Microsoft Corp. The software is critical at the University of Michigan because it serves as the database upon which all of the University s principal data systems depend, including PeopleSoft. Oracle held its annual user conference in San Francisco the week of October 2 and introduced several products which it hopes will capture the attention and interest of the burgeoning world of electronic commerce. The next version of Oracle s key database product is being billed as Oracle 9i. It boasts the ability to handle 1 million concurrent users and serve 1 million html pages per minute. One aspect of the new product is already in production, a web server cache product which has successfully demonstrated the ability to speed up at least some e-commerce sites by a large margin.
Skeptics suggest that the fine print makes any payout unlikely.
Oracle databases have traditionally been notoriously difficult to manage. Whereas Microsoft provides automated processes to manage internal services, Oracle processes often have to be hand tuned . In an effort to satisfy both camps, Oracle 9i will provide a set of optimizing features that DBAs will be able to turn on or off. In another effort to challenge Microsoft s product strategy, Oracle will include data mining or data warehouse capability at no extra charge. These features, included in MS SQL Server, have long been available to Oracle users, but only at a substantial premium.