Oracle Ships Server for OS/2; Touts Future Portability
 
Microbytes Daily News Service
Copyright (c) 1989, McGraw-Hill, Inc.
Oracle has started shipping its Oracle Server network database
environment for OS/2, going up against SQL Server from Microsoft,
Ashton-Tate, and Sybase. Oracle Server marks the database giant's
first entry into the local area network marketplace. The company
says it offers a major advantage over SQL Server -- in a word,
portability. While SQL Server will only run on OS/2, Oracle
Server supports all major network operating systems as well as
Unix, VAX/VMS, and IBM MVS, according to Oracle's Desktop
Products Director, Marc Benioff.
 
While Oracle claims portability over a variety of systems, not
all the portability is in place yet. "Oracle Server will run
natively on NetWare 386 in early 1990," Benioff said. And then
there's access to IBM mainframe data such as DB2 and SQL/DS.
That's not quite in place either. "We'll have support for APPC by
the end of the year," said Benioff. APPC (Advanced Peer to Peer
Communications) is an IBM protocol, which supports access to DB2
and SQL/DS databases. Oracle Server also supports Oracle 1-2-3
and Oracle dBASE, front end interfaces that allow direct access
to Oracle data from Lotus 1-2-3 and dBASE.
 
The new server product is available now and is priced at $2499,
which includes 6 months of technical support. A developer's
version is $699, which is licensed for up to 3 user connections.
Oracle 1-2-3 and Oracle dBASE are priced at $299.
 
Oracle Server is yet another component in Oracle's arsenal; the
company already has the dominant database system in the
minicomputer and Unix markets. Oracle will demonstrate the new
Server at Comdex next week in Las Vegas.
 
Contact: Oracle Corp., 20 Davis Dr, Belmont, CA 94002;
(415) 598-8000.
 
                              --- Nick Baran
 
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