Oracle to offer free database

Released on 25th October 2005, Oracle Database 10g Express Edition (Oracle Database XE) is an entry-level, small-footprint database based on the Oracle Database 10g Release 2 code base that’s free to develop, deploy, and distribute; fast to download; and simple to administer. Oracle Database XE is a great starter database for:

• Developers working on PHP, Java, .NET, and Open Source applications
• DBAs who need a free, starter database for training and deployment
• Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and hardware vendors who want a starter database to distribute free of charge
• Educational institutions and students who need a free database for their curriculum

With Oracle Database XE, currently available as a Beta release, you can now develop and deploy applications with a powerful, proven, industry-leading infrastructure, and then upgrade when necessary without costly and complex migrations. A production release is scheduled for late 2005.

Oracle Database XE is built using the same code base as Oracle Database 10g Release 2 product line—Standard Edition One, Standard Edition, and Enterprise Edition—and is available on 32-bit Windows and Linux platforms. There are no database license costs associated with developing applications for Oracle Database XE which offers the complete integrated set of Oracle Database programming interfaces including:• SQL, PL/SQL, Java, C, and PHP, Windows .Net, Oracle HTML DB, C++, ODBC, OLE DB. Any application developed for Oracle Database XE will run completely unchanged with Oracle Database 10g Standard Edition One, Standard Edition, or Enterprise Edition; application development investment is guaranteed.

Oracle Database XE is free for runtime usage with the following limitations:
• Supports up to 4GB of user data (in addition to Oracle system data)
• Single instance only of Oracle Database XE on any server
• Only uses and executes on one processor in any server
• Can use up to 1GB RAM
Oracle Database XE can be freely distributed as a standalone database or as part of a third-party application or product, provided the criteria defined above is adhered to.

Oracle intends to release a free version of its database, a reaction to the growing competitive pressure from low-end open-source databases.

The database heavyweight on Tuesday is expected to announce the beta release of Oracle 10g Express Edition (Oracle Database XE), which will be generally available by the end of the year. It is targeted at students, small organizations and software vendors that could embed the Oracle database with an application.

The latest edition is the same as other databases in Oracle’s lineup but is limited in usage. It can only run servers with one processor, with 4GB of disk memory and 1GB of memory.

The new low-end edition is aimed squarely at free and open-source alternatives to Oracle’s namesake database, said Andrew Mendelsohn, senior vice president of Oracle’s server technologies division.

Download Oracle Express Edition from: Oracle Database 10g Express Edition Beta Release .

Resources

Oracle Express Edition Home Page on OTN

Oracle to offer free database | Tech News on ZDNet
Oracle to offer free database