In this paper, we describe the architecture and features of DB2 Parallel Edition (PE). DB2 PE belongs to the IBM family of open DB2 client/server database products including DB2/6000, DB2/2, DB2 for HP-UX, and DB2 for the Solaris Operating Environment. DB2 PE employs a shared nothing architecture in which the database system consists of a set of independent logical database nodes. Each logical node represents a collection of system resources including, processes, main memory, disk storage, and communications, managed by an independent database manager. The logical nodes use message passing to exchange data with each other. Tables are partitioned across nodes using a hash partitioning strategy. The cost-based parallel query optimizer takes table partitioning information into account when generating parallel plans for execution by the runtime system. A DB2 PE system can be configured to contain one or more logical nodes per physical processor. For example, the system can be configured to implement one node per processor in a shared-nothing, MPP system or multiple nodes in a symmetric multiprocessor (SMP) system. This paper provides an overview of the storage model, query optimization, runtime system, utilities, and performance of DB2 Parallel Edition.