Oracle sends out update to Database 11g

Oracle said Tuesday that the second release of its 11g database is generally available. The update comes two years after the launch of 11g.

Oracle Database 11g Release 2 is heavily focused on consolidating hardware and virtualisation, according to Mark Townsend, vice president of database product management at the software company.

Among the new features are a Real Application Cluster (RAC). This provides server-pooling technologies, so that it is easier for users to provision and manage database grids. Townsend said this update is geared toward dynamically adjusting servers, as corporations manage the ebb and flow between data requirements for data warehousing and applications.

RAC OneNode is a new option that makes it easier to consolidate databases that aren't mission critical, but need redundancy, Oracle said.

The update also makes improvements to automatic storage management, adding cluster file-system tools. Townsend noted that these tools should make it easier for companies to virtualise their storage.

It also promises performance improvement and optimization for Oracle's Exadata storage appliances and for data warehousing.

Oracle Database 11g launched in July 2007