MySQL has been picked up by Novell, its second huge reseller deal in so many days, the companies announced on Tuesday at LinuxWorld in San Francisco.
The companies are calling this the only accord of its kind between a Linux vendor and MySQL AB, purveyor of the popular open-source database MySQL. In the reseller and joint-support agreement, Novell Inc. will offer subscriptions to the MySQL Network, a subscription offering that includes MySQL software; updates and upgrades; alerts and advisors; MySQLs online knowledgebase; and full, production-level technical support.
MySQL launched MySQL Network in February as a way of addressing potential customers fears around support. Its platinum-level, round-the-clock support, now available for sites of any size, was formerly available only for large-scale deployments. Together with warranties and intellectual-property indemnification, it aims to give enterprises the hand-holding they crave when contemplating the open-source route.
And MySQL could well have a lot more hands to hold very soon. Novell has a vast amount of customers—over 50,000 in 43 countries—to whom MySQL will now gain access. On top of that, Dell Inc. announced on Monday that it will be packaging the LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, Python/Perl/PHP) stack on two Intel chip-based servers, the PowerEdge 830 and PowerEdge 850.
Zack Urlocker, vice president of marketing for the Uppsala, Sweden, database company, said the Dell packaging is a sign that the LAMP stack is becoming more mainstream. “Its going to open up a lot of doors, making it easier for people to preconfigure servers,” he said.
And its going to put a lot more people on MySQLs doorstep. “It gives us a broader penetration for the network,” Urlocker said.
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