Beta customers today revealed how they are taking advantage of Oracle Database 10g Release 2's enhanced availability, manageability, performance and security features to achieve a higher quality of service while helping to reduce the cost and complexity of information management. A broad range of customers worldwide worked directly with Oracle to test and offer strategic feedback on Oracle Database 10g Release 2, including Airbus Deutschland GmbH, Dell, Fannie Mae, Motorola Biometrics Solutions and US Army - Institute of Surgical Research, among others. Airbus Increases Application Availability with Oracle Database Rolling Upgrades Airbus, an EADS joint company with BAE Systems, is one of the world's leading aircraft manufacturers, consistently capturing approximately half or more of all orders for airliners with more than 100 seats. Airbus Deutschland GmbH participated in the Oracle Database 10g Release 2 beta program with a focus on availability and disaster recovery capabilities. "Oracle Data Guard's new rolling upgrade capability in Release 2 is amazing," said Werner Kawollek, Application Management Operations, Airbus Deutschland GmbH. "Airbus tested upgrading from Oracle Database 10g Release 1 to Oracle Database 10g Release 2. The elapsed time for the database upgrade was about three hours. But our applications were available for all but less than two minutes while an Oracle Data Guard switchover was executed, quickly transitioning production from Release 1 over to Release 2. Oracle Data Guard has made great strides in helping us achieve our goal of 100 percent availability." Fannie Mae Automates Failover with Oracle Data Guard Since 1968, Fannie Mae has helped more than 63 million families achieve the American dream of home ownership. A participant in the Release 2 beta program, Fannie Mae evaluated the new capabilities of Oracle Data Guard. "Oracle Data Guard's new Fast-start Failover capability lessens the need for 24x7 DBA staff availability," said Ranjit Singh Veen, manager, Enterprise Systems Management, Fannie Mae. "Database failover is automatic with Oracle Database 10g Release 2. Oracle Data Guard can now address recovery time objectives measured in seconds." Motorola Biometrics Takes Advantage of Oracle Manageability Capabilities Motorola Biometrics Solutions, a division of the Motorola Government & Enterprise Mobility Solutions unit, is a leading provider of automated fingerprint and palmprint identification systems. It has provided solutions to government and enterprise customers in more than 37 countries for more than 30 years. Currently using Oracle Database 10g Release 1, Motorola Biometrics tested Oracle Database 10g Release 2's manageability features, among others. "Oracle Database 10g Release 2 is a high quality and innovative release, which provides the functionality needed to handle ever-changing workloads," said Darrin Reilly, MCEI vice president and general manager, Biometrics Business Unit, Motorola. "Release 2 features a host of new automated management features that ease daily administration of the database. The database's automated capabilities are a boon to our customers -- the overwhelming majority of which don't have the staff or resources to manage our solution which includes Oracle Database 10g."