DB2 is the only database many of us have ever known.  This article shows you how you can broaden your database options.

By Joe Pluta

If you're an i programmer, you've been using DB2 from the beginning of your career (unless, of course, you started like me back in the cave computer days of the System/3). You didn't know you were using DB2; in fact, you didn't know that your database had a name, and you didn't care because it just worked. That in fact was one of the great selling points of the platform: the integrated database and by extension the nearly bare-metal speed of compiled languages like RPG, which could take advantage of that database. Nowadays, though, a single standalone database like DB2 for the i isn't enough for many shops. Commercial databases like SQL Server and Oracle have found their way into many shops. A more recent phenomenon is the appearance of databases such as MySQL and PostgreSQL, especially as components of open-source packages.

Looking for more effective security?
Secure your system more efficiently with the object-based approach of StandGuard Network Security. Superior to transaction-based solutions, StandGuard simplifies your security by focusing on the intent of the request rather than syntax. Create and enforce security policies in less time and at lower cost with a non-intrusive approach that meets your regulatory compliance needs. Secure more efficiently. Get StandGuard. Try it for free! Call 1.800.932.5557 today!

Let's examine both sides of the security regulations debate.

By Pat Botz

Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), government regulations passed in 2002 primarily as a response to egregious corporate behavior (a la Enron and others), turned six years old on July 30. Much has been said and written about SOX and its kin (HIPAA, GLBA, PCI DSS, SAS 70, etc.) in those six years as to whether these government regulations and industry standards actually help protect investors and consumers or whether they are merely a costly noose around the neck of U.S. businesses, strangling productivity for no discernable benefit. Now that SOX is six, is it any more obvious as to whether regulations and standards have made a positive difference?