Db2 10.1 with several features that help customers reduce operational costs. A notable feature was multi-temperature storage. For example, you can classify the data as hot and cold. The hot data is the data that you access often, which will be resided in the fastest and more expensive hardware. While the cold data is the data you rarely access, which will be stored in slower and cheaper devices.
In 2013, IBM released Db2 10.4 that introduced BLU acceleration, a memory-based column store which leverages parallel vector processing power, dynamic memory capability, and advanced storage disk technology.
In 2016, IBM released Db2 11.1 that delivered key innovation which reduces the total cost of ownership. Db2 11.1 also enhanced analytics and increased availability, reliability, and security for your business-critical applications.
In mid-2017, IBM re-branded its DB2 and dashDB product offerings to Db2.
The following picture illustrates the history of Db2:
