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Only 5 weeks after completing the acquisition of Virtual Iron, a promising virtualization start-up, Oracle goes out and kills it. To make matters worse, Oracle has done it in a very brutal way. In 11 days even existing Virtual Iron customers will not be able to buy additional licenses. Or to quote the The Register article that broke the news:

“So basically, anyone that built their hosting infrastructure on VI…is now totally in the shit,” that partner tells us. “Unless they buy a whole bunch of licenses before the end of June, they will be unable to buy any more node capacity for their clusters. Oracle are shutting down the product, without giving customers some sort of replacement. That’s a huge customer/partner channel shafting.”

So, if you are a poor chap who convinced your CIO that virtualization is the right way to go and that a start up called Virtual Iron is the right way to do it, you may want to consider freshening up your resume compliments of Oracle. The worst part is that you were probably right to choose Virtual Iron as it indeed had some very good technology.

I’ve blogged about my opinions about what the future holds for MySQL customers in light of Oracle’s acquisition of SUN and MySQL. I predicted, contrary to the opinions of some of the industry pundits, that MySQL within Oracle will wither and die. I stand behind my prediction; in my mind it is not if but when MySQL will cease to be an Oracle offering. A number of people disagreed with me, going as far as accusing me of spreading FUD (Fear Uncertainty and Doubt). Indeed, there is a lot of fear, uncertainty and a lot of doubt in the MySQL customer base; it is not because of my little blog spreading FUD. I am guessing that this precedent with Virtual Iron is going to spook a lot more of the MySQL customers.

My advice for anyone paying for MySQL Enterprise is start calling alternative providers like Percona.com, or Monty Program AB. At least these folks really know what they are doing with MySQL. Most of the key people have already left MySQL even before Oracle announced that it was buying SUN and hardly any are expected to stick around after the acquisition is complete. True, both Percona and Monty Program are very small and are not likely to be able to take on majority of the MySQL customers but what they lack in size they compensate for in their expertise. For the lucky few who go with them before Oracle pulls the plug on MySQL Enterprise I think it will make a big difference.

There are other options. You can decide that you really don’t need support (not likely for enterprise users) and just go with one of the MySQL open source forks and rely on the community for help. Or, you can contemplate switching to a different database. PostgreSQL is a good alternative but if you are looking for support you would again be relying on a small player like EnterpriseDB. I think that for anyone using MySQL Enterprise i.e. those relying on vendor support, DB2 Express-C makes a lot more sense. Just like MySQL, DB2 Express-C is available for free to use in development and production environments. Unlike MySQL, it can also be redistributed free of charge by ISVs as part of their solution. And just like with MySQL, optional low cost support is available for a price that is $4 cheaper than MySQL Enterprise Gold. Migration from MySQL to DB2 should be pretty simple as DB2 and MySQL are very compatible. For those using dynamic language frameworks like Ruby on Rails and Zend Framework or Django it should be a no-brainer. You can expect very good performance (better than what you have with MySQL) and loads of new function (like hybrid engine with full XML support) that are simply not available in MySQL. The best part is that you are guaranteed not to be left in a lurch. DB2 Express-C is exactly the same code base as the other DB2 products. This means that you have 100% guarantee that any application written to work with DB2 Express-C will continue to work if you were to upgrade your database server to a higher value edition of DB2 for Linux, Unix and Windows. In many cases you would not even have to install another edition but should just be able to activate a new license.

You can wait and see if Oracle will put MySQL on death row or you can get ahead of the curve and start to plan for the alternatives like getting in touch with alternative MySQL support providers or take a look at DB2 Express-C and see if that is the right way for you to go.

Today is the day gadget heads get to line up to get the new Apple iPhone 3G S. According to media reports there is not the same level of hoopla around this launch as there was for the first two introductions. I am in New York today presenting on DB2 and Cloud Computing. On my way to the presentation in the morning I dropped by the flagship Apple store. I don’t know what it was like for the first two launches here but the crowd is not all that big today. I guess the new version of the iPhone is not as much of a quantum leap in terms of features as the previous two versions were.

Speaking of new version being a quantum leap, today we made DB2 version 9.7 (formerly known as DB2 Cobra to some) available. While not a full new version in terms of numbering (previous version was 9.5.2) it does deliver very significant improvements in many areas. First and foremost, there is a boatload of new functions that make the new DB2 much easier to use and migrate to for anyone who has used Oracle. This applies both to the application code as well as skill. There are also very significant improvements in performance and concurrency. If your company is spending a lot of money on database storage, you absolutely must take a look at the new compression. In 9.5, DB2 could compress data to provide as much as 80% savings on storage. 9.7 adds compression for temp tables and indexes and for many, these enhancements can mean savings n storage costs in to hundreds of thousands of dollars. XML handling has been the hallmark of DB2 and in v9.7 it gets even better with XML now being fully enabled for data warehousing. There is greatly improved workload management and a number of other features that would take way too long to list here. I suggest getting a cup of coffee and watching the Chat with the Lab on DB2 v9.7 features with our IBM Fellow Tim Vincent on http://ChannelDB2.com.

