Oracle puts app server on the grid

By James Niccolai, IDG News Service
August 20, 2003 04:30 PM ET

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Oracle is adding grid computing capabilities to a new version of its application server software, part of a broader effort to revamp its entire product line around the "utility" computing model. Analysts say the goal is worthy but don't see customers rushing to build grids just yet.

Oracle isn't saying when it plans to ship the upgrade but it already has a new name for it: Application Server 10g. In the same way it rebranded its products 9i a few years ago to help it capitalize on the frenzy around Internet computing, so its application server and database will both be branded with the "g" suffix, suggesting a commitment to grid computing in the years ahead.

"We're at a crossroads for a major generational shift for Oracle's infrastructure software," said John Magee, Oracle's vice president for application server marketing. "What we're really looking to do now is commercialize grid technology for our customers."

The company will provide details about its 10g products at its OracleWorld conference in San Francisco next month, Magee said. It will also discuss grid-related updates to its development tools and to its database management product, Oracle Enterprise Manager, which appears set to play a key role in the effort.

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Grid computing promises to let businesses treat groups of servers and storage equipment as if they were a single large machine, and to assign computing resources to applications on an as-needed basis. Proponents, which also include IBM and HP, say it will help businesses save money by allowing them to use computing resources more efficiently. Instead of having to predict how much capacity they'll need to run their applications -- and perhaps buying too much -- an IT department should be able to reassign resources from elsewhere in a network when they are required.

The technology also promises improved reliability. Like clustering, grid computing allows an application to switch over to different hardware if the servers it is running on go down. But unlike clustering, in which applications fail over to a fixed, predetermined group of servers, grid computing can assign resources from anywhere in a network on an ad hoc basis.

"It's a bit like clustering on steroids," said Mike Gilpin, a research fellow with analyst company Forrester Research.

But if clusters are hard to set up and manage, grid computing can be even more complex, and it's unclear how quickly customers will take to the new model.

"I think the caveat of any clustered or grid configuration is the complexity. Oracle has to make that complexity invisible to the end user, and if they don't do that effectively then organizations aren't going to move towards this, even if they get more hardware utilization," said Mark Shainman, a senior analyst at Meta Group, in Stanford, Conn.

Standards for grid computing, which help ensure that products from different vendors interoperate, are still in their infancy, Gilpin noted, which could further hamper adoption.

"The goal of increasing the reliability of applications by grid-enabling them is a worthy one. However, I think the amount of demand from customers for anything grid-related is quite limited right now," Gilpin said.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.