Database Industry News

8/6/2008 Microsoft Releases SQL Server 2008

Microsoft released the latest version of SQL Server today. The new software can be downloaded from the microsoft web site at www.microsoft.com/sqlserver. According to Microsoft, the new version of SQL Server offers powerful new capabilities such as support for policy-based management, auditing, large-scale data warehousing, geospatial data, and advanced reporting and analysis services.
View Microsoft Press Release

7/20/2008 Oracle extends Real Application Testing to earlier versions

Oracle has extended the availability of Real Application Testing to versions 9i and 10g. Real Application Testing provides the ability to capture and replay production workload scenarios in a test environment. This enables users to test the impact of hardware changes or software upgrades without impacting the production environment.
http://www.oracle.com/database/real-application-testing.html

10/24/2007 8:00:00 AM Oracle Ships 11g Database for Windows

Oracle Corp. has released the Windows version of its flagship 11g database, a few months after the company shipped the Linux version.
www.pcworld.com

10/24/2007 7:00:00 AM Microsoft Crafts Single Code Base for ERP Apps

Microsoft Corp. is developing a common code base for all of its Dynamics ERP (enterprise resource planning) applications.
www.pcworld.com

10/12/2007 6:00:00 AM Oracle Offers $6.7 Billion to Buy BEA Systems

Oracle Corp. announced on Friday that it has offered to buy middleware vendor BEA Systems Inc. for US$17 per share in cash.
www.pcworld.com

7/31/2007 8:00:00 AM SQL Server Still No. 1 in Databases

Microsoft SQL Server is still No.1. According to the 2007 Database and Data Access, Integration and Reporting Study, completed by BZ Research in late June, 74.7 percent of enterprises are using SQL Server. This is slightly lower than the 76.4 percent reported in a comparable July 2006 study, but it’s still significantly higher than the other popular databases.
www.sdtimes.com

7/20/2006 EMC to roll out Native Encryption on storage arrays.

Computerworld reports that taking advantage of its recent acquisition of RSA security, EMC plans to add native encryption to its storage arrays. According to EMC, this will enable users to encrypt all data while maintianing the ability to use all of the standard tools available at the operating system and database level. EMC expects to begin shipping arrays with this capability within 18 Months.
www.computerworld.com

7/12/2006 Oracle updates PeopleSoft Enterprise app

Oracle Corp. has released Version 9 of its PeopleSoft Enterprise application suite, an upgrade Oracle says will prepare customers to move to a service-oriented architecture. Version 9 is integrated with Oracle's Fusion Middleware, a portfolio of server software that lets different vendors' applications interoperate. Fusion applications are expected in 2008.
www.computerworld.com

7/11/2006 Microsoft touts Windows Small Biz Server 2003 R2

Microsoft Corp. today said Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 will be available in August. New features in R2, a variant of Windows Server 2003 optimized for smaller companies, include a "Green Check" of software health to help customers protect vital business data, automated patch and update services for all Microsoft Update supported products in the network and a 75GB mailbox limit. The Standard Edition will be available for an estimated retail price of $599 while the Premium Edition lists for $1,299. Microsoft said the Premium Edition price has been cut 13% from the previous version of Windows Small Business Server 2003 Premium Edition. R2 will also be pre-installed on servers available from Dell Inc., Fujitsu Siemens Computers, Gateway Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and IBM, and will be available in 18 languages.
www.computerworld.com

7/6/2006 EnterpriseDB Launches Financial Support Program for PostgreSQL Open Source Community at Worldwide PostgreSQL Summit

EnterpriseDB, the world’s leading enterprise-class, open source database company, announced today that it is establishing a fund to sponsor further development of PostgreSQL. The company will launch the fund at this weekend’s PostgreSQL Anniversary Summit in Toronto with an initial contribution of $25,000. The fund will be used at the discretion of the PostgreSQL leadership team to sponsor development of PostgreSQL features and enhancements. EnterpriseDB’s flagship product, EnterpriseDB Advanced Server, is an Oracle-compatible, enterprise-class RDBMS that is built on PostgreSQL. Widely regarded as the world’s most advanced open source database, PostgreSQL was recently hailed in the Forrester Research Wave report as a “Leader” in the open source database market. Forrester’s evaluation further found that PostgreSQL had the strongest strategy component of any product in the category.
www.enterprisedb.com

