The in-memory grid basically partitions data in memory across multiple servers, which in turn enables continuous data availability and transactional integrity, even in the event of