Oracle releases cluster file system on Linux

BANGALORE: Furthering its commitment to Linux, Oracle Corporation has announced the release of its source code for a new cluster file system on Linux. The new cluster file system for Linux will help Oracle9i Real Application Clusters customers simplify management of clustered database systems.

As the first company to offer a commercially available database and application server for Linux, Oracle has reaffirmed its leadership in meeting developer demand for products on Linux and underscores the company's commitment to Linux as a low-cost, reliable, enterprise ready platform.

"By contributing source code for the Oracle cluster file system under the General Public License, Oracle accelerates the development of key enterprise class clustering technologies into the Linux kernel and helps build a truly open solution in this fast growing area," said, Red Hat Systems Engineer Alan Cox. "This announcement reinforces Oracle's strong commitment both to Linux and to building the best Internet software available for the open source community."

According to industry analyst firm International Data Corp. (IDC), Linux is the fastest growing platform and is expected to grow 174 percent to $5.9 billion by 2006. This projection, along with the high rate of Linux downloads recorded off OTN show widespread support for Linux among the development community. Software download statistics from OTN echo this continued momentum. I

In the past year, requests for Oracle's database and application server software on Linux have increased twelve-fold. Since its release in June 2002, more than 68,000 copies of Oracle9i Database Release 2 on Linux have been downloaded from OTN.

"Over the years, Oracle has been working closely with the Linux community to make Linux a scalable and reliable platform for running enterprise-class databases," said, Oracle Corporation senior vice president of Database Technologies Andrew Mendelsohn. "The release of our cluster file system code to the open-source community is another major step in this direction. We see high demand for our products on Linux and will continue to ensure that all our products run extremely well on the Linux platform."

Oracle's new cluster file system available on the low-cost Linux platform enables Oracle9i Real Application Clusters customers to easily build and manage files in a clustered environment. Available with Oracle9i Database Release 2, system administrators now can use semantics to manage large data files and extend files, while at the same time maintaining high availability, reliability and performance.

Previously, Database Administrators (DBAs) were required to use raw disks to implement Oracle9i Real Application Clusters on Linux, which proved to more complex and costly. To date, more than 733,000 downloads of Oracle's technology products for Linux have been recorded from Oracle's developer network, Oracle Technology Network (OTN).

Membership to OTN is free by visiting http://otn.oracle.com. Developers interested in downloading open source code for the cluster file system on Linux can do so by visiting the Community Code Service Center on OTN. Members also can visit the Linux Center to download Oracle's latest database, application server and development tools as well and learn from in-depth expert technical information on building and deploying enterprise ready systems based on Oracle technology on Linux.

Members of OTN may immediately download a developer's release of the cluster file system off http://otn.oracle.com. General availability will be made ready within 60 days.