Open source database to wean companies off Oracle

EnterpriseDB is touting enterprise level capabilities of its Postgres Plus Standard Server 8.4 open source database, which was released this week. The company says the database, which is based on PostgreSQL database technology, offers enterprises cost benefits of open source, performance benefits of a community developed product, and the reassurance of vendor support.

Included as part of version 8.4 is StackBuilder Plus and UpdateMonitor, which notifies users of available updates and can automate downloads and installations.  "Most importantly, you get notified if anything changes once you've installed and start using it," said Ed Boyajian, president and CEO of EnterpriseDB.

A migration tool enables users to migrate from Oracle databases. It features Oracle schemas, data types, and call level interfaces to move to Postgres. "There's a growing number of people who are looking [for] more cost effective ways of deploying what we could call pedestrian applications, in most cases without paying the premium prices to Oracle," Boyajian said. Examples of these applications include analytics, reporting, and auditing.

EnterpriseDB already has supported migrations from the rival open source MySQL database, which is now owned by Sun Microsystems but would be part of Oracle if a proposed Sun/Oracle merger is completed. A MySQL migration toolkit is offered. "We've seen the number of downloads explode over the last five [to] six months since the [merger] announcement was made," said Boyajian.

With version 8.4, EnterpriseDB also is offering a certification suite to ensure interoperability between the database and components such as JDBC and ODBC drivers. "We've enhanced our testing suite to ensure that all that stuff works together," Boyajian said.

Developer and Production subscriptions for Postgres Plus Standard Server start at $995 (£600) per socket for a deployed project.