Compatibility Between EntepriseDB and Oracle

Have you wondered what features are compatible between Oracle and EnterpriseDB? Have you wondered if EnterpriseDB is REALLY compatible with Oracle?

EnterpriseDB has compiled a new document called the Oracle Compatibility Developer's Guide. You can download the Oracle Compatibility Developer's Guide for EntepriseDB 8.2 or the Oracle Compatibility Developer's Guide for 8.3 Beta.

This new document should help answer one of the most common questions I get asked, i.e., what is compatible and what is not compatible between EnterpriseDB and Oracle. If you are interested in EnterpriseDB but haven't taken the plunge, check out this document.

Speaking of compatibility, I plan to start a series of articles that directly compares a feature between Oracle and EntepriseDB (with mentions to pure PostgreSQL).

LewisC

oracle enterprisedb

EDB*Plus and EDB*Loader Emulate Oracle’s SQL*Plus and SQL*Loader: EnterpriseDB 8.3 Beta

EnterpriseDB Advanced Server’s enterprise-class, cross-platform developer and DBA console now includes EDB*Plus, a command-line terminal interface that emulates Oracle’s SQL*Plus. Like SQL*Plus, EDB*Plus allows users to run SQL and PL/SQL commands interactively. Oracle users accustomed to SQL*Plus will find EDB*Plus immediately familiar. In addition, EnterpriseDB’s new EDB*Loader emulates Oracle’s SQL*Loader and provides even deeper compatibility.

EnterpriseDB Advanced Server 8.3 adds several new features that enhance the database’s ability to run, unchanged, applications written for Oracle. For example, there are more than 20 new Oracle-compatible system views, Oracle-compatible packages now support comments, and ROWNUM can now be used in sub-queries and views. In addition, EnterpriseDB’s new bulk binding feature, which allows collections of SQL statements to be collected and run together to improve performance, further improves Oracle compatibility.

Other updates to the new software include:

• A DBA monitoring console that provides real-time charting for CPU and memory usage, disk I/O, and cache hit ratios across multiple EnterpriseDB databases

• Support for embedded hints, which can alter program execution

• Transaction error recovery support, which enables implicit statement-level transactions

• Updateable cursors

• Definer/invoker rights to provide controlled access to database objects

oracle enterprisedb

Is EnterpriseDB Express Gone?

I was at the EnterpriseDB web site recently and noticed that the downloads have changed a bit. I no longer see a download for EnterpriseDB Express. If you remember a while back, I had found an annoyance with the installation of the express version.

Now you go right to the advance server download and get a messsage.

You have downloaded EnterpriseDB Advanced Server. Currently, EnterpriseDB Advanced Server 8.2 requires a Product Key in order to use the software above 1 CPU, 1 GB of memory, and 6GB of data. This product key will be removed from future releases of EnterpriseDB Advanced Server.

The message also provides a license key so that you can install the software. Kudos EnterpriseDB. I appreciate it. I'm not opposed to an express version. Actually, I think it makes a lot of sense. But before implementing it, the software should be able to limit itself.

It looks like that's what they plan to do.

I also noticed a new feature/offering. EnterpriseDB now offers a Developer Support Pack.

Need some help getting started with EnterpriseDB Advanced Server? Sign up for 6 months of technical support today for just $99. This Developer Support Pack is to be used for development only and not for production implementations.

That is an incredibly reasonable price for a developer to get up to speed. I didn't read the details but if that allows a developer access to phone support, $99 for half a year can't be beat.

oracle enterprisedb

EnterpriseDB Wins One From MySQL

Do you do GEO? If you do, you've probably at least heard of PostGIS, the Postgres GIS extension. PostGIS just gave EnterpriseDB a big win over its open source competition.

FortiusOne leads the market towards the next generation of Web mapping. Its breakthrough Intelligent Mapping technologies offer rich information visualization on maps and unprecedented access to geographic data. FortiusOne innovations include: high-speed Web-based geographic analysis tools, a flexible and scalable Web services platform supporting the special needs of geographic data, and an innovative application of social networking techniques to geographic knowledge creation.

FortiusOne's main product is GeoCommons. GeoCommons houses a large geospatial database with more than two billion attributes, 35,000 variables, and 1,500 datasets. As a fast-growing startup, FortiusOne required a low-cost, powerful database solution to run GeoCommons. Originally, FortiusOne selected MySQL; however, when FortiusOne was preparing to deploy the first public beta of GeoCommons, they encountered major performance roadblocks.



