EnterpriseDB takes custody of PostgreSQL on Itanium
- Transfer
The news about the release of EnterpriseDB Postgre Plus Advanced Server 9.0 , the main feature of which was the addition of the HP-UX / Itanium platform, passed somehow imperceptibly in RuNet. I decided to fill this gap and translate the article on this topic, by the way, it complements my previous posts well:
- How will the opposition between HP and Oracle affect Open Source?
- Confrontation between HP and Oracle. To be continued.
Attention, translation shortened! (Honestly, I started translating only because of the last paragraph, be sure to read it. ;-)
EnterpriseDB takes care of PostgreSQL on Itanium
EnterpriseDB, a commercial company that provides technical support services for the open PostgreSQL DBMS and is developing its extended, Oracle-compatible version, is now in a winning situation. Hewlett-Packard was involved in a lawsuit related to the cessation of the development of DBMS, middleware and other software from Oracle for future Itanium-based processors, so expanding support for EnterpriseDB on HP-UX / Itanium is very helpful.
But there were still prerequisites for such a turn of events. HP turned to EnterpriseDB in January or February, before it encountered a problem with Itanium, but after Oracle took over Sun Microsystems. At that time, Mark Heard, the former head of Hewlett-Packard, moved to Oracle as co-president and a crack appeared in the relations of old partners.
The reason that HP and EnterpriseDB started working on official support for the HP-UX / Itanium platform was due to requests from some HP customers rather than a premonition of Oracle’s March action.
The open PostgreSQL DBMS has long been running on HP-UX systems, both with PA-RISK and Itanium-based processors. Anyone can download the source code, dig into it, compile and look at the work of PostgreSQL. But for corporate data centers in which business applications work, this is not suitable. They are used to binaries for target platforms and a high level of support from the vendor.
With the advent of EnterpriseDB, not only commercial support for PostgreSQL will be available on HP-UX, but also additional functionality. EnterpriseDB has two editions of the DBMS - Standard and Advanced. The first is a pre-configured, open version of PostgreSQL DBMS, and the second is a bunch of add-ons, including an compatibility layer with Oracle DBMS, whose source code is not available. Both Postgre Plus editions, both Standard and Advanced, can run HP-UX. Thus, full support for the platform is provided.
Two out of six key PostgreSQL developers work for EnterpriseDB, and the company has no doubts about the ability to migrate databases from Oracle to Advanced Server. Developers are committed to reorienting existing applications to their DBMS. Over the years, the company has developed an assessment system for migrating from Oracle, which scans the database, scripts and code to calculate how difficult it will be to migrate.
HP can no longer be inactive. It should buy IBM's stake in EnterpriseDB and become a full-fledged player in the database market. The head of HP, Leo Apotheker, strives to increase the profitability of the software business, but here you need to act more decisively, and also buy Red Hat. Then HP will get its own software stack (OS, middleware, DBMS) and will be able to withstand Oracle and IBM. Although EnterpriseDB’s customer base growth is not bad today, it could be even more rapid with the R&D department of HP (research and development department) and a wide sales channel. Well, the need to buy Red Hat is simply obvious.
- How will the opposition between HP and Oracle affect Open Source?
- Confrontation between HP and Oracle. To be continued.
Attention, translation shortened! (Honestly, I started translating only because of the last paragraph, be sure to read it. ;-)
EnterpriseDB takes care of PostgreSQL on Itanium
EnterpriseDB, a commercial company that provides technical support services for the open PostgreSQL DBMS and is developing its extended, Oracle-compatible version, is now in a winning situation. Hewlett-Packard was involved in a lawsuit related to the cessation of the development of DBMS, middleware and other software from Oracle for future Itanium-based processors, so expanding support for EnterpriseDB on HP-UX / Itanium is very helpful.
But there were still prerequisites for such a turn of events. HP turned to EnterpriseDB in January or February, before it encountered a problem with Itanium, but after Oracle took over Sun Microsystems. At that time, Mark Heard, the former head of Hewlett-Packard, moved to Oracle as co-president and a crack appeared in the relations of old partners.
The reason that HP and EnterpriseDB started working on official support for the HP-UX / Itanium platform was due to requests from some HP customers rather than a premonition of Oracle’s March action.
The open PostgreSQL DBMS has long been running on HP-UX systems, both with PA-RISK and Itanium-based processors. Anyone can download the source code, dig into it, compile and look at the work of PostgreSQL. But for corporate data centers in which business applications work, this is not suitable. They are used to binaries for target platforms and a high level of support from the vendor.
With the advent of EnterpriseDB, not only commercial support for PostgreSQL will be available on HP-UX, but also additional functionality. EnterpriseDB has two editions of the DBMS - Standard and Advanced. The first is a pre-configured, open version of PostgreSQL DBMS, and the second is a bunch of add-ons, including an compatibility layer with Oracle DBMS, whose source code is not available. Both Postgre Plus editions, both Standard and Advanced, can run HP-UX. Thus, full support for the platform is provided.
Two out of six key PostgreSQL developers work for EnterpriseDB, and the company has no doubts about the ability to migrate databases from Oracle to Advanced Server. Developers are committed to reorienting existing applications to their DBMS. Over the years, the company has developed an assessment system for migrating from Oracle, which scans the database, scripts and code to calculate how difficult it will be to migrate.
HP can no longer be inactive. It should buy IBM's stake in EnterpriseDB and become a full-fledged player in the database market. The head of HP, Leo Apotheker, strives to increase the profitability of the software business, but here you need to act more decisively, and also buy Red Hat. Then HP will get its own software stack (OS, middleware, DBMS) and will be able to withstand Oracle and IBM. Although EnterpriseDB’s customer base growth is not bad today, it could be even more rapid with the R&D department of HP (research and development department) and a wide sales channel. Well, the need to buy Red Hat is simply obvious.