DataMirror Supports AIX-Oracle System i Combo with Replication Tool

Published: November 2, 2006

by Alex Woodie

Companies using DataMirror's iReflect software to mirror Oracle databases now have a new runtime option: the IBM System i running AIX in a logical partition.

For some time, Oracle has been flirting with the possibility of running its eponymous database on the i5/OS server. While practically every other enterprise-class server has been able to run Oracle databases, the fact that the System i comes bundled with IBM's DB2 database has put a real cramp in this business plan.

But that hasn't stopped Oracle and some of the largest System i customers from playing around with it. In fact, there's no technical reason why a System i, cut up into logical partitions using OS/400's advanced LPAR technology, could not run the Unix version of Oracle's database in an AIX partition running on a System i, and that's exactly what several very large System i users have done, according to IBM executives.

Now, DataMirror is officially supporting its iReflect mirroring software on Oracle on System i. iReflect is a bi-directional replication product designed to mirror Oracle transactions from a primary system to one or more secondary systems. When the primary system goes down, iReflect invokes a failover, and the data continues to flow off the secondary system. The software can also distribute and consolidate data between Oracle databases over geographically dispersed systems for centralized reporting and on-demand analytics, DataMirror says.

What's more, because iReflect fully replaces Oracle data changes, including DML (Data Manipulation Language) and DDL (Data Definition Language), to System i AIX 5L environments from other Unix platforms, including HP-UX, Solaris, and AIX 5L running on System p servers, it can be used for platform migrations, the company says.

Lucian Mustatea, vice president of research and development for DataMirror, says there's a demand for products that support Oracle databases on System i. "Organizations are merging their Oracle databases with their System i environment because it is a robust platform and reduces total cost of ownership," he says.

The Toronto, Ontario, company is also getting some support from Big Blue. "With DataMirror iReflect, System i customers can extend their proven high availability environment to include Oracle applications," says Craig Johnson, IBM System i product manager for AIX 5L.