FortiusOne has migrated GeoCommons from MySQL to EnterpriseDB Advanced Server and improved overall system performance by 80%.

“We slammed into a brick wall with MySQL,” said Chris Ingrassia, chief technology officer, FortiusOne. “As an example, MySQL’s rather limited and incomplete spatial support dramatically impacted performance. We were looking for an affordable database solution, but we required enterprise-class features and performance that MySQL simply couldn’t deliver. Plus, philosophically we want to support open source-based technologies like EnterpriseDB.”

The PostGIS geospatial extensions to PostgreSQL played a key role in FortiusOne’s selection of EnterpriseDB Advanced Server, a PostgreSQL-based solution, and dramatically improved performance. FortiusOne needed to run complex spatial queries against large datasets quickly and efficiently, and found the MySQL spatial extensions to be far less complete and comprehensive than PostGIS. EnterpriseDB Advanced Server processes some of GeoCommons’ database-intensive rendering requests in one-thirtieth of the time required by MySQL. During peak loads, GeoCommons processes more than one hundred thousand complex requests per hour, requiring true enterprise-class performance and scalability.

“EnterpriseDB occupies that crucial middle ground between MySQL and Oracle,” continued Ingrassia. “EnterpriseDB is priced competitively with MySQL, but provides significantly better performance and advanced features you just don’t find in most open source databases.”

You can get additional information about GeoCommons at the GeoCommons FAQ. Checkout some cool screenshots at the FortiusOne screenshot page.


mysql enterprisedb

EnterpriseDB Fall Webinar Series

Sign up for Live Webinars from EnterpriseDB. The December Data Warehouse one looks really good.


October 4, 2007 9AM ET & 2PM ET
Top 5 Ways to Supercharge Your Database
Abstract: - Join EnterpriseDB to learn 5 simple ways to supercharge your EnterpriseDB and Postgres databases to gain the best performance. From Dynatune™ to auto-vacuuming, there are simple ways to optimize your database without sacrificing availability and reliability

Speaker:
Jim Mlodgenski - Vice President, Worldwide Technical Services EnterpriseDB

October 10, 2007 1PM ET
Lowering TCO While Raising Revenues for Business Intelligence Applications
Abstract: - Join EnterpriseDB and JasperSoft to learn how to implement a fully functional BI architecture based on open source technologies that addresses the paradox of lowering your customer’s TCO while improving professional services revenue.

Speakers:
Jose Morales - Vice President, Business Development, JasperSoft,
Bill Doyle - Sr.Vice President, Business Development, EnterpriseDB

October 23, 2007 12PM ET
What is Enterprise-Class? Going Beyond the Checklist to Select the Right Database for Your Application
Abstract: - In this webcast, renowned industry guru Curt Monash provides an objective context in which to evaluate and select the right DBMS based on your application's needs. He will discuss how all DBMS' features are not all created equal in the way they address application-specific demands. Particular focus will be given to the unique requirements of transaction-intensive applications.

Speakers:
Curt Monash - Monash Information Services,
Derek M. Rodner - Director, Product Strategy, EnterpriseDB

October 30, 2007 9AM ET & 2PM ET
Building New Applications on EnterpriseDB Advanced Server
Abstract: - Join EnterpriseDB experts to learn more about building new applications on EnterpriseDB Advanced Server. Topics include:

* PL/SQL compatibility
* Stored Procedures, Packages, Functions, Triggers, etc.
* SQL Query Profiler
* Procedural Language Debugger
* Developer Studio

Speaker:
Derek M. Rodner - Director, Product Strategy, EnterpriseDB

November 7, 2007 9AM ET & 2PM ET
Using EnterpriseDB to Offload Reporting to Increase Performance and Save Money
Abstract: - Learn how EnterpriseDB Advanced Server is being used to offload reporting from production Oracle databases to increase productivity and performance, while saving companies millions of dollars.

