Sun is after a larger share as open-source databases become a viable alternative.
SANTA CLARA, Calif.—The first beta of Version 8.3 of the open-source PostgreSQL database has been released, with dozens of new and improved features, Josh Berkus, a member of the PostgreSQL core team and strategic lead in Suns database technology group, said. Oct.15.
The
first beta for PostgreSQL 8.3 has more code than any previous version, greatly improved performance consistency, synchronized scans, the ability to be built with Visual C++, up to 20 percent more efficient storage and fully integrated advanced text search with an improved API.
The final release is expected in about eight weeks, he said at Suns Open Source Summit press event here.
The new features are in addition to the existing feature set, which includes complex query execution and partitioning, high-availability features and tools, database object extensibility, and a business-friendly license, including no license fees.
Read about how Sun has gilded its Solaris lily here.
The open-source database market recently has been growing at least 50 percent a year, and Sun is looking to take advantage of this with PostgreSQL, which is the second most well-known open-source database, Berkus said.
PostgreSQL 8.0 was "good enough" for 70 percent of business users and had replaced Oracle and Informix at several companies. It supports numerous ISV applications and is capable of powering most mission-critical business software.
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Peter Galli has been a financial/technology reporter for 12 years at leading publications in South Africa, the UK and the US. He has been Investment Editor of South Africa's Business Day Newspaper, the sister publication of the Financial Times of London.He was also Group Financial Communications Manager for First National Bank, the second largest banking group in South Africa before moving on to become Executive News Editor of Business Report, the largest daily financial newspaper in South Africa, owned by the global Independent Newspapers group.
He was responsible for a national reporting team of 20 based in four bureaus. He also edited and contributed to its weekly technology page, and launched a financial and technology radio service supplying daily news bulletins to the national broadcaster, the South African Broadcasting Corporation, which were then distributed to some 50 radio stations across the country.
He was then transferred to San Francisco as Business Report's U.S. Correspondent to cover Silicon Valley, trade and finance between the US, Europe and emerging markets like South Africa. After serving that role for more than two years, he joined eWeek as a Senior Editor, covering software platforms in August 2000.
He has comprehensively covered Microsoft and its Windows and .Net platforms, as well as the many legal challenges it has faced. He has also focused on Sun Microsystems and its Solaris operating environment, Java and Unix offerings. He covers developments in the open source community, particularly around the Linux kernel and the effects it will have on the enterprise.
He has written extensively about new products for the Linux and Unix platforms, the development of open standards and critically looked at the potential Linux has to offer an alternative operating system and platform to Windows, .Net and Unix-based solutions like Solaris.
His interviews with senior industry executives include Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Linus Torvalds, the original developer of the Linux operating system, Sun CEO Scot McNealy, and Bill Zeitler, a senior vice president at IBM.
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