Cher Joel,
I'm just refueling the second-stage:
What Informix Saw in Illustra
By Ellis Booker
Object-oriented programming has already made strong inroads into the tools for Web application
development and site management. Now, vendors of object databases are making the case that
their object paradigms are the ideal way to store the multiple types of interconnected data found at
Web sites.
In response, vendors of traditional relational database management systems (RDBMSs) are on
the fast track to add object capabilities.
A signpost for this activity was Informix Corp.'s acquisition in December of Illustra Information
Technologies Inc. The purchase will result in a merged product by the end of the year that will
combine Informix's parallel-processing RDBMS core with Illustra's DataBlade technology, a
method for storing object classes within an RDBMS framework.
"The Informix-Illustra merger sets the stage for object-oriented databases to be the major
players on the Web," said Shaku Atre, president of Atre Group Inc., a consulting firm in Port
Chester, N.Y., specializing in database technologies.
Atre said the Illustra purchase also ended Informix's own "build or buy" dilemma regarding
object orientation. "They could have developed this themselves, and they were working toward
that," she said.
Malcolm Colton, director of technology marketing at Oakland, Calif.-based Illustra, points out
that the merger of the two products will be relatively painless, thanks to the extensibility Informix
added to its core database engine in 1991 as part of its move to a parallel-processing model.
Combined Strengths
Last month, Menlo Park, Calif.-based Informix outlined its strategy for combining the Illustra
technology with its own RDBMS strengths. The merged product, dubbed Informix Universal
Server, will be rolled out in three phases over the course of this year.
In phase one, scheduled for the second quarter, Informix will provide a gateway between its
existing Dynamic Scalable Architecture system and the Illustra Server. Phase two, also slated for
the second quarter, will see Informix deliver a DataBlade Developer's Tool Kit, which will let
DataBlade module developers create systems to run against both Illustra and the Universal Server.
Finally, in the third quarter Informix promises the Universal Server, which will combine the
DSA parallel relational database and Illustra's DataBlade technology.
Informix promises that its customers will be able to run their Informix-based applications on
the Universal Server without having to recompile or make any changes to their applications.
Likewise, Illustra customers will be able to migrate their applications and DataBlade extensions to
the merged Universal Server product.
Pricing for the Universal Server has not been announced.
Reprinted from Web Week, Volume 2, Issue 3, March 1996 c Mecklermedia Corp. All rights
reserved. Keywords: objects databases Date: 19960301
Bonne chance!
Gustave. |