Speaker:
Derek M. Rodner - Director, Product Strategy, EnterpriseDB

November 28, 2007 9AM & 2PM ET
Building a High Performance and Scalable Environment with EnterpriseDB
Advanced Server
Abstract: - Vendor solutions like Oracle RAC™ can provide additional performance up to a certain point, but in most cases, the cost of these solutions far exceeds the benefits. Join EnterpriseDB experts as they show you how to architect a highly scalable environment to deliver optimal performance without sacrificing availability or reliability

Speaker:
Jim Mlodgenski - Vice President, Worldwide Technical Services, EnterpriseDB

December 5, 2007 9AM & 2PM ET
Best Practices for Data Warehousing
Speaker: - Join EnterpriseDB experts as they take you on a guided tour of GridSQL™ for EnterpriseDB Advanced Server. From architecture to implementation, learn how:

* GridSQL’s “shared-nothing” distributed architecture is transparent to the application
* Servers can be easily added to the grid to increase performance
* DBAs can monitor and administer the entire grid or a single server from a simple, easy-to-use graphical interface

Speaker:
Jim Mlodgenski - Vice President, Worldwide Technical Services, EnterpriseDB

December 12, 2007 9AM & 2PM ET
Database Worst Practices: The Top 5 Mistakes Developers Make and How to Avoid Them
Abstract: - Applications today are growing more and more complex, and with that complexity comes the increased risk of error. Join EnterpriseDB experts as they discuss the "Top 5" mistakes that developers make and how to avoid them.

Speaker:
Jim Mlodgenski - Vice President, Worldwide Technical Services, EnterpriseDB

webinar enterprisedb

EnterpriseDB Webinar: Building a Highly Available Infrastructure

A new Webinar about EnterpriseDB (not from me). Building a Highly Available Infrastructure for Your Database and Application.

It's next wednesday, September 26, 2007 at 9am and 2pm Eastern. I guess it repeats. It's an hour long.

Here's the blurb from the email I received:

What does an hour of downtime cost you? Analysts report that just one hour of downtime can cost businesses millions of dollars, and some never recover.

What applications are mission critical today? In the past, only those applications that controlled finances were considered mission-critical. But, today, almost every application, from your e-commerce website to your email and calendaring system, are considered mission-critical and candidates for high-availability planning.

While everyone agrees that downtime is caused by three major areas - people, processes and technology - every effort is being made to ensure that technology is never the cause.

Join EnterpriseDB and Continuent experts as they show you how to implement a highly available environment for your database infrastructure. Topics include:

• Online Operations
• Point-in-Time Recovery
• Back Up and Failover Processing
• Data Storage Access

You will also discover how Continuent uni/cluster technology can remove all single points of failure in your infrastructure by using a synchronous, multi-master approach to database replication. Key uni/cluster technology capabilities are:

• "Always On" database and application services with instant, automatic and transparent failover
• Automatic load balancing - use any database server to process user queries
• Near-linear scaling of application users and load

Questions and requests for additional information will be addressed to help you with your installation.

I plan to register and check it out. I'll post the highlights afterwards.

webinar enterprisedb

Bob Zurek's Open Letter to the Wall Street Journal

News has been slow in the EnterpriseDB world lately. I haven't posted in a while.

Bob Zurek is EnterpriseDB's (fairly) new CTO. He is an ex-IBM exec and maintains his blog on the IBM DeveloperWorks blog area. He's been blogging for a long time so I'm not sure how he worked out the move from IBM to EnterpriseDB and kept the same area.

Anyway, Bob posted an open letter to the Wall Street Journal about a reporter's take on Open Source. Bob objected to the reporter, Walter K. Mosberg, classifying open source as a two-edge sword.

But open source is a two-edge sword. While it draws on smart developers from many places, nobody is ultimately responsible for the quality of the product, and open source developers have an imperfect feel for how average people use software.

Bob says:

I’d like to respectfully take issue with this statement. As a person active in the tech industry, you know that there has been a strong open source track record in the software industry where many companies, both open source and traditionally commercial have embraced open source in a very big way. These companies include the likes of IBM, Sun and Novell but also emerging open source companies like EnterpriseDB, Talend, Compiere and SugarCRM. All these companies absolutely take responsibility for the quality of the product. I would also say that many of these companies employ some of the best user experience experts in the industry. As a former IBM executive I know that IBM works very hard on providing the user with the best experience in all aspects of their software. Making a statement claiming “open-source developers often have an imperfect feel for how average people use software” is not fair to those projects that employ user experience experts and put a great deal of effort in understanding average users.

I would actually be more inclined to agree with Mossberg. Most open source projects do not "employ user experience experts" or "put a great deal of effort in understanding average users". Not to say it's not good software. Look at postgres. Technically superior software but you still need to edit a complex text file to configure user permissions.