One other curious thing about the release of DB2 v9.7 today. For the first time ever, we released a new version of DB2 as both a standard product and as a deployment on the Cloud. if you go to RightScale.com, and get an account (you can get a trial account free) you will see DB2 Express-C v9.7 on CentOS and DB2 Express-C v9.7 on Ubuntu in the partner catalog. RightScale makes getting on to the Cloud a breeze and it helps you do Cloud Computing the enterprise suitable way. Using these DB2 Express-C templates you can get your very own DB2 server in the Cloud in about 10 minutes. More on that in my next blog post.

DB2 Express-C templates in the partner directory on RightScale

So, is the fact that both DB2 and iPhone are available on the same date a coincidence? Is there a DB2 on the Apple iPhone? Regrettably, there is no such thing as DB2 for iPhone. However, we do have DB2 for Apple Mac. We have released it in December of last year and it has been garnering a steady following with the Apple Mac crowd. Antonio Cangiano recently did a little micro benchmark comparing MySQL and DB2 Express-C on his Apple MacBook Pro.  He also posted an open source project for TextMate bundle for DB2. If use TextMate on your Apple Mac you will love what Antonio has done. And if you enjoy watching other people do things before trying them yourself, take a look at Antonio’s screencast on Installing DB2 on Apple Mac OS X on http://ChannelDB2.com. So, while there is no DB2 for iPhone, if you are in to DB2 and love all things Apple (and how can you not love those beautiful designs), download DB2 Express-C for Mac OS X and use it as a justification to get that new MacBook you’ve been craving.

I have never been on a receiving end of an Oracle audit but customers I’ve talked to who have been unfortunate enough to participate in one likened the experience to having a very invasive medical procedure. This experience seems to be rooted in two issues: one, Oracle licensing is notoriously convoluted. There are actually consultants who make a living helping customers navigate the Oracle license maze. Another reason is that most Oracle software does not do much to prevent unlicensed use of software often leading to unsuspecting IT professionals getting too addicted to the features hey may not have the right to use.

MySQL licensing is the exact opposite. After all, when have you seen an open source company send in auditors to make sure you are compliant with the license. According to an article on SearchOracle.com, SUN customers have much to fear. According to this article, Oracle has used its prior acquisitions as an opportunity to review customer contracts. These reviews can quickly escalate in to a full blown audit and not just of the software licenses but also of maintenance contracts. If this is indeed true and Oracle repeats this behaviour of prior acquisitions some MySQL customers may find themselves living through a completely new experience. Ouch, doctor, that hurts!

Arbour Networks knows a thing or two about internet security as their gear is used by most top tier ISPs. They run an interesting internet threat analysis service at http://atlas.arbor.net/. I’ve been watching it for the past couple of weeks. During this time Microsoft SQL Server has consistently been the top attack target. Not only has SQL Server been a consistent target, it has been a target for over 50% of all attacks.

SQL Server under attack

Now, I don’t want to come across as bashing SQL Server. I am not one of those people who will claim that Microsoft code is less secure than that of its competitors. I don’t think SQL Serer is any less secure than say Oracle or DB2 (here, I said it). I also have to give Microsoft credit for addressing security issues promptly. Oracle, on the other hand has not addressed any security vulnerabilities in Oracle XE despite the fact that there are hundreds known vulnerabilities. I had to uninstall Oracle XE because our network scanners detect back-level Oracle code and Oracle XE does not have any updates. 

The SQL Server that is being attacked by this exploit is SQL Server 2000 and MSDE or Microsoft Desktop Engine i.e. the previous free database from Microsoft that has since been replaced by SQL Server Express Edition. So, the problem is not that Microsoft is releasing SQL Server with security vulnerabilities or that they don’t fix these vulnerabilities … they do. I think there are two factors at play here. First is that SQL Server is a very popular product and that in itself makes it a target. The second is that while the fixes may be available, they are not consistently applied by the users of SQL Server. For those that are diligent in maintaining their systems and keeping them up to date, these attacks should not present an issue. However, if you are an ISV that wants to embed SQL Server as part of your own solution the popularity of SQL Server could be a troubling thing. Basically, by shipping SQL Server as part of your solution you are painting a nice bright target on your software as well. Once the software is installed at your customer site, you can count on it being a target by any attacker who can identify that you have SQL Server under the covers. And, if they have an exploit that was created after shipped your product, you will have to figure out how to protect each one of your customers.

Popularity has its price!

Last week I blogged about uncertain future of MySQL in Oracle’s hands. At that time a number of people pinged me to say that they thought that I was spreading FUD. In their view MySQL under Oracle’s stewardship would live long and propser.

Well, only a week has passed and Oracle is yet to ink the deal to swallow SUN. However, the key players in the MySQL community have already fired a shot across Oracle’s bow letting it know that it will not be directing the future of MySQL. Basically, while Oracle may be purchasing MySQL as part of the SUN acquisition, it will be getting the name only. The real MySQL has escaped and it does not really belong to SUN and Oracle.

Get more details here (http://monty-says.blogspot.com/2009/05/open-database-alliance-founded.html)