Download Firebird 2.1.1 rc

Databases are often used to store large amounts of data, as they are easier to maintain and access than a simple text document in which the data is recorded. Well-known names are of course Oracle with its 11g database, IBM with the DB2 database and Microsoft with SQL Server.

Another database management system is Firebird, which originated from Inprise’s Interbase database, now known as Borland Software, whose history dates back to this page to be read. This relational database supports various operating systems on which it can be installed, such as the Linux and Windows platform, making it widely deployable. The developers released the version 2.1.1 release candidate last month with the following note:

Patch Release 2.1.1

Firebird 2.1.1 is a patch release that corrects a number of bugs, regressions or shortcomings that were reported following the v.2.1 final release. Included are fixes for the problems that made the nBackup utility unserviceable in that release, some changes to improve the new database monitoring feature’s handling of a heavily loaded system and other changes to address complaints of slowness in some DML operations. For details, refer to the latest version of the Bug fix document accompanying these notes.

Important

It was discovered that, until now, Firebird’s security database had been created with Forced Writes OFF. Like any database with FW disabled, the security database is vulnerable to corruption in an environment where the power supply is not guaranteed to be stable. The v.2.1.1 sub-release and all future builds rectify this situation and create security2.fdb with FW ON. If you are importing an existing security database from any older release, it is recommended that you use the gfix utility to activate Forced Writes.

Note, however, that setting Forced Writes ON in any database on a Firebird 1.5.x or lower version server on Linux will have no effect. FW does not work on Linux in these lower Firebird servers.