I would say that open source is a two-edge sword for other reasons too. I have spent most of my career working in large enterprises and I can tell you that the question of support, quality and licensing comes up very often.

"Who will support it and how long will they be around?" Can you name all of the company's that started as a support organization for an open source package and are no longer around?

GPL, LPGL, etc are death to large enterprises. The legal touch-points make for some interesting discussions when you are recommending an open source tool. Any time you need the lawyers to use "free" software, you might as well drop it.

That's one of the benefits of having a company like EnterpriseDB around. It's not open source. It's based on open source. Having to pay to use something just seems to make sense to lawyers. Anything else freaks them out.

open source enterprisedb

EnterpriseDB Install Annoyance

This is just a little peeve of mine. When you install EnterpriseDB, you can choose either a full production license or the free EnterpriseDB Express version. On my laptop, I want to run the express version. I don't need it to use more than 1 gig of ram, more than 1 cpu or more than 6gb of disk. But I can't even install it because my hardware exceeds those specs.



Oracle Express Edition has the same limitations as EnterpriseDB Express (and so does Microsoft SQL Server Express), but Oracle (and MS) limit their hardware usage by building the limits into the software. You can install the software on hardware as big as you have and the software will limit itself while it is running.

The EnterpriseDB installer won't even let you install. That also has me wondering about using EnterpriseDB. Oracle allows a developer to download, install and use the full blown enterprise edition of Oracle without any kind of key or license beyond the developer license. It looks like developers can only freely use EnterpriseDB on low end software. I wonder how a developer developing for large databases could do so?

It just seems odd that open source developers complain about Oracle but Oracle has a more developer-friendly license than EnterpriseDB. I guess it is a side effect of the way EDB licenses for support vs for the software? I have a question open on the EDB support forum. I'll keep everyone posted on this topic.

oracle enterprisedb express license edb edbx

EnterpriseDB and Vars

A neat article in the September 2007 issue of VARBusiness. The article is titled: EnterpriseDB Offers Options To Oracle Lock-In. Not a lot of new info here but there were several good points.

The mention the EnterpriseDB ROI calculator,

EnterpriseDB provides a calculator on its Web site where prospective customers can compare Oracle licensing costs to EnterpriseDB subscription fees.

I blogged about this a while back, EnterpriseDB - Measure ROI versus Oracle.

They also talk about how most of EnterpriseDB sales are direct but EnterpriseDB expects,

that partners could account for as much as 30 percent to 40 percent of EnterpriseDB's sales by the end of next year. "A major part of our revenue pull will be OEMs and companies that sell Enterprise DB with their apps," he says.

I can see that. Many companies should be looking for lower price selections from their partners. In turn that should lower database costs for everyone.

On this I didn't know is that Compiere is certified for EnterpriseDB:

Previously available for Oracle's database, Compiere's software was recently certified to run on EnterpriseDB. "We did that primarily to provide our installed base and sales prospects with a choice," says Bill Freedman, Compiere director of marketing. (Compiere also belongs to Oracle's Partner Network.) Compiere bundles EnterpriseDB Advanced Server licenses with its apps and support services which, in turn, are largely sold through the application vendor's own channel network.

Worth a read.

oracle enterprisedb Compiere partners

EnterpriseDB Webinar Recording - From Oracle to EnterpriseDB: An Oracle ACE's Journey

Well, the webinar has been done. The recording has been posted to something called Jumpcut. This is video and audio. Check it out and give me feedback.



If that doesn't play for you, you can watch it on Jumpcut, From Oracle to EnterpriseDB: An Oracle ACE's Journey.

Thanks,

LewisC

oracle enterprisedb webinar migration video audio

Bruce Momjian Interview in InformationWeek

InformationWeek has a good interview with Bruce: Open Source PostgreSQL Developer Bruce Momjian Spills The DB Beans.

In the interview, Bruce talks about how he spends one day a week at the EnterpriseDB site but most of his time working on Postgres.

There aren't a lot of quotes in the interview. I wonder if a longer interview is coming.

There are a few anti-comparisons between "bearded sage" Momjian and JBoss' Marc Fleury and, of course, the obligatory comparison to MySQL.

PostgreSQL sought to match major relational database systems and afterward addressed performance. "We didn't focus on performance until the end. MySQL had that right at the start," he acknowledges.

It's a short read but worth the time.

