STORAGE

To further reduce the cost of computing, Oracle today introduced its Resilient Low-Cost Storage Initiative that helps organizations use modular, low-cost storage arrays in both departmental and enterprise environments. The use of low-cost storage such as ATA disk based arrays, in conjunction with Oracle Database 10g, enables organizations to build affordable, highly available and scalable database storage grids to support corporate IT initiatives. Oracle and storage vendors Apple, Dell, EMC, Engenio Information Technologies, Inc., HP, MPC Computers and Network Appliance are collaborating on this strategic initiative to promote adoption of low-cost storage for database implementations. Together these companies are developing optimized database storage configurations and best practices for the deployment of low-cost storage with Oracle Database 10g. "We're eager to work with these industry leaders to evangelize the use of low-cost storage," said Juan Loaiza, vice president of systems technologies, Oracle Corporation. "For many application environments, low-cost storage delivers excellent availability and performance. Oracle is deploying low-cost storage in its own IT organization and this has resulted in low acquisition cost and ongoing maintenance cost savings." Deploying Low-Cost Storage without Comprising Reliability, Availability and Performance Oracle Database 10g's advanced availability and manageability features and low-cost storage such as ATA disk-based modular storage arrays is a winning combination. Oracle Automatic Storage Management allows database data to be transparently spread across a grid of low-cost storage arrays. Automatic Storage Management's intelligent configuration and data mirroring capabilities ensure superior throughput and availability, while simplified storage provisioning and automatic I/O tuning features enable database administrators to efficiently manage vast amounts of storage, improving their productivity and lowering maintenance costs. Oracle's Data Guard, Flashback and Recovery Manager features help shield data from disaster, human error and corruptions, while providing organizations with an easy-to-administer, networked storage solution. "Oracle Database 10g's unique capabilities enable the development of a low-cost database storage grid with high levels of scalability and availability," added Loaiza. Organizations with storage intensive business intelligence, content management and grid computing initiatives, among others, will be able to utilize the best practices resulting from the partner program to employ low-cost storage solutions. The combination of Oracle Database 10g and low-cost storage is ideal for: -- Online disk backup and recovery -- Development and testing databases -- Reporting databases -- Disaster recovery databases -- Data Warehouses For more information on the Oracle Resilient Low-Cost Storage initiative, go to: www.oracle.com/technology/deploy/availability/htdocs/lowcoststorage.html .