As the amount of XML data continues to grow, the market for databases capable of easily handling that data also is sprouting.
Startup Ipedo Inc. this week will announce the upcoming release of its native Extensible Markup Language database, which allows customers to quickly process XML data and reduce bottlenecks in their systems.
“We believe XML content is growing in all markets—in B2B [business-to-business], in the Web and in wireless,” said Tim Matthews, president and co-founder of Ipedo, in Redwood City, Calif.
The 9-month-old Ipedos main competitor is German company Software AG, which sells a native XML database called Tamino.
While just starting to evaluate Ipedo, beta testers said there is a growing demand for XML databases.
“We project a big need for combined queries against both XML and relational databases,” said John Case, senior developer with iMedium Inc., in Wayne, Pa. Case is evaluating Ipedo as well as Tamino and Microsoft Corp.s SQL Server. “I think its an important space, and there is a lot more room for serving different needs.”
Tools with native XML support are typically easier to integrate, said Paul Brown, president and CEO of FiveSight Technologies Inc., an XML-based tools company in Chicago. Brown also is evaluating Ipedo.
“XML has now become one of the standard tools for enterprise infrastructure, and its a great time to be in the XML space because so many people are awakening to it,” Brown said.
Ipedo XML Database, which is based on Java, can enable up to a tenfold performance increase over a typical relational database, Matthews said. Ipedos product, slated to ship next week, works in conjunction with a relational database as a caching tier on top of the database.
Users can import XML data from the relational database or file server for faster queries and transformations. Ipedo XML Database includes the Main Memory Database Engine, which reduces CPU overhead, and better indexing technology. Ipedo also uses XSLT (Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations) and Xpath (a subset of XSLT) for fast translations of XML data.
Users can connect the database to BEA Systems Inc.s WebLogic or IBMs WebSphere application servers through EJBs (Enterprise JavaBeans). Pricing for Ipedo XML Database starts at $50,000 per server.