LewisC

oracle enterprisedb

EnterpriseDB Webinar

I did the EnterpriseDB Migration webinar today. The webinar was recorded and will be posted on the EnterpriseDB web site. I'll update this post with a link as soon as it is.

I think it went well. Derek had a family emergency and was not able to participate but his stand-in Matthew Bennett knew his stuff. He did the intro and then the follow up. We both answered questions.

There were some really good questions. I will try to cover some those here, in the future. For now, you can view the powerpoint presentation.



I really like the plug. That's kind of a cool image.

Take care,

LewisC

oracle enterprisedb migration webinar

EnterpriseDB Compatibilty features

A question that I am asked very often it exactly what features are compatible between EnterpriseDB and Oracle. The short story is that the areas that you think of as "development", i.e. SQL, Code, etc are the areas where the compatibility exists.

Maintenance tasks are generally familiar as is the overall architecture. Any modern database will have logging, recovery, backups, etc. In EnterpriseDB, the way you code an application will be compatible with Oracle and the maintenance of an EnterpriseDB database will be familiar.

EnterpriseDB has published a white paper called, Delivering Oracle Compatibility. This paper outlines the exact points of compatibility very succinctly. I hope they keep it updated for each release.

This bulleted list from the white paper outlines it pretty well:

• Oracle SQL Compatibility. EnterpriseDB Advanced Server executes Oracle-specific SQL syntax.

• PL/SQL Compatibility. EnterpriseDB Advanced Server executes PL/SQL, Oracle’s unique language for triggers, stored procedures, packages, and functions.

• Data Dictionary Views. EnterpriseDB provides the most common Oracle catalog views.

• Programming Flexibility and Drivers. EnterpriseDB supports the most common programming languages used to create database applications for Oracle including compatibility and interoperability with the Oracle Call Interface (OCI)™.

• Migration Tools. EnterpriseDB provides a suite of automated tools to move Oracle data, packages, triggers, stored procedures, and functions to EnterpriseDB in one simple step.

• Replication. EnterpriseDB Replication Server can replicate Oracle databases in near real-time to: improve database performance, run reporting and as the foundation for other applications at a small fraction of Oracle’s cost.

• Enterprise-Class Reliability and Scalability. EnterpriseDB Advanced Server is a suitable replacement for Oracle in high-volume, mission-critical applications.

• Oracle-Like Tools. EnterpriseDB Advanced Server includes a robust set of integrated tools that will be familiar to professional Oracle DBAs and developers.

The white paper lists specific functions and features that are Oracle compatible. If you are considering EnterpriseDB, you should read it. The one thing it doesn't list are those items that ARE NOT compatible, i.e. missing functions, incompatible syntax, data types issues. Fortunately, you can find those in my book. ;-)

LewisC

oracle enterprisedb features compatibility

EnterpriseDB Webinar - From Oracle to EnterpriseDB: An Oracle ACE's Journey

I will be doing a webinar next week, Aug 22 at 1PM Eastern. If you can't make it in real-time, the webinar will be recorded and will be available for viewing afterwards on the EnterpriseDB.com web site.

The webinar was announced in the EnterpriseDB press release for my book, EnterpriseDB Announces Availability of Definitive Reference Book.

From the press release:

Lewis Cunningham will describe his progression from EnterpriseDB skeptic to advocate in a live Webinar, From Oracle to EnterpriseDB: An Oracle ACE's Journey, on Wednesday, Aug. 22 at 1:00 p.m. EDT. The Webinar will also feature a step-by-step migration of an Oracle application to EnterpriseDB Advanced Server. To register for the Webinar, please visit www.enterprisedb.com/bookwebcast.

I'm really looking forward to doing this webinar. I did the ODTUG Desktop Conference in 2005. I did a security presentation and an Oracle XE presentation. Those were kind of the same. I will be talking and doing a PPT. Q&A will follow the presentation.

I'm also excited that the book is almost out. I have no idea when it will actually be out but it should happen shortly. I hope you can make the presentation.

LewisC

enterprisedb oracle book webinar

oracle enterprisedb

EnterpriseDB Wins Best Database Award at LinuxWorld

EnterpriseDB, the Oracle-compatible database company, today announced that EnterpriseDB Advanced Server has won the LinuxWorld Product Excellence Award for Best Database Solution. EnterpriseDB Advanced Server beat both Oracle 11g and Jaspersoft Business Intelligence Suite to take the top honor.