6/8/2006 IBM's DB2 9 'Viper' database to ship July 28 The company has been working on DB2 9 for more than five years

IBM today is officially unveiling its DB2 9 database, previously code-named Viper. As well as detailing functionality and pricing for the hybrid relational and XML database, the company is announcing a July 28 worldwide shipping date for the product. IBM is positioning DB2 9 as one of its most important database releases in recent years, given its capacity to natively store and manage not only structured relational data but also unstructured XML data such as audio, video and Web pages.
www.computerworld.com

5/26/2006 PostgreSQL fix could break applications

PostgreSQL users have been put in a potentially sticky situation by a serious security flaw made public this week. The flaw allows for SQL injection attacks, and affects all versions of PostgreSQL, aside from fixed versions released this week. However, the fix, PostgreSQL developers admit, will break many users' applications.
www.networkworld.com

4/6/2006 Survey: Linux gaining as Oracle database platform of choice

Consolidating disparate databases for easier management and moving to Linux to save money are among the top issues for Oracle Corp. database users, according to a recent survey of members of the Independent Oracle Users Group (IOUG). Migrating to the latest Oracle 10g, consolidating servers and moving to a service-oriented architecture (SOA) are also top priorities for the 812 IOUG members who responded to the survey. The results were released this week in advance of the annual IOUG meeting, Collaborate 2006, which is set for later this month in Nashville. About half of the respondents are database administrators, with a fifth coming from the development and architecture community and 13% working as IT managers or executives. Read the entire article at
www.computerworld.com

3/15/2006 Microsoft releases preview of SP1 for SQL Server 2005

Microsoft Corp. today released a Community Technology Preview (CTP) of the upcoming Service Pack 1 for its SQL Server 2005 database. New features in SP1 include full database mirroring to offer real-time data backups and SQL Server Management Studio Express, which is designed to help database administrators run the free version of SQL Server 2005. SP1 is on schedule for final release next month. Read the entire article at
www.computerworld.com

2/27/2006 Update: MySQL buys company, hires noted database architect

MySQL said it acquired Netfrastructure Inc., a privately held U.S. company that makes tools and server software for building Web-based applications, for an undisclosed sum. Starkey, who was Netfrastructure's founder and president, becomes a senior software architect at MySQL. The move follows Oracle Corp.'s recent acquisition of two open-source database companies, Innobase Oy and Sleepycat Software Inc., and was seen by some as a defensive move by MySQL to strengthen its development team and provide new options for the future development of its open-source database. Read the entire article at
www.computerworld.com

1/12/2006 EnterpriseDB launches partner program

EDISON, N.J., Jan 12, 2006 – EnterpriseDB, the world’s leading enterprise-class, open source database company, today launched a formal partner program that enables companies to incorporate the award-winning EnterpriseDB database into their business models. Buda Consulting is pleased to be among the first companies to take part in the program.


12/6/2005 Oracle 10g supports .net stored procedures

Oracle has long supported the use of java stored procedures in addition to its own pl/sql. Now with version 10g, Oracle supports .net stored procedures as well. This article on the Oracle Technology Network website describes how to use them.


11/7/2005 SQL Server Launch

SQL Server 2005 is launched! The official announcement came at a special event in San Francisco Monday, November 7.


11/1/2005 EnterpriseDB Corporation Releases New Version of Enterprise-Class Database

OPEN SOURCE BUSINESS CONFERENCE, NEWTON, Mass., Nov. 1, 2005 –EnterpriseDB Corporation, an enterprise database company, announced today at the Open Source Business Conference the availability of EnterpriseDB 2005 Release 2. EnterpriseDB 2005 is an enterprise-class database that is built on PostgreSQL, the world’s most advanced open source database. EnterpriseDB 2005 features the ability to run many Oracle applications unmodified and also provides performance enhancements over PostgreSQL. Release 2 is an update to EnterpriseDB 2005 that incorporates the most recent version of PostgreSQL (v8.0.4), improved Oracle-style cursors, faster performance, and features to facilitate integration by independent software vendors (ISVs). In addition, JasperReports, the world’s most widely used open source reporting technology, is now available and supported by EnterpriseDB. The news release, including JasperReports, is available for download at the company’s website.
www.enterprisedb.com

10/31/2005 Oracle Unveils Free Database—Oracle Database 10g Express Edition

Oracle has announced the release of Oracle(r) Database 10g Express Edition. This is a free, starter edition of the companies leading database software.