Advanced Server Advantages

Performance and Scalability Features including Infinite Cache!

Postgres Plus Advanced Server contains multiple performance and scalability features not found in the community PostgreSQL that are used for a wide variety of database tasks.

• Infinite Cache.

  This high performance horizontal caching architecture expands using your existing affordable commodity server cache blades for a distributed cache whose compression feature allows putting entire databases into memory and requires no cache specific coding in your applications.

• GridSQL

  GridSQL is a shared-nothing clustered database architecture targeted at data warehousing and data mart applications. See the full GridSQL description below.

• DynaTuner with Workload Profiling.

  During installation, DynaTune configures over 50 tuning parameters of the Postgres engine to your expected hardware and application utilization giving you out-of-the-box optimization. Then, after any hardware upgrades (e.g. memory expansion), DynaTune automatically re-calibrates the parameters to utilize the new configuration consistent with your usage profile.

• Asynchronous Pre-Fetch.

  Experience remarkable improvements to data warehouse, ETL (extract transform and load), and query intensive applications by fully optimizing RAID hardware usage for common indexes.

• Query Optimization Hints.

  There are over 15 hints for power programmers to use in coding their logic putting more control and performance enhancements directly in their hands.

• DRITA.

  Dynamic Runtime Instrumentation Tools Architecture. The DRITA features reveal internal processing statistics allowing fine grained tuning to eliminate processing bottlenecks and conflicts.

• Bulk Collect / Bulk Bind.

  These functions provide application developers advanced performance handling of data collections found in database systems costing many thousands of dollars more than Advanced Server.

• EDB*Loader.

  This bulk data loader outperforms the standard Postgres Copy command. It also allows for individual input failures that you can conveniently fix later without aborting the entire load.

The Open Source Alternative to Oracle

With Postgres Plus Advanced Server's Oracle compatibility features, you can run existing Oracle based applications on the Postgres platform. Don't use Oracle? No problem, you can still use the Oracle features like Query Hints, the high performance data loader and more.

Or you can run adjacent applications that dove-tail seamlessly with your mission critical databases without additional Oracle licenses. And you can use these same compatibility features to build new Postgres applications.

Advanced Server's compatibility features focus on five critical feature areas in every Oracle DBA's and Developer's skill set:

• SQL Extensions.

  Many critical SQL extensions you've come to rely on including decode(), the DUAL table, and ROWNUM are supported.

• PL/SQL Support. Advanced Server's procedural language runs Oracle triggers, stored procedures, packages, functions and more.

• Compatibility Tools and Utilities.

  The compatibility tooling includes: EDB*Plus, EDB*Loader, DBA Management Server, DBLinks, and Oracle Catalog Views, providing experienced DBAs and developers the familiar look, feel, and functionality they depend on.

• Application Compatibility.

  The programming framework includes support for 12+ programming languages and 12+ library interfaces including OCL(OCI support).

• Push Button Migration.

  Finally, the Advanced Server Migration Studio, literally provides you an easy push button low risk Oracle application migration path that converts schema, data, packages, triggers, stored procedures, and functions into a working Postgres based application.

For an in depth look at Postgres Plus Advanced Server's Oracle compatibility features refer to the white paper: Delivering Oracle Compatibility, or download the Oracle Compatibility Developer's Guide.

DBA Productivity Tools

Postgres Plus Advanced Server's suite of productivity tools addresses all the key functionality needed by serious database administrators and developers.

• Postgres Plus HQ

  is a database infrastructure monitoring solution with a browser based console, over 160 ready to use metrics, and automatic alerts for out-of-bounds conditions.

• SQL/Protect

  guards against multiple SQL injection vectors by learning your normal query profile and rejecting unfamiliar requests. See how DBAs can provide another layer of protection for application developers.Tell me more about SQL/Protect.

• Migration Studio

  consolidates simultaneous browsing of multiple databases and migrates Oracle, MySQLr, SQL Serverr and Sybaser databases with push button simplicity.

• Postgres Studio

  provides comprehensive database administration, query, and maintenance consoles.

• GridSQLr Monitoring Console

  is a single dashboard for managing high performance horizontally scaling reporting solutions.

• xDB Replication Console

  manages databases for publishing and subscribing between Postgres databases or Postgres and Oracle databases in mixed environments.

Developer Productivity Tools

Postgres Plus Advanced Server offers open source economics and the power programming features developers will find appealing and comparable to those found in the most popular commercial databases in use today.

A Postgres based database gives developers a rock solid enterprise grade database upon which to build powerful applications using features such as:

• Full SQL compliance and ACID Transactions
• Performance for vertical/horizontal scaling and concurrent users
• Stable releases: 20 years of enterprise class development
• Mature Integration with Hibernate
• Easy to Use: One Click Installer, Integrated Debugger, Visual Tuning tools
• Postgres Visusal Performance Tool Advanced Features: GeoSpatial Queries (Hibernate Spatial), Full Text Search, Windowing functions, Stored Procedures (multiple languages), Rules Engine, Advanced Data Types, Common Table Expressions/Recursive Queries, and more!

The Migration Studio can save a developer who is moving an Oracle application, hundreds of hours or application re-writing. The global debugging features integrated into Postgres Studio allow developers to set breakpoints in triggers called by multiple external applications for true application context debugging.

GeoSpatial Support

The geospatial extension (PostGIS) built into Postgres Plus Advanced Server is an open source geographic information server.

PostGIS spatially enables the Postgres Plus server, allowing it to be used as a backend spatial database for geographic information systems (GIS), much like ESRI's SDE or the Oracle Database Spatial Extension. PostGIS follows the OpenGIS "Simple Features Specification for SQL" and has been certified as compliant with the "Types and Functions" profile.

GridSQLr with Parallel Query

GridSQL is a shared-nothing clustered database architecture targeted at data warehousing and data mart applications.

GridSQL provides organizations with query intensive applications accessing large data sets, near linear scalability using cost effective commodity hardware. Application developers enjoy the benefit of high performance options for query management, and IT Managers save money on data warehousing hardware costs.

GridSQL Architecture

GridSQL includes intelligence to maximize parallel queries over multiple servers, delivering faster response times than can be achieved by single-node databases. The horizontal scaling architecture capable of accessing massive data sets, is transparent to the calling application. GridSQL parallelizes every query to efficiently use all available resources across multiple servers while maintaining a single view to the calling application.

Database / Application Migration

The Migration Studio simplifies and automates the migration of Oracle, Sybaser, SQL Serverr and MySQLr databases dramatically reducing the cost and risks of database migration.

For example, using a simple one step interface, Migration Studio will move the data and business logic for an entire Oracle application. The schema and constraints, data, triggers, stored procedures, packages, synonyms, and functions are all moved to Postgres.

In many cases, all that's required for your application to work is to re-point your connection from Oracle to Postgres. You can even customize your migrations with command line options.

Postgres Plus Replication

Postgres Plus includes the open source replication solution Slony-I, enabling the replication of Postgres Plus and PostgreSQL databases.

Postgres Replication is a robust, trigger-based replication solution providing your system with high availability, scalability and the ability to offload tasks to other machines. Postgres Replication, fully integrated in Postgres Plus, provides a 'one master to many slaves' replication system with cascading replication support as well as graceful switchover and failover of failed nodes. Replication is used in creating highly available infrastructures, scaling systems across the globe, and offloading reporting loads from transaction systems improving their performance.

Postgres Replication gives DBAs a powerful tool to protect their organization's data, business transactions, and infrastructure performance, while maintaining system up time for round the clock access. For more information on Advanced Server replication see the High Availability White Paper.