"EnterpriseDB uniquely enables enterprises to run applications written for Oracle databases for a tiny fraction of Oracle's cost," said Andy Astor, chief executive officer, EnterpriseDB. "We were thrilled in 2005 to have taken the LinuxWorld Product Excellence Award for our industry-changing product and again in 2006 for our continued innovation. This year's award for Best Database Solution, especially in light of the hype surrounding Oracle 11g, is a gratifying endorsement of our product and strategy."

I thought Oracle XE won this award last year? Has EnterpriseDB won it 3 years in a row?

LewisC

oracle enterprisedb

oracle enterprisedb

EnterpriseDB - Measure ROI versus Oracle

EnterpriseDB has introduced a new feature called the ROI Calculator. The calculator allows you to enter an Oracle configuration and compare the cost to an equivalent EnterpriseDB cost. You can even add extras like the partitioning option, OLAP, Data Mining and Spatial. A nice addition is the ability to enter a discount for Oracle. Most organizations get at least a partial discount on their purchases. The ROI also includes a 5 year support cost which somewhat skews the results (but in a direction you will likely go anyway).

I played with several configurations to see how they compared. I started with a fairly common configuration, 4 CPU Enterprise Edition with Partitioning. I included a 20% discount for Oracle.

Even though I know that EnterpriseDB is a lot cheaper to license, I was somewhat surprised at the difference in this configuration: $428,800 for Oracle vs 100,000 for a difference of $328,800. Remember this is over 5 years.



I entered the values for a little bit more robust configuration but one that is still not totally unusual: 16 CPU EE with Partitioning and a 20% discount. The numbers are even more dramtic: $1,372,160 for Oracle and $400,000 for EnterpriseDB for a difference of $972,160. That's almost a million dollars over 5 years and that's with a 20% discount on Oracle.



Finally, I tried it with a very basic configuration: 4 CPU Standard Edition, no partitioning and a 20% discount. The totals: $100,800 for Oracle and $100,000 for EnterpriseDB. Much closer. In this configuration, you lose the ability to partition in Oracle (you can partition in all configurations of EnterpriseDB), but you gain RAC (included in an SE license without an extra cost).



All of these EnterpriseDB prices include the premium support costs. The differences are even more dramatic if you choose Basic support over the Premium support offering. A premium support license for 4 CPUs is $100,000 (over 5 years) where as a basic support is only $30,000. The same comparison with 16 CPUs is $400,000 for premium and $120,000 over 5 years.

All in all, this ROI calculator shows that significant savings can be made. You still need to verify that EnterpriseDB is compatible for your applications.

oracle enterprisedb roi

RAC on Open Source: EntepriseDB GridSQL

This is just too cool. Today, EnterpriseDB announced at LinuxWorld that they are offering GridSQL, a data warehouse and OLAP clustering solution. According to the doc, the EnterpriseDB page for GridSQL, the tool offers:

• Quickly and easily create, maintain, and access very large databases for Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing applications

• Offload reporting from expensive hardware platforms onto an inexpensive grid of commodity hardware, creating significant savings

• Run reporting and other applications with very large datasets, improving organizational decision-making

• Improve organizational productivity and agility by enabling quick access to large amounts of informationThis is supposed to be a true, shared nothing approach to clustering. I, obviously, haven't had the chance to play with it yet but I will.

This is a scale out package for large databases. So I am guessing that you would be able to partition data across multiple machines but that is a total guess on my part. It may be just a CPU boost instead. I need to do some more research.

According to the documentation, GridSQL includes parallel query where EnterpriseDB (the database) decides how to spread the query across all databases in the grid. It does include a parallel query optimizer.

This i s an incredible step for EnterpriseDB. Check out the press release. I wonder how long it will be before they release GridSQL for PostgreSQL? RAC on open source? Free RAC? Interesting.

LewisC

oracle enterprisedb rac real application clusters gridsql parallel

EnterpriseDB Finalist in Two Categories at LinuxWorld

EnterpriseDB got the finalist nod for Best Database Solution, for the third year, and for GridSQL For EnterpriseDB. This is the first I have heard of GridSQL and I am looking forward to more info.

All it says in the announcement is:

GridSQL for EnterpriseDB Advanced Server is a new product that will be announced at LinuxWorld on Aug. 7, 2007.

