Dell Computer is reselling the Oracle9i Application Server on both
the Windows and Linux platforms, Oracle said yesterday.
The application server will be pre-certified, tested, and
pre-configured to run on Dell's Intel servers, said Oracle's Thomas
Kurian, senior vice-president of server development and
strategy.
"From Oracle's point of view, this validates the continued momentum
of our application server technology with the endorsement of a key
hardware vendor," Kurian said.
There has been a lot of interest in developing on the Intel
platform and using Intel systems in datacentres, according to
Kurian. Oracle's application server is based on J2EE 1.3
technology.
The announcement, scheduled for Monday (12 August), builds on the
relationship established between Dell, Oracle, and Red Hat in May
regarding the vendors' "Unbreakable Linux" plan, which allows the
three vendors' offerings to serve as an application platform
featuring clustering.
Analysts said the announcement promotes Linux as an easier platform
for deploying Oracle products, similar to running them on Unix.
Oracle has been geared toward the Unix usage model rather than
Windows, said IDC analyst Carl Olofson.
"Linux represents potentially a simpler way to deploy Oracle
software because you don't have the multiple layers of vendors to
deal with," said Olofson, as would be required in deploying
Microsoft software.
The Standard Edition of the Oracle9i Application Server costs
$10,000 (£6,541) per processor. The Enterprise Edition, featuring
business intelligence, security, directory and enterprise
application integration and caching facilities, costs $20,000 per
CPU.