DEVELOPER TOOLS

ORACLEWORLD, SAN FRANCISCO -- Heralding the shift from Internet to grid computing, Oracle's Chuck Rozwat, who oversees the development of its flagship technology products, took OracleWorld attendees on a "Journey to the Center of the Grid." In his keynote, he spoke to both the state of grid computing, while also revealing the specific technology advances in Oracle 10g. Grid computing is both a new computing model and architecture, he explained, that links together low-cost computers to act as a single system. During the last five years, there have been advances in all of the underlying components that make grid computing possible, ranging from advances in processor and network speeds, the availability of low cost components and new data storage techniques. "What Oracle brings is software (10g) that lets you use this grid computing model," Rozwat said. "The payoff is lower cost and improved quality of service." Diving into the reality behind the buzzwords, Rozwat and his team of top-ranking software developers demonstrated the new features in Oracle 10g product family, starting with the Oracle Database. "Oracle Database 10g represents a quantum leap in database management," he emphasized. "We think we've reached the goal of being the easiest to manage database." To that end, he demonstrated the major new features in Oracle Database 10g: Automated Storage Management (ASM); Flashback Query; integrated Clusterware; Workload Manager; and Streams and Transportable Table Spaces for data provisioning. He also spoke to the advances in the Oracle SQL engine and business intelligence capabilities. Flashback Query, a feature that helps database administrators correct issues, drew major applause from the crowd. "Think of it as a rewind button for your database," explained Rozwat. "What used to take hours is now automated, which is incredibly important when you are managing lots of databases." Another major feature that Rozwat emphasized was the new Workload Manager, which makes Oracle's Real Application Cluster technology "grid ready." It allows administrators to add capacity on demand, shifting workload across the database servers automatically based on set parameters. "No one else has anything remotely like Real Application Clusters," Rozwat underscored. "Oracle Database 10g is loaded with real, innovative technology you can't get anywhere else." Rozwat then shifted the audience's attention to the advances in Oracle Application Server 10g, which has been optimized to take advantage of grid computing. New capabilities such as policy-based workload management, automated performance management and provisioning "take the work out" of managing applications in a grid computing environment The debut of Failover Notification (FaN), a feature of the new application server, also drew a round of applause. As Rozwat explained, when a database fails over it notifies the application server, which redirects the query while also maintaining the state of the system at the time, allowing the transaction to be completed without interruption. Other new features debuted included Multi-level Clustering, Dynamic Cache Partitioning as well as improvements in integration technologies. Shifting gears once again, Rozwat "traveled" with the audience into the realm of application development, where he emphasized that applications do not need to be modified in order to run on Oracle's new Grid Computing software. After seeing how easy it was to transform code into a Web service using Oracle JDeveloper, Oracle's open, standards-based visual development environment, the audience also received an early look at Oracle JDeveloper 10g. A preview is now available for download from Oracle Technology Network at http://otn.oracle.com/software/products/ias/preview.html . "This journey is the beginning of a journey for you," Rozwat concluded. "There are hundreds of new features in the 10g product family, and we're here to help you with your own journey to the grid."