Skip to main content

Oracle, Sun Link Up for New Product; HP Snubbed

oracle-sunWith the fate of its proposed $7.4 billion takeover of Sun Microsystems Inc. uncertain amid antitrust scrutiny, Oracle Corp. is moving ahead with a new product incorporating both companies’ technology, and snubbing Hewlett-Packard Co. in the process.

Sun and Oracle unveiled a new database machine Tuesday built from Sun hardware and Oracle software.

Recommended Videos

The companies claim the Exadata machine works twice as fast as the previous generation of the device. The earlier version of the machine was built by Oracle and Hewlett-Packard Co. and when it was introduced last year marked the first time in Oracle’s history that the company sold computer hardware.

The machines are a combination of servers, which carry out heavy computing chores, and database software, which companies use to store and retrieve information they’ve stored, such as payroll data. Oracle is the world’s No. 1 database software company.

Oracle confirmed that it is no longer making database machines with HP. HP declined to comment.

Oracle’s proposed takeover of Sun, which is being held up by European Union regulators, has touched off a fight for Sun’s computer-server customers. Sun rivals HP and IBM Corp. have sought to lure business from Sun by raising concerns among customers about the future of Sun’s hardware products under Oracle.

The tactics have been working. Sun’s worldwide market share in servers stood at 10 percent in the latest quarter, down more than a percentage point from last year, according to data from research firm IDC.

Oracle has fought back with advertisements promising to invest more deeply in Sun’s products than Sun, which has struggled with financial problems for nearly a decade, could do. Oracle has also said it will “dramatically improve” the performance of Sun’s hardware by designing it to run better with Oracle’s software.

The U.S. Justice Department has already approved the Oracle-Sun deal. European Union regulators are concerned about Oracle’s plans for Sun’s MySQL software, an open-source database that competes with Oracle’s proprietary database. If EU regulators find problems with the deal, one way it could be handled would be to force Oracle to sell or spin off the MySQL business.

Oracle is scheduled to report fiscal first-quarter earnings Wednesday after the market closes.

The new database machine was unveiled by Oracle CEO Larry Ellison and Sun’s Executive Vice President, John Fowler.

Dena Cassella
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Haole built. O'ahu grown
Watch Figure’s latest humanoid robot performing tasks autonomously
The Figure 02 humanoid robot.

Figure Status Update - BMW Use Case

Robotics startup Figure recently shared a new video showing several of its humanoid robots performing a task that could be applied to the automotive industry.

Read more
You can now buy eight RTX 5090s for over $50,000
Comino Grando server.

It's true that we're all waiting for the release of Nvidia's best graphics cards, but ... not like this. The RTX 5090 made a surprise appearance in a GPU server made by Comino, a company that deals with data center design and construction. Although still unannounced by Nvidia, the GPU can now be preordered directly from the manufacturer, but not by itself -- and at a whopping price of around $5,000 per GPU.

Just to clarify: No, Nvidia's RTX 50-series is still not here, and as of yet, Nvidia hasn't even confirmed that there will be an RTX 5090 at all. However, Comino opened up preorders for its next-gen Grando Server equipped with either six or eight RTX 5090 GPUs. This is worrying news for gamers because the RTX 5090 was always meant to be a consumer card. Still, the reality is that the RTX 4090 remained in high demand throughout its tenure because of its AI capabilities, and the RTX 5090 is only going to be even better in that regard.

Read more
Dropbox wishes — This 1TB cloud storage lasts for life, only $60 for Black Friday
Someone using FolderFort cloud storage on laptop

TL;DR: Get a 1TB FolderFort cloud storage subscription that lasts for life for just $60 (reg. $251) before Black Friday.

Do you remember where all your files are? Where did all those old photos of your cat go, or that work folder you really can't do without? Saving files locally may be quick and convenient, but it's not a long-term solution. If you want one place to keep all your files from all your devices, FolderFort dropped the price of a 1TB lifetime cloud storage subscription during an early Black Friday Sale to just $60 (reg. $251).

Read more