Oracle fleshes out 11g details

Oracle's flagship database software will include 482 new features.

At its OpenWorld event in San Francisco, Oracle announced that the next version of its flagship database software will include 482 new features.

The updates to Oracle Database 11g include tools to improve the scalability and performance of grid systems; to reduce storage capacity requirements through compression techniques; and to perform parallel upgrades to minimise downtime.

“We don’t expect you to use all of these features right away,” said Chuck Roswat, Oracle executive vice-president of server technologies. “But we will let you pick and choose what’s best for your environment and applications, and talk about data relationships so you can do pre-planning and better understand when you [might] want to introduce them.”

Roswat estimates that the new system compression features could reduce the amount of database storage space required by up to two thirds, with very little overhead on system performance.

One Oracle user attending the conference said, “If that [compression rate] is true, I would be very interested in upgrading. Finding capacity to store large database tables can be a big problem.”

Roswat added that new online techniques to handle upgrades and patches mean that customers can keep their applications running during downtime. The database giant is also working on enterprise content management and search tools to handle unstructured data, such as voice and video.

Oracle has yet to announce a release date for 11g, but the final version is widely expected to emerge in early 2007. The firm’s president, Charles Phillips, said there will be no pressure on customers to upgrade. Many are still using version 9i of the software, rather than the current 10g release.

“There is no forced march to upgrades here. We’re doing OK and we can afford to let customers choose to upgrade when they want according to what’s right for their business,” Phillips added.