Database battle hots up

The cost of running high-end databases, and how they cope with external data sources, is becoming a key issue for vendors as the leading players attempt to fight off open source rivals.

The current database leaders by market share - Oracle, IBM and Microsoft - are focusing on reducing costs and gearing up their products to lower the overheads of running high-end systems.

At the same time, low-cost open source alternatives are beginning to mature, with the release of a pre-configured MySQL sever set for August.

Oracle is set to unveil the newest version of its database, dubbed 10i, at its OracleWorld conference in September. This new version is expected to improve on the automation and management of running the database.

"We are very focused on giving customers a fully integrated and easy to manage product," said Safra Catz, Oracle executive vice president.

10i will come with tools to simplify administration and reporting tasks. Other improvements will include enhanced XML and web services support, extended clustering support, the ability to work in grid computing architectures, and scalability to support huge data warehousing requirements.

Meanwhile Oracle rival IBM is shaping up its own management tools, using its acquisition of Informix to add more automated functionality to DB2.

Subsequent releases will include more automated support features, and pre-configured scripts to make set-up easier and reduce the amount of manual intervention needed, said Angus Falconer, EMEA marketing manager for DB2 information management.

IBM has also been at work on its Xperanto initiative, which will help customers fetch information from multiple data sources simultaneously.

Microsoft is also developing new ways of searching for information outside of the database, with a new file system expected to be part of its next version of SQL Server, codenamed Yukon.

The costs associated with running and managing high-end databases are "horrendous", and the big three vendors are jockeying for leadership, said Mike Thompson, principal research analyst at Butler Group.

"A key differentiator will be the ability to have centralised management of the database," he said.

But he added that Microsoft has "missed the boat" with its delays to Yukon, and could be challenged in the lower end of its market by open source database, MySQL.

"With Yukon looking likely [to ship] at the back end of next year, there may be an opportunity. The lower end of the SQL Server may look at MySQL as a cheaper alternative," he said.

But for enterprises running large databases, open source alternatives still have a long way to go in improving access training, support and integration with other enterprise software, he added.

"So much of the management cost of running a database is dependent on size. Can anyone prove to me that MySQL can beat Oracle or IBM when you're running at that level?"

But the open source threat to the large database players remains.

In August, Pogo Linux and MySQL AB are due to launch DataWare 2600, a preconfigured database appliance aimed at buyers running electronic transaction systems rather than replacing heavy-duty databases.

Further moves up the enterprise are expected in the coming years.