A fundamental principle of DB2 Universal Database is that data can and should reside wherever it makes the most sense:

• DB2 is available for multiple operating systems, including UNIX, Microsoft Windows, OS/2, AS/400, and OS/390. This means that decisions can be made based on which platform is right for a specific portion of the data.
  

• DB2 allows you to distribute and access data across a network of systems. Users can query, add, delete, and update data in local and remote databases.

• Multiple copies of DB2 server code can run on the same computer. This means that you can have multiple instances of DB2 running concurrently, each with a different configuration and tailored views of the data, and even varying data.
  

• DB2 databases can be partitioned across multiple independent computers connected by a LAN or in a cluster. This enables you to divide large databases that are too big for a single server to handle efficiently. It also means that operations can run in parallel on the individual database partitions, thereby reducing the execution time.
  

• DB2 extends support beyond the traditional data types (for example integer and varchar), to include multimedia objects (for example video, audio, and image) and distinct data types that you design (user-defined types), and flat files.