IBM Db2 11.5 Editions and licensing
Four editions - two license models
In May 2020, IBM will add a fourth edition to its Db2 database fleet. The new Db2 Base Edition takes over the role of the Db2 Standard Edition in the segment for small and medium-sized applications. For this purpose, the Db2 Standard Edition was transferred to the upper middle class with a price adjustment according to its performance range.
The Db2 Community Edition offers a free entry into the world of Db2. All editions have the full range of functions of the Db2 database system. The differentiation of the editions is based on a few parameters, such as memory, CPU cores or database size. High-end in the Db2 portfolio remains the Db2 Advanced Edition as unlimited version.
In the context of the regrouping, the licensing has been greatly simplified. In productive use, the Virtual Processor Core licensing is the uniform licensing model for Db2 Base, Db2 Standard and Db2 Advanced Edition. For development and test environments IBM offers the Db2 Standard and the Db2 Advanced Edition also according to the Authorized User Model.
This article briefly introduces the new editions, explains the licensing and provides background information with references to IBM sources.
Tabular overview
| Db2 Community Edition | Db2 Base Edition | Db2 Standard Edition | Db2 Advanced Edition | ||||
Valid from version |
v11.5 | v11.5.4 | v11.5 | v11.5 | |||
Limits |
|||||||
| Processor cores maximal | 4 | 8 | 16 | unlimited | |||
| Memory maximal | 16 GB | 64 GB | 128 GB | unlimited | |||
| Storage maximal | 100 GB | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | |||
Support |
|||||||
| Support availability | No IBM Support / Community Support only | IBM Maintenance & Software Renewal | IBM Maintenance & Software Renewal | IBM Maintenance & Software Renewal | |||
Field of application and licensing |
|||||||
| Productive environments | YES IBM license for products without warranty |
YES Virtual Processor Core |
YES Virtual Processor Core |
YES Virtual Processor Core |
|||
| Development and test environments | YES IBM license for products without warranty |
YES Virtual Processor Core |
YES Authorized User |
YES Authorized User |
|||
IBM Db2 Community Edition
Only direct download from IBM possible.
License Information: IBM Db2 Community Edition (Container Format)
Limitations / usage restrictions
- The Program may use a maximum of 4 processor cores and 16 GB of memory on each physical or virtual server.
- Licensee may store a maximum of 100 Gigabytes of user data per database managed by the Program.
Prohibited Components
- SQL Replication with non-Db2 databases
- Q Replication Functionality
- Change Data Capture functionality
- Accessing federated data in non-IBM data servers
Licensing
- Community Edition free of charge, the IBM International License Agreement for Non-Warranted Programs applies.
- For customers requiring additional support services, IBM Elite Support for Db2 will be available on a VPC basis.
IBM Db2 Base Edition
Program identifier (PID): 5737-N20
License Information: IBM Db2 Base Edition L-MSAI-BNPRN8
Limitations / usage restrictions
- The program may use a maximum of 8 processor cores and 64 GB of main memory on each physical or virtual server.
Prohibited Components
- SQL Replication with non-Db2 databases
- Q Replication Functionality
- Change Data Capture functionality
- Accessing federated data in non-IBM data servers
Licensing
- Db2 Base Edition is licensed on VPC basis.
- Unlike the Db2 Standard or Db2 Advanced Edition, IBM offers here no Authorized User Licensing for non-productive systems.
IBM Db2 Standard Edition
Program identifier (PID): 5737-K74
License Information: IBM Db2 Standard Edition
Limitations / usage restrictions
- The program may use a maximum of 16 processor cores and 128 GB of main memory on each physical or virtual server.
- If licensing under the Authorized User Single Install or PVU metric: the Program may use a maximum of 16 processor cores and 128 GB of memory on each physical or virtual server; however, if the Program is used on a cluster of servers configured to work together using either database partitioning or pureScale clustering technology, the Program may use a maximum of 16 processor cores and 128 GB of memory across all virtual or physical servers in that cluster.
Prohibited Components
- SQL Replication with non-Db2 databases
- Q Replication Functionality
- Change Data Capture functionality
- Accessing federated data in IBM Db2 for i or IBM Db2 for z/OS data servers outside of the SQL Warehousing Tool unless Licensee has separately acquired sufficient entitlement to IBM Db2 Connect
- If licensing under the Terabyte metric: pureScale clustering technology
Chargeable Features
- Db2 Advanced Recovery Feature
Licensing
- Productively used systems are licensed on VPC basis.
- Authorized User Licensing for non-productive systems.
IBM Db2 Advanced Edition
Program identifier (PID): 5737-K73
License Information: IBM Db2 Advanced Edition
Limitations / usage restrictions
- none
Prohibited Components
- SQL Replication with non-Db2 databases
- Q Replication Functionality
- Change Data Capture functionality
- Accessing federated data in IBM Db2 for i or IBM Db2 for z/OS data servers outside of the SQL Warehousing Tool unless Licensee has separately acquired sufficient entitlement to IBM Db2 Connect
Chargeable Features
- Db2 Advanced Recovery Feature
Licensing
- License metrics for production systems is VPC. In connection with the Hybrid Data Management Platform (HDMP) approach, licensing is acquired on the basis of FlexPoints. FlexPoints can be exchanged within the HDMP products.
- Authorized User Licensing for non-productive systems.
