Rating: 
Summary: Good Catch on for an experienced DBA
Review: I have over 2 years experience with SQL Server 2000, 5 years experience with Oracle, 2 years with DB2 V2.x Common server in 1997 and about 8 months with DB2 V7.2 on clustered Windows 2000 and OS/390. I have MCDBA, MCSE, MCSD, I-Net+, CIW and some other certifications. So, I am not a newbie in the field of IT.I can say this book is a very easy reading for an experienced DBA because you can figure out most of the Db2 functionnalities with one reading pass. The only weak part in this book is the SQL query piece that is at then end instead of at the beginning of the book. Poor newbie (or dummy) that have to figure it out at the end of the reading and not at the beginning. Like the other reviews said, there are some mistakes with the questions on the CD. But they are still good for you to evaluate your level of knowledge to be able to pass the exam. I recommand this book for anyone who wants to learn the basics of DB2, but you will still need the IBM DB2 administration guide and the IBM DB2 SQL reference guide to be really prepared for the IBM certification exams or just to be able to work with DB2. Alain Gagne
Lead DBA
USA
... P.S.: After doing most of the Microsoft certifications, and having a lot of books as references, many web sites with practices questions, It is kind of lame to just have a couple of DB2 books and the IBM certify web site with a few questions to practice and get used with the material (certify.torolab.ibm.com). So, all the questions we can get are good.
Rating: 
Summary: Helped me pass 512 with ease
Review: I read this book over the course of one week before I took the exam. I passed without any problems. I wanted to do the labs included in the book but never got around to it although they seemed helpful. I also found that the sample test engine on the included cd had a few errors. I didn't rely too heavily on it though. IBM has sample questions on the web that reflect what you'll see on the test anyway.
Rating:
Summary: Helped me pass 512 with ease
Review: I read this book over the course of one week before I took the exam. I passed without any problems. I wanted to do the labs included in the book but never got around to it although they seemed helpful. I also found that the sample test engine on the included cd had a few errors. I didn't rely too heavily on it though. IBM has sample questions on the web that reflect what you'll see on the test anyway.
Rating:
Summary: Does the job well
Review: I studied this book for about 20 hours and passed the 512 exam. It is well written and goes quickly so I highly recommend it. The CD was unimpressive. After a few questions, I gave up - too many multiple choice RADIO button questions. Luckily, the CD is not required to pass the exam.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent help for passing DB2 Certifications!
Review: I truly got my money's worth from this book...I passed 2 exams based on this book's study guides and practice tests. Especially wonderful tips are included for areas they like to pose 'trick' questions on to make sure you know the difference between ORDER by and GROUP by, for example. Those tips were right on the money. It made it easy for me to refresh my skills and very confortable with what the tests were like, so that did not add to my nervousness. It is true they don't have the most up-to-date information....they should keep it up and come up with the new version 8 features, and a book for the Advanced tests.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent help for passing DB2 Certifications!
Review: I truly got my money's worth from this book...I passed 2 exams based on this book's study guides and practice tests. Especially wonderful tips are included for areas they like to pose 'trick' questions on to make sure you know the difference between ORDER by and GROUP by, for example. Those tips were right on the money. It made it easy for me to refresh my skills and very confortable with what the tests were like, so that did not add to my nervousness. It is true they don't have the most up-to-date information....they should keep it up and come up with the new version 8 features, and a book for the Advanced tests.
Rating: 
Summary: Buy for the CD, is a Dud for reading
Review: The Test engine on the CD is GREAT. The chapters cover 50 to 70 percent of what is on the IBM family fundamentals Certification (I have the IBM DB2 512, and 513 DBA certs). On the test engine, the answers refer to certain chapters in the book. These references that they refer to do not exist in MANY cases. If you want to get an in depth coverage of the two certs (512 and 513)get the "All In One DB2 Administration Certification Exam Guide" by Roger Sanders(Test engine is horrible). For testing practice The Dummies book test engine is the best I have seen and is worth getting just for that purpose. Having another book for reference never hurts either.
Rating:
Summary: Worth for the CD!
Review: This book comes with CD which has hundreds of practice questions...It helped me in passing my exam 700 easily. Although it didn't cover new features, this book and Cd helped me in passing my exam. Db2 exam 700 certification guide by Roger sanders is also good.
Rating:
Summary: Worth for the CD!
Review: This book made passing Exam 512 fairly easy. Books & classes from IBM do not focus on passing the exams, but this book does. During 10 yrs. of UNIX sys. admin. I'd done almost no database work. I passed Exam 512 after 3 weeks of concentrated effort. Week 1 - 2 classes: DB2 UDB Family Fundamentals (2 days) & DB2 UDB SQL Workshop (2 days). Weeks 2 & 3 - Read "DB2 Fundamentals Certification for Dummies" cover to cover. I answered every end of chap. question, did every lab and took the practice exams on the CD. I'd never sat for a certification test and this book made me very comfortable with the process. I passed Exam 513 three weeks later using a 4 day class, DB2 UDB Admin. Workshop, and "All-In-One DB2 Admininistration Exam Guide" in the same fashion. I highly recommend this book for passing Exam 512. I would not recommend it as a reference for DBAs.
Rating:
Summary: Essential to my success on Exam 512
Review: This book made passing Exam 512 fairly easy. Books & classes from IBM do not focus on passing the exams, but this book does. During 10 yrs. of UNIX sys. admin. I'd done almost no database work. I passed Exam 512 after 3 weeks of concentrated effort. Week 1 - 2 classes: DB2 UDB Family Fundamentals (2 days) & DB2 UDB SQL Workshop (2 days). Weeks 2 & 3 - Read "DB2 Fundamentals Certification for Dummies" cover to cover. I answered every end of chap. question, did every lab and took the practice exams on the CD. I'd never sat for a certification test and this book made me very comfortable with the process. I passed Exam 513 three weeks later using a 4 day class, DB2 UDB Admin. Workshop, and "All-In-One DB2 Admininistration Exam Guide" in the same fashion. I highly recommend this book for passing Exam 512. I would not recommend it as a reference for DBAs.
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