Microsoft is courting Oracle users offering 50 percent discounts
to those who migrate off Oracle databases onto SQL Server. The timing
comes as
Oracle
is readying the Windows version of its 11g database for release by
year’s end.
One .NET database developer who sent me an e-mail this week may be a
good candidate to take Microsoft up on its offer. The customer, who runs
applications on Oracle 10g running on Windows, decided to migrate to Oracle
11g, which last month was released for Linux servers. He exported a schema
that is used for a Web site he manages. While all looked well (the data
was there and the account was accessible), when it came to the Web server
login, the user names and passwords were invalid, though he could login
using SQL*Plus (Oracle’s command-line SQL and PL/SQL interface and
reporting tools that ships with Oracle databases). He believes the new
password security is causing the problem.
"Because of the sensitive downtime of the Web site, I had to start
the old 10g database to allow the account to log in," he writes.
He does want to get to the 11g database, but needs to solve this problem.
When I asked if he tried Oracle’s technical support, he said, yes
but to no avail. Anyone out there have any suggestions? Add your comment
to this blog or e-mail me at [email protected].
Posted by Jeffrey Schwartz on 09/26/20073 comments
Are you going to the
Microsoft PASS SQL Server Users Conference and Expo in Denver next week? If so, let us know what you will be looking to find out.
One area that will see increased focus this year is around the reporting services in SQL Server. "I think people are realizing BI as a whole has matured and the industry is pushing the use if BI technology to help users get meaningful data out of the databases," says Josh Jones, a database administrator with IntrinsiQ Research Inc. and author of the forthcoming book, Architecting Database Models for SQL Server (Pearson Education).
Jones says companies are realizing they can’t just scrape data off of a staging database or an OLTP server. As a contributor to Redmond Developer News and an active participant in the SQL Server user groups, Jones will be on the scene at next week’s conference.
In addition to BI, one thing that will certainly be top of mind at the SQL Server Users Conference is Microsoft’s SQL Server 2008 -- code named "Katmai." The first CTP was released at TechEd in June and the second one at the end of July. We're all expecting to see another some time this month, which would be in keeping with Microsoft’s plan to release new CTPs every 60 days. Jones says one of the key things he believes development managers are grappling with is whether to migrate to SQL Server 2005, or wait for SQL Server 2008.
"I think people are still trying to get their hands around what it means for their legacy code, and their licensing, and their development and test clusters," Jones says.
At last count, Microsoft reported only 20,000 downloads of the SQL Server 2008 CTP. Are you among them? Or are you reluctant to get on board? Let me know why by posting here or sending me e-mail at [email protected].
Posted by Jeffrey Schwartz on 09/12/20071 comments
In my
premier entry, I pointed out that Oracle launched its next generation database. Now the Oracle’s 11g database is in fact shipping, and as mentioned just for Linux-based servers for now. While Oracle remains mum on the Windows release, it is in beta and company officials have indicated they are aiming for release before year-end. But the Linux-based release did provide some insights for those who will ultimately deploy Oracle 11g on Windows. Some of best new features cost extra. For example Advanced Compression and Real Application Testing, or RAT, each cost $10,000 per processor or $200 per named user. Oracle Total Recall and Active Data Guard also cost extra.
As reported, the Windows release is targeted for year end.
If you are beta testing the new version of Oracle 11g for Windows, please drop me a line and share your observations with us. I’m especially interested in those using Oracle’s new SQL Developer tool integrated with Visual Studio tools. I also want to hear from you if your organization is also testing SQL Server 2008, code-named Katmai. Even if you are only testing the latter, please let me know at [email protected]. I will be sharing some more observations in the future.
Posted on 08/22/20070 comments
For those entrenched in SQL Server 2005 and looking to build mobile applications using the Compact Edition, there’s a new book,
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition, available from Prashant Dhingra, a Microsoft lead program manager. Published by Sams, the book lists for $59.99 and provides various examples of how to build both mobile and desktop apps using SQL Server Compact Edition. For more information,
check out the publisher’s site. We’re looking to hear about some cool mobile enterprise apps using SQL Server Compact Edition.
Please drop me a line if you have something worth noting. I can be reached at [email protected].
Posted on 08/22/20070 comments
The editors of
Redmond Developer News are pulling together a .NET Survivors Guide. For those developing database driven apps, please share whatever tips you may have. What new skills are a must? (ADO.NET, LINQ to SQL, etc.?) What lessons can you share? Anyone starting to delve into the new reporting services features of SQL Server 2008? How about Beta 2 of Visual Stodio 2008 , which among other thing shows significant improvements in LINQ to SQL, which allows developers to use Microsoft’s new Language Integrated Query against a relational database to query, update and insert data.
Don’t miss RDN senior editor Kathleen Richards' complete report.
Posted by Jeffrey Schwartz on 08/08/20070 comments
Welcome to Data Driver, a blog which aims to become a resource for those developing database-driven applications. And the timing couldn’t be better. Microsoft and Oracle have next generation database servers in the pipeline. We want to hear from beta testers of both platforms and here what works, what doesn’t and where you see the value proposition from a development perspective.
For .NET developers in particular, there are plenty of key features to keep an eye out for. Oracle 11g for Windows, slated for year-end delivery, will, among other things, offer improved integration with Microsoft’s Visual Studio. Meanwhile the second community test preview (CTP) of SQL Server 2008, code-named Katmai, is now available for testing.
Several improvements added to the latest SQL Server 2008 CTP include new charting capabilities for the reporting services component of the database with the addition of technology acquired by Dundas Data Visualization Inc. Microsoft also added automatic page repair, designed to constantly monitor the consistency of both the primary and mirrored database, Extended Events or "X Events." a monitoring capability that not only tracks SQL Server but also has access to the operating system and can report events within that same environment, allowing a DBA to check an OS log file, for example, to determine whether a problem resulted from the system.
