Infobright, an open source data warehousing company, has released Infobright 3.1, the latest version of its data warehouse product that offers simplicity, ease of use and low total cost of ownership. According to the vendor, the columnar database is ideal for analytics, and is available in two editions: a free, open source version named Infobright Community Edition (ICE) and a licensable version named Infobright Enterprise Edition (IEE). The version 3.1 product release contains two primary new features, one of which is available with both the ICE and IEE, and the other only with the IEE.
The first new feature, the Enhanced SQL Framework (available with both editions), is an extension of Infobright's patent-pending Knowledge Grid architecture to include 100 additional SQL functions. "The Knowledge Grid is a key differentiator for Infobright and consists of a metadata layer that resides on top of individual data packs that are within the underlying storage columns," Susan Davis, vice president of marketing and product management for Infobright, tells 5 Minute Briefing. "Queries to the database attempt to extract as much information as possible from this metadata layer, and minimize the amount of actual underlying data the needs to be accessed. This provides excellent performance because there are no I/O bottlenecks due to the Knowledge Grid." With 100 additional SQL functions now optimized by the Knowledge Grid in version 3.1, a 10X performance boost is enabled for complex queries which heavily rely on SQL functions.
The second new feature is support for the Solaris 10 operating system on x86 servers, which is available with the IEE version only. This support now allows organizations to combine the performance and TCO benefits of IEE with the virtualization, utilization, high-availability, advanced security, and performance of Solaris. The combination of IEE and Solaris delivers a lower-cost, easier-to-administer solution that can be relied on to maintain high service levels.
The addition of the enhanced SQL Framework and support for the Solaris 10 operating system makes Infobright 3.1 appealing to a wider range of enterprises looking for the benefits of a feature-rich data warehouse without the high cost. Infobright has also announced the Simplified Scalability architecture, available during the fourth quarter of 2009, as an easy-to-manage alternative to other data warehouse approaches. For more information about Infobright and the new version 3.1 product release, go here.