About all I can think is that it is something like pgCluster which is a multi-master, bi-directional replication tool for PostgreSQL. I have a hard believing that's what it because 1) they already have a replication tool and 2) the naming would be incredibly unfortunate.

I say option 2 because when most people hear grid associated with "an Oracle compatible database", they think of Oracle RAC and/or Grid (which most people erroneously think is the same thing but that's a different blog).

So now I wait with baited breath. I wish I had gotten a head's up at least.

oracle enterprisedb gridsql linux world award pgcluster

Learn EnterpriseDB - Step 1

So you've decided to learn/evaluate/use EnterpriseDB. That's great. The first thing you need to do is get it and install it.

Download

To get EnterpriseDB, you need to navigate over to the EnterpriseDB download page. If you haven't already signed up for an account, you will need to get one. It's free and, by signing up, you will also have access to the support forums.

When you sign up, you will get an EnterpriseDB Network Account ID. This ID will be emailed to the account you sign up with. SAVE THIS EMAIL! You don't absolutely need to sign up for the EnterpriseDB Network but I would recommend that you do so. The network account ID will allow you to install when you do not have an internet connection.

While you are waiting for your network email, download the software for your OS. At the time of this writing, Linux (32 & 64), Windows (32), and Solaris (32 & 64) are available. I have it on good information that AIX and HP-UX ports are on the way.

If you are running on a Unix-alike, you'll get a gzipped tar file. On windows, you get a zip file. Unzip to a directory and run the approriate setup script.

Installation

In most cases during the installation, it is easier if you just accept the defaults. That being the case, I will not describe all of the screens. Most are fairly intuitive, anyway.

Some of the screens are less obvious:

• Configuration Mode - If you are going for Oracle compatibility, choose Redwood mode. If you are going for PostgreSQL compatibility, download PostgreSQL.
• Features - Notice that you have to have signed up for the EnterpriseDB Network to get access to the DBA Management Server (like Oracle's OEM) and the Replication Server. If these aren't important to you, don't worry about them.
• Dynamic Tuning - Choose Development for developing and evaluating. In profuction, choose Dedicated. I haven't found a use for Mixed. This setting basically decides how many systems resources EnterpriseDB will use (CPU/Memory/Etc). Dev is very little, dedicated is most.

There you go. Once the installer is finished, you will have a default database.

LewisC

oracle enterprisedb download install

EnterpiseDB Chooses New CTO

EnterpriseDB has announced that Bob Zurek will be the new Chief Technology Officer. Zurek was previously at IBM where he was the director of product strategy in IBM’s Information Platform and Solutions Group. He was responsible for driving and executing the technical strategy for information integration solutions as they relate to software, hardware, services, vertical industries, and emerging markets.

Before IBM, he was vice president of product management and advanced technologies at Ascential Software (later purchased by IBM), where he was instrumental in developing and driving Ascential’s enterprise data integration software strategy.

Zurek is also a blogger at IBM. You can read his IBM blog at http://www-03.ibm.com/developerworks/blogs/page/BobZurek.

According to Andy Astor, CEO of EnterpriseDB, “Bob has an impressive track record of technology leadership, and is widely respected for his strategic vision. His insight and experience in the enterprise infrastructure market will be great assets to the company."

Andy says that, "Bob will work closely with co-founder and chief architect, Denis Lussier, and the rest of the executive management team, to help EnterpriseDB solidify its position as publisher of the world’s leading Oracle-compatible database.”

It sounds like Zurek will be a good addition to EnterpriseDB and if he is working closely with Denis Lussier, I am sure he will get up to speed on EnterpriseDB very quickly. Zurek's new job as CTO will include acting as the company’s lead product strategist and technical evangelist.

Tags: enterprisedb leadership cto ibm

EnterpriseDB Information

What does EnterpriseDB mean when they say they are "compatible" with Oracle?

Read, EnterpriseDB FAQ - What does compatibility mean?

In this blog entry, you will get a list of what parts are compatible between EnterpriseDB and Oracle, what is not compatible and what versions of Oracle are compatible with EnterpriseDB.

You can also answer some questions:

Where do you fit? Do you think the company you work for is a good candidate for EnterpriseDB? Have you downloaded it to try it out?

If you are a consultant, will you add EnterpriseDB to your arsenal?

I'm really interested in what people think about this. Is EnterpriseDB a good thing for Oracle dweebs like us or is it a bad thing? Why?