Oracle Database 11g Ready for Linux

Oracle Database 11g, roughly a month after a well-attended public launch event, hit the streets for the Linux platform.

Oracle made three versions of Oracle Database 11g available for Linux x86: Enterprise Edition, Standard Edition and Standard Edition One. Pricing for Oracle Database 11g editions and existing options remains unchanged from the cost of 10g. Prices are available online.

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A free evaluation version of Oracle Database 11g on Linux x86 is available for download on Oracle Technology Network.

"Oracle Database 11g continues the focus on grid computing by enabling grids of low-cost servers and storage to deliver fast, scalable and reliable data processing, supporting the toughest data warehousing, transaction processing, and content management environments," said Andy Mendelsohn, senior vice president of Database Server Technologies at Oracle, in a statement.

The release includes a host of new options aimed at improving customers ability to manage data. All together, the release has some 400 new features. As in July, company officials touted the Real Application Testing, Advanced Compression, Total Recall and Active Data Guard features as key innovations with 11g. Those features will cost extra.

For the Enterprise Edition, Oracle Real Application Testing will cost $10,000 per processor or $200 per named user; Oracle Advanced Compression, $10,000 per processor or $200 per named user; Oracle Total Recall, $5,000 per processor or $100 per named user; and Oracle Active Data Guard will cost $5,000 per processor, or $100 per named user.

Beyond these new options, Oracle Database 11g also offers improved file storage performance, better security, significant performance enhancements to Oracle XML DB and enhanced OLAP and data warehousing capabilities, Oracle officials said.

Gartner analyst Donald Feinberg said he expects Oracle clients will adopt 11g faster than normal, estimating that between 15 and 20 percent of the Oracle customer-base will upgrade in the first 12 months of its release.

The reason, he said, is because many of the new features have a direct effect on resource utilization for implementing and testing new releases, patches and new and modified applications.

"People cost money – saving resources goes to the IT bottom line," Feinberg said. "Compression and Total recall saves disk space and compression increases performance —all important to management."

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