* Open source databases start to gain capabilities of proprietary databases
Open source software has made significant inroads into many enterprise data centers. IT managers have seen the licensing cost savings, and flexibility, scalability and reliability of open source applications, and have responded with increasingly rapid adoption.
Applications such as Web serving, DNS, e-mail, and file and print serving are deployed as open source software running on open source operating systems. However, open source has made fewer gains in the database server market. Here, vendors such as Oracle (with Oracle 9i RAC) and IBM (with DB2) offer databases which are proprietary (closed-source), but which can run on Linux.
Data-center adoption of open source databases such as MySQL and Postgress has been limited to the fringes of the enterprise: the open source databases have been primarily deployed for small, special-purpose applications like supporting a simple portal. IT managers have not adopted open source databases for broad, mission-critical purposes because they lack the following enterprise-class capabilities:
* Clustering – the ability to run a database application on a cluster of servers for load-balancing and failover purposes.
* Real-time backup and snapshot features – the ability to create a real-time snapshot of data for backup or comparison purposes without stopping the application.
* Sophisticated stored procedures – the ability to create and run pre-compiled and optimized SQL “procedures” that can perform common database tasks very efficiently.
* Scalability – support for extremely large data sets and support for 64-bit computing architectures are prerequisites for some enterprise-class applications.
* Triggers and views – advanced database features that simplify software development and maintenance.
* Vendor support – while many open source application vendors offer support, they cannot necessarily offer global support with sufficient resources for a large enterprise.
However, these barriers to adoption are gradually disappearing. Many features of enterprise-class proprietary databases are appearing in open source competitors.
MySQL AB, the maker of the popular MySQL database, is currently developing new features such as stored procedures, views and clustering, fully intending to narrow the gap between proprietary and open source offerings.
Furthermore, last week Computer Associates announced the release of the Ingres r3 database under an open source license. Ingres r3 already has features that are in a comparable class to mainstays of the enterprise database market, such as the Oracle 9i database. Ingres r3 provides clustering support, 64-bit platform support, and parallel query support. Taken together with CA’s proven ability to support enterprise customers, and the wide availability of Ingres-related skills and expertise, Ingres offers a very competitive alternative to proprietary databases for mission-critical applications.
Open source databases are likely to see the same rapid rate of adoption enjoyed by other open source applications. The advantages in terms of cost and operational flexibility make open source databases very appealing to IT data center managers and application developers. But the biggest fan of open source databases is likely to be your CFO.
