EnterpriseDB unveils Postgres suite to better target enterprise database market

EnterpriseDB aims to take on Oracle and SQL Server by backing its database with a full set of tools and services

EnterpriseDB is aiming to grab a larger share of the enterprise database market by rolling its Postgres software into a comprehensive suite with management and monitoring tools, plus others that let it integrate with data platforms such as Hadoop.

The firm has also partnered with IBM, HPE and Dell to certify the platform for their latest hardware, and top public cloud providers to make it available on their platforms.

Available immediately, the EnterpriseDB Postgres platform comprises the firm's Postgres Standard Server or Postgres Advanced Server, with tools from its Management Suite that provide disaster recovery, high availability, monitoring, management and tuning capabilities.

It also includes the Migration Suite to move workloads from other databases, and the Integration Suite to connect with other data platforms.

Both of the EnterpriseDB server editions are based on the community-developed PostgreSQL project code, and there is growing interest in open source relational databases such as this as they mature and become more viable alternatives to commercial platforms such as Oracle or SQL Server.

"We now know that the vast majority of solutions built in the enterprise can be run on Postgres, and databases are the next step in the open source transformation of enterprise IT," said EnterpriseDB senior vice president for products and services Marc Linster.

"But to be successful, customers need management, high availability, backup and recovery capabilities, so we're providing CIOs with tools to take advantage of what Postgres brings to the table."

In practice, EnterpriseDB is taking tools that it already offers separately, such as the Management Suite, and pulling them together as part of a comprehensive solution, backed by enterprise-grade support and services.

This extends to the Integration Suite, which includes the Foreign Data Wrapper extensions that enable a PostgreSQL database to run queries against external sources and retrieve data from them.

This allows what Linster calls "data federation", as the Postgres platform can take data from non-relational sources, such as Hadoop and MongoDB, and process it alongside existing structured data.

"We understand that not all data will live in a relational database. We support the ‘engineered to fit' approach, so the CIO can decide what is best to support specific kinds of data," Linster said.

New capabilities include cloud management in OpenStack-based private clouds, with support for self-service provisioning, auto-elasticity, load balancing and more, making it easy to manage clusters of database servers.

EnterpriseDB is working with IBM, HPE and Dell to deliver enterprise-grade Postgres solutions for customers. In particular, the firm is working to ensure that the platform is optimised for IBM's Power8 systems.

IBM claims that the database performs up to 80 per cent better on Power8 systems than on standard x86 servers, and that customers could realise up to 60 per cent better price-performance by using its platform.

EnterpriseDB is also working with cloud partners such as Amazon and Google so that customers have the flexibility to choose an on-premise, cloud or hybrid deployment model, Linster said.

The EnterpriseDB Postgres platform is available in three editions: Postgres Enterprise, Postgres Standard and EDB Postgres Developer.

Licensing starts at $1,750 per universal core, which means a physical core in a physical server, a virtual core in a virtualised server, or a virtual CPU in a public cloud service. This price is for a one-year subscription (longer periods available) and includes support, maintenance and upgrades.