SAN
JOSE MERCURY NEWS
ORACLE
AGAIN TAKING AIM AT MICROSOFT
WEB
SERVERS CUT OUT OPERATING SYSTEM
Tuesday, November
14, 2000
Section:
Business
Edition:
Morning Final
Page: 1C
BY CECILIA
KANG, Mercury
News
Illustration:
Photo
Caption:
PHOTO:
[no photo credit]
Ellison
[001114 BU
1 C]
Oracle Corp.
launched a direct attack on rival Microsoft Corp. on Monday, with new software
for computer servers that eliminates the need for an operating system like Microsoft's
flagship Windows 2000 software.
In an evening
keynote address at the Comdex computer trade show, Oracle Chairman and Chief
Executive Larry Ellison planned to announce that Compaq Computer Corp. will
be the first hardware maker to build and sell Web servers using the Oracle application
server software, dubbed Oracle9i. "This is not the operating-system age. It's
the information age," Ellison said at a news conference before his speech. "Its
about managing information."
Ellison said
the new machines will be cheaper, faster and more reliable than servers running
Windows, Unix or any other full-fledged operating system.
'Server appliance'
Oracle9i
will run atop a thin-kernel operating system, based on Linux and Sun Microsystems
Inc.'s version of Unix, that will be used only to manage the hardware of the
server.
Oracle's
application server software then would manage whatever Web-based business applications
the customer wanted, from sales-force automation to supply chain management.
Oracle9i competes with IBM's Websphere and BEA Systems' WebLogic platform.
Oracle and
Compaq plan to sell the so-called "server appliance" with the application server
software already installed. The customer then would have the option of what
applications to buy to run on the application server. Oracle plans to offer
a service to manage the servers on behalf of customers.
Compaq Chairman
and CEO Michael Capellas was scheduled to join Ellison on stage at the Las Vegas
Hilton Hotel and throw his weight behind the new server, which will ship in
December and be used to manage Internet applications such as Web caching.
With "Oracle9i
application server technology, we aim to provide customers with the performance,
expandability and functionality required in high-end Web server environments,"
Capellas said in a news release before the speech.
'As good
as sliced bread'
Ellison said
he expects to announce similar partnerships with HP and Sun soon. And the company
plans a major announcement today in the business-to-business software arena.
Anil Vasudeva,
president of San Jose-based
IMEX Research, said the application server appliance would work
well in small businesses and provides an alternative for departments in large
companies. "This idea is as good as sliced bread," Vasudeva said.
Oracle was
quick to emphasize that its near relationship with Compaq, a longtime partner
of Microsoft, was a blow to Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft, the world's largest
software company.
"Microsoft
has threatened and bullied their hardware partners constantly," Jarvis said.
"Now they are jumping ranks."
Compaq, however,
said that the partnership doesn't affect its relationship with Microsoft.
"We value
the strong relationships we have with Oracle and our other partners," said Arch
Currid, spokesman for Compaq. "And we will continue to work with Oracle and
our other partners in servicing the needs of our customers."
Ballmer's
response
Ballmer ridiculed
Oracle's initiative. He said Ellison had come up with a similar server idea
a couple of years ago, nicknamed "Raw Iron," that cut out the operating system.
But Raw Iron fizzled, and nothing in the high-tech industry has changed in a
way that makes Raw Iron a better idea, Ballmer said.
The operating
system is important to servers, Ballmer said, especially if you want to add
security and network management features. (Ellison acknowledged that weakness
in the Oracle9i architecture, but he said users could always add another server
with those features.)
As for Compaq's
agreement to manufacture and sell the server, Balimer said, "I won't like it,
and I will register that with Compaq."
Aside from Microsoft, Ballmer said Oracle also is making
an attack on partners such as Sun, which sells hardware that runs Solaris, its
own version of the Unix operating system for servers.
Sun Chairman
and CEO Scott McNealy has been a vocal ally of Ellison in their long-running
feud with Microsoft, and Oracle's core database software is often found running
on Sun servers.
"This is
an attack on McNealy more than anything else," Ballmer said.
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