Oracle Database 10g cuts path to grid computing

Oracle Corp. set the stage for grid computing when it formally unveiled recently the Oracle Database 10g designed to give companies new ways of provisioning their hardware and software assets to reduce administration costs.

Moving up to 10g promises Oracle customer installations in the country, most of which are already in the Oracle 9i platform, new self-managing features that automate daily and routine administrative tasks for better database administration, says Reynaldo Paragas, Oracle Systems Philippines’ E-business director.

Grid computing works by pooling large-scale and inexpensive hardware such as clusters of server blades and rack-mounted storage supported by highly automated software for simpler and transparent IT resource management.

To meet the grid’s require-ments, Oracle fitted a new Web-based console that complements the self-management capabilities of 10g. Called Database Control, it can proactively monitor and automatically tune up the data-base’s performance, among other things.

In addition, Oracle launched its first middleware product, Oracle Application Server 10g, to handle the simplified management of applications in a grid computing environment. This and Oracle Database 10g comprise Oracle’s first grid infrastructure software ever to be introduced in the market.

"The Oracle 10g software provides a more holistic approach to database and application tiers management. It’s about provisio-ning and how (with 10g) software is now taking advantage of hardware in a grid… The biggest breakthrough is having both hardware and software work together to take on any big business (system) problem and deal with it quickly in a commodity platform," says Jojo Añonuevo, sales director of Oracle Philippines.

The Oracle Database 10g is available in Standard Edition One, Standard Edition and Enterprise Edition. The entry-level Standard Edition One is Oracle’s bet to scoop up smaller database customers who tend to shy away from high price entry points, but are attracted to and in need of clustering and management options.

At $4,995, the Standard Edition One is "cheaper than Microsoft’s SQL Server," says Añonuevo. It is available with Named User Plus licensing at $149 per user, and for servers that have a maximum capa-city of two processors.