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EMC this week shored up its management software for databases with DatabaseXtender, a software suite that monitors database use and, through a joint solution with Oracle, preserves inactive database records.
The Hopkinton, Mass.-based storage vendor also used Oracle’s AppsWorld show in San Diego to unveil services to educate customers about information lifecycle management (ILM) and how ILM can help them with cradle-to-grave data management.
EMC has been preparing a number of products to support its ILM strategy for managing data, with the help of its recent Documentum content management and Legato archiving software acquisitions.
EMC still competes with IBM , HP
, and Hitachi
in the high-end of the market, but now takes a software-centric approach, using services to support new products such as DatabaseXtender.
DatabaseXtender, created with Legato’s database archiving software, helps businesses boost their database performance by gauging database use and shifting inactive data to other storage tiers as the value and requirements of the data change. This automated reallocation is consistent with utility computing techniques, a focus EMC appears to be gradually working toward.
Helping businesses get a better grip on ‘structured data,’ such as XML, in a database is crucial because analysts say the amount of data more than doubles every year. EMC’s ILM strategy, with DatabaseXtender as the core technology, helps businesses corral their data. DatabaseXtender also works with disparate storage infrastructures.
EMC executive vice president of open software Mark Lewis says such a product is necessary because the value of data changes as time goes on. “Most database environments today are filled with inactive or historical data that no longer has the same service level requirements it did when first created.”
DatabaseXtender consists of components that treat different aspects of ILM. These components may be purchased together or separately, and include:
- Analyzer – For monitoring database applications
- Optimizer – For relocating inactive data from the production database and storage system to a secondary database and storage system
- Archiver – For saving data from the production database and storing it on content-addressed storage (CAS) or tape
- Subsetter – For generating copies of the production database for data mining and reporting
DatabaseXtender Analyzer, Optimizer, and Subsetter are available immediately, while the Archiver component is slated for mid-2004.
EMC also paired with long-time partner Oracle to use DatabaseXtender for helping Oracle customers migrate inactive database records onto EMC storage systems to reduce costs and improve application and database performance.
DatabaseXtender Accelerator for Oracle E-Business Suite combines DatabaseXtender with joint services from EMC and Oracle to relocate dormant Oracle data from production systems to EMC storage platforms.
Service professionals from EMC and Oracle will gauge customer data to decide which records must be archived, according to corporate compliance regulations. Once complete, the archived data remains online and accessible through the Oracle application.
EMC DatabaseXtender Accelerator for Oracle E-Business Suite is expected to be available in North America on Feb. 17 and worldwide later this year. Allies since 1995, EMC and Oracle have over 25,000 mutual installations and a Joint Service Center to ensure fast problem resolution for their shared customers.
The company also announced assessment services to help customers tailor their infrastructures to ILM. The services, unveiled under the aegis of the Technology Solutions Group, perhaps best represent how EMC is trying to change its position as a storage array hardware leader to a dependable provider of software for storing, retrieving, and managing content.
EMC has made cost-effectiveness the focal point of its ILM message, telling customers that its content repository technology will pare operational costs while helping businesses adhere to stringent compliance guidelines.
EMC’s ILM assessment services help customers determine the benefits of ILM. The services include: application alignment to stack a customer’s applications and data with the right technology and service levels; recoverability assessment to discuss risks and exposures to applications; operations assessment to identify storage management policy; infrastructure assessment to realize cost savings via consolidation; and managed services to provide customers with storage management.
Story courtesy of Internet News.
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