What do you think of these new features? Drop me a line at [email protected].
Also you may have noticed at the 11th hour Microsoft said improvements to SQL Server 2008’s declarative management framework, or DMF were tabled for this CTP but not to worry—Microsoft says it will be ready for the next CTP which should appear sometime in September.
Posted by Jeffrey Schwartz on 08/08/20070 comments
No worries: RDN Founding Editor Michael Desmond survived the sweltering
heat and some torrential downpours at Tech-Ed in Orlando. He's on vacation
this week, so Executive Editor of Features Jeffrey Schwartz is filling in.
For those of you who were at Tech-Ed, either live or virtually, what did you
find of most interest to the developer community? Let Jeff know at [email protected].
One technology that was in the limelight at Tech-Ed was Microsoft's Silverlight
rich Internet application platform. A
demo at Tech-Ed showed how developers can build applications based on the
Silverlight 1.1 alpha to generate video controls using Web services and C#.
The demo also used the betas of Visual Studio 2008 and Expression Blend 2.
While Silverlight had its chance to shine at Tech-Ed, this week Adobe shed
some light on its widely utilized Flash technology. The company's Apollo runtime
environment for creating rich multimedia applications is now called the Adobe
Integrated Runtime, or AIR.
Released
in March as an alpha, the beta
version is now available as of this week. The cross platform runtime lets
developers use HTML/CSS, AJAX, Adobe Flash and Flex to extend RIAs to the full
client (Windows, Macintosh and, ultimately, Linux).
In concert with its AIR launch, Adobe also released a beta of Flex 3, the cross-platform
framework for creating rich Internet applications consisting of a SDK and IDE.
Flex 3, which supports AIR, consists of the new Flex Builder 3 IDE, which offers
improvements to the designer and workflow interfaces. The beta of the new Flex
3 SDK is also available. As part of its new open source effort, the Flex SDK
team will post nightly builds, allowing developers to verify bug fixes each
day.
Have you looked at Adobe's new offering? Is Silverlight more your speed? Or
do you see developing applications in both? Have you used any of these betas?
Let me know at [email protected].
What Do You Get When You Google 'Microsoft Antitrust'?
Google!
On Sunday morning, I picked up my copy of the New York Times to see what was
going on in the world. I can often gauge what kind of week we're in for when
the lead story of the paper involves Microsoft (depending on the topic). This
one was goodie: "Microsoft Finds Legal Defender in the Justice Department."
That would be the United States Justice Department, just to be clear -- not
the European Union, where most of the conflict tends to come from these days.
Yes, in the name of Netscape Communications, now it's Google crying foul. While
open source and the Web have left Redmond far less mighty than it was a decade
ago, Google reminded Uncle Sam that Windows still resides on most of the world's
desktops today. What has changed is that the Bush administration is far less
litigious toward companies like Microsoft than the Clinton legal eagles -- for
better or worse (no political point here).
But Google's claim is that Google runs much slower in Vista than other search
engines. Online Editor Keith Ward finds it remains to be seen whether Google's
charges actually
hold water.
Even if the U.S. Justice Department takes a pass on it, Google isn't stopping
there. The company is trying to get the attention of state attorneys general,
as well, the Times reported.
So my question to the developer community is this: Are you seeing any notable
latency when using Google with Vista and IE7 compared to other OSes and browser
platforms? And for those that do see a discernable degradation in performance,
is this something that can be easily fixed from a programmatic perspective?
Does it appear that Microsoft is intentionally making it harder to use Google,
or is Google just blowing smoke? Let me know at [email protected].
Microsoft Team Site Connector Add-In Ships
One announcement that Microsoft apparently decided not to make at Tech-Ed last
week was the release of its new Visual Studio Team System add-in, which connects
Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 and Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation
Server.
The connector, launched this week, beefs up the integration capabilities between
the two servers, allowing project managers and developers to synchronize project,
resource and work item data.
Senior Editor Kathleen Richards has a full
report here.
SQL Server 2008 CTP Released
Have you had a chance to check out the CTP of Katmai, released
last week and officially ordained "SQL Server 2008"? Developers
got their first peek last week and we'd like to hear what you think.
SQL Server 2008 won't ship before next year, but Microsoft will issue new CTPs
every 60 days rather than issue a beta, a plan the company announced after the
release of SQL Server 2005.
Microsoft is looking to raise
the bar with SQL Server 2008, with a major focus on business intelligence
and support for unstructured data.
Tell me your take on the Katmai CTP at [email protected].
Technology To Get Jazzed About
IBM has opened
its widely anticipated Jazz Project, a joint effort between its Rational
and Research divisions to build a scalable, extensible team-collaboration platform
for integrating tasks across the software lifecycle. With the new Jazz.net community
portal, IBM's goal is to present a more open approach to community development.
While IBM stresses that it's open, it's not open source.
New Browser Platform Has Bugs
That Apple has finally announced a version of its Safari
Web browser for Windows at its Worldwide Developers Conference should hardly
come as a major surprise.
What is rather shocking are reports that the beta version of the new browser,
Safari 3, is chock-full
of bugs.
Apple's CEO described Safari 3 as the fastest browser to run on Windows. Granted,
it's still in beta, but will the new browser's bugs -- including a susceptibility
to denial of service attacks, among other things -- render (pardon the pun)
it DOA?
And even if the bugs become a non-issue, will corporate shops start using Safari
instead of IE or Firefox? If you see a case, drop me a line at [email protected].
Posted by Jeffrey Schwartz on 06/13/20072 comments