Oracle 11g Ships, But New Features Cost Extra

The recently launched Oracle 11g database server is now shipping but today's release announcement came with a twist: Some of the new features come at an additional cost.

Oracle took the wraps off its next-generation database at an event in New York last month, saying that the first iteration would ship this quarter for Linux. Company officials at the time indicated that the Windows version should follow a quarter later, or by year's end.

The company today declined to comment on the status of the Windows version, which is in beta. Oracle 11g for Windows will boast integration with Microsoft's Visual Studio tool suite.

Also, in a recent white paper, the company said the Windows version will employ a native, thread-based Windows service model and will more tightly integrate with the operating system.

For those running Oracle on Windows, 11g will offer support for large-memory and grid computing. It will support both 32- and 64-bit Windows including Vista, X64-based hardware (client and server) and Intel's Windows-based Itanium server platform.

But the big news today, as mentioned, centers on pricing. Oracle 11g Standard Edition, which allows up to 300 named users, starts at $3,300, while Enterprise Edition is priced at $8,800 for 800 named users. A complete price list is available here.

Some of the key new features of the database are as follows:

* Real Application Testing, which consists of two components. The first is Database Replay, which lets DBAs test, capture and run actual production workloads when executing such tasks as patches and changes to schemas, configuration, storage, network and operating systems. The second component is SQL Performance Analyzer (SPA), which lets developers test the impact of environmental changes. A white paper on RAT is available from Oracle here (PDF). RAT costs $10,000 per processor or $200 per named user.

* Advanced Compression, designed to reduce database storage requirements by two or three times, is priced at $10,000 per processor or $200 per named user.

* Oracle Total Recall, which lets DBAs maintain archives of changed data for those with compliance requirements, is $5,000 per processor or $100 per named user.

* Active Data Guard, a module that provides monitoring, management and automation for data protection and disaster recovery, is priced at $5,000 per processor.

Author: Jeffrey Schwartz

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Top-Kniga selects Oracle Retail applications

Oracle Retail merchandising, planning and data warehousing applications from software solutions provider Oracle have been selected by Top-Kniga, a wholesaler/retailer of books in Russia, to help increase sales, performance and customer service levels across its six wholesale warehouses and 500 stores in 180 cities in Russia, through more effective inventory management.

Top-Kniga, which sells over 3m books each month through its Litera, Las Knigas and Knigomir brands, selected Oracle Retail as the most suitable solution to meet its requirements, following a market applications analysis. The project will focus initially on implementing the Oracle Retail Merchandising System, Oracle Retail Demand Forecasting and Oracle Retail Data Warehouse modules, with Deloitte acting as implementation partner.

Top-Kniga expects the Oracle Retail platform to help improve its forecasting capabilities, provide real-time data and analytics for management and automate stock replenishment, helping to boost inventory turnover and profitability.
The Oracle Retail applications deployment will support Top-Kniga's strategy for improving customer service, sales and efficiency. It is expected to enable the company to bring new stores and locations online quickly and extend its offering of services and printed media books and products.

Source: M2 Best Books

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How Oracle skills can be the base for a good career

What is it?

Oracle is a relational database management system that runs on more than 80 platforms. The Oracle database is Oracle's flagship product: the current version, Oracle10g, was introduced in 2005.

A generic qualification in database technology can be a good foundation for a career, but less likely to appeal to employers than certification from one of the big suppliers. Each stage in the progression from junior to advanced certification involves training and examination fees that can total thousands of pounds.

IBM's DB2 certification is cheapest and simplest of the market leaders. Microsoft, with its regular upheavals between one major release and another, also regularly changes its certification requirements, so staying up to date involves a lot of bother and expense.

The most expensive, however, is Oracle. But Oracle qualifications are also the most marketable, with the widest choice of platforms and employers, and the best rates of pay.

Where did it originate?

Relational technology may have been invented at IBM, but Oracle was the first relational database management system to become commercially available, when a company called Relational Software released it in 1979. Chief executive Larry Ellison and two colleagues took the name from a CIA-funded project they had worked on. The company was renamed Oracle Corporation in 1983. The first version was for Vax VMS, soon extended to Unix, and then to IBM mainframes.

What's it for?

Oracle's proprietary implementation of SQL is PL/SQL (procedural language/structured query language), often used within the rapid application development environment, Oracle Forms.

Oracle insists that it remains committed to Forms and other long-standing technologies: "Oracle Forms and Oracle Reports will continue to be enhanced and will introduce new features in the future versions of the Oracle Application Server. Oracle is already committing development resources that will take Forms and Reports through to at least 2013," the company says.

But the fastest growing development environment is Java/J2EE, which Oracle is supporting with tools and environments like Oracle JDeveloper and the integrated J2EE Application Development Framework.

What makes it special?

Like IBM and Microsoft, Oracle offers an "express edition" of its database, Oracle Database XE, which can be downloaded free for Windows and Linux and used for learning and limited development.

How difficult is it to master?

Oracle has introduced a wizard-driven environment to help novice administrators and non-programmers develop simple applications.

Where is it used?

Oracle is the dominant database in commerce, finance, manufacturing, telecoms and the rest of the private sector, from Boeing and BT, to Egg and the Edinburgh Woollen Mill. It is also widespread in national and local government, police services and other public organisations and charities.

What systems does it run on?

Oracle is available on the widest range of platforms, leading the market in Linux and Unix, and competing with IBM on mainframes and Microsoft on Windows.

What's coming up?

The Oracle 11g database is due later this year.

Author: Nick Langley

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