IBM releases DB2 Express-C for free

IBM releases DB2 Express-C for free

US based tech giant IBM has released the free version of their database solution DB2. The application is called DB2 Express-C and it is pretty similar to what the company offers commercially. However, they have put certain hardware limitations on this free version, which would make it hard to implement the database solution on commercial servers.

IBM said that the free version of DB2 would be deployable on systems with two processor cores or up to two dual-core chips on Advanced Micro Devices- or Intel-based servers. They have put the limit on memory size at 4GB. However, the good news is that they have not put any limit on the size of database or number of users.

Apparently, the need to release an express version of their database suite was felt after their competitors in this market Microsoft and Oracle both released similar limited editions. Oracle recently unveiled Oracle 10g Express Edition which was well received in the market. The problem is magnified with the growing popularity of open source database solutions, which are getting more powerful and popular for commercial usage.

IBM also added that their upcoming releases of DB2 Express-C, code-named Viper would come with advanced functionalities like hybrid relational and XML database features.

Download: IBM DB2 Express-C