License metrics
VPC - Virtual Processor Core
Virtual Processor Core is a unit of measure by which the Program can be licensed. A Server is a physical computer that is comprised of processing units, memory, and input/output capabilities and that executes requested procedures, commands, or applications for one or more users or client devices. Where racks, blade enclosures, or other similar equipment is being employed, each separable physical device (for example, a blade or a rack-mounted device) that has the required components is considered itself a separate Server. A Virtual Server is either a virtual computer created by partitioning the resources available to a physical Server or an unpartitioned physical Server. A Processor Core is a functional unit within a computing device that interprets and executes instructions. A Processor Core consists of at least an instruction control unit and one or more arithmetic or logic unit. A Virtual Processor Core is a Processor Core on a Virtual Server created by partitioning the resources available to a physical Server or an unpartitioned physical Server. Licensee must obtain entitlement for each Virtual Processor Core made available to the Program.
For each physical Server, Licensee must have sufficient entitlements for the lesser of 1) the sum of all available Virtual Processor Cores on all Virtual Servers or 2) all available Processor Cores on the physical Server.
AU - Authorized User
Authorized User is a unit of measure by which the Program can be licensed. An Authorized User is a unique person who is given access to the Program. The Program may be installed on any number of computers or servers and each Authorized User may have simultaneous access to any number of instances of the Program at one time. Licensee must obtain separate, dedicated entitlements for each Authorized User given access to the Program in any manner directly or indirectly (for example: via a multiplexing program, device, or application server) through any means. An entitlement for an Authorized User is unique to that Authorized User and may not be shared, nor may it be reassigned other than for the permanent transfer of the Authorized User entitlement to another person.
Note: This overview is an abbreviated version of the content, only the information in the IBM Announcement letters or the license agreement to which we have provided the links above is binding.
Conversion of the Db2 portfolio by May 2020 - further information and references
IBM announces the conversion of its Db2 portfolio via two Announcement Letters in June 2019:
- IBM Db2 V11.5 delivers enhancements to help automate data management, eliminate ETL, and support artificial intelligence data workloads
IBM Europe Software Announcement ZP19-0261
June 4, 2019 - Software withdrawal: IBM Db2 product family selected part numbers
IBM Europe Withdrawal Announcement ZP19-0081
June 4, 2019
Until the end of May 2020 Db2 11.5 was offered primarily in three editions:
- Db2 Advanced Edition
- Db2 Standard Edition
- Db2 Lite Edition / Db2 Community Edition
All previously offered editions will be transferred to these three models, with the exception of the IBM Db2 Advanced Enterprise Server Edition.
Only two license models are available for the new editions:
- Uniform metrics for all editions is the Virtual Processor Core Model (VPC).
- For use in non-production environments (development and test systems)
the Authorized User (AU) model is also available.
(See above for information on Db2 V11.5 VPC or Authorized User licensing).
The positioning was clarified once again on 29 October 2019:
IBM Europe Software Announcement ZP19-0640, dated October 29, 2019
IBM Db2 11.5 is available through three editions:
- Db2 Advanced Edition
- Db2 Standard Edition
- Db2 Community Edition
All three editions provide unrestricted access to the full feature set of IBM Db2.
Highlights of Db2 11.5 include:
- Db2 pureScale(R) support for host-based firewalls
- Db2 pureScale cluster wide free space management
- Faster pureScale LOAD utility for range-partitioned tables
- Support for storage devices using 4K sector size
- Columnar insert, update, and delete operations performance
- Automatic recompression for columnar table
- Large objects in columnar tables
- Automatic collection of column group statistics
- External tables
Db2 11.5 also includes the following enhancements and new capabilities for the CLI driver:
- Data movement using CLI LOAD with an external table
- db2dsdriver.cfg support in MicrosoftTM ODBC Administrator
- Enhanced workload balancing/automatic client reroute algorithm including server side enablement
Db2 11.5 has an Advanced Recovery Feature that helps with advanced database backup, recovery, and data extraction. This feature is available with all of the editions (Db2 Community Edition, Db2 Standard Edition, Db2 Advanced Edition) and includes the current versions of:
- IBM Db2 Recovery Expert V5.5
- IBM Db2 Merge Backup V3.5
- IBM InfoSphere(R) OptimTM High Performance Unload for Db2, V6.5
Db2 Lite Edition or Db2 Community Edition?
For the free Db2 edition, various terms circulated during the introduction phase. In sales and marketing, the Db2 Community Edition predominated, while the Db2 Lite Edition was introduced via announcement and licensing. An important point of the announcement of 29 October 2019 was the clarification of the terms in favour of the Db2 Community Edition.
IBM Europe Software Announcement ZP19-0640, dated October 29, 2019
The final withdrawal of the Db2 Lite Edition took place on 12 May 2020.
IBM Europe Withdrawal Announcement ZP20-0060 May 12, 2020
Introduction of the Db2 Base Edition and price adjustment of the Db2 Standard Edition in May 2020 ( ! )
The reduction of the Db2 portfolio to two commercial editions - with only one pricing model for productive environments - initially appeared to be a courageous but consistent step. Compared to previous models or other IBM databases, we could only wonder about the price-performance ratio of the Db2 Standard Edition. The Db2 Standard Edition was introduced aggressively low at just under 1.900,- Euro per VPC. Low cost for an enterprise database with 16 cores and 128 GB RAM.
With the announcement of 26 May 2020, IBM completes the portfolio and offers four editions in a clear gradation.
IBM Europe Software Announcement ZP20-0214 May 26, 2020
By halving the allowed resources, the new Db2 Base Edition takes the position of the Db2 Standard Edition.
The Db2 Standard Edition was raised in price in this context and is now in the medium-sized range. For existing customers of the Db2 Standard Edition, the next maintenance extension offer could come as a nasty surprise.
Especially many customers with small installations that were previously licensed on Db2 Express or Db2 Workgroup have migrated to the Db2 Standard Edition offered by IBM in recent months. After a fair exchange, the future maintenance is now valued far above the introductory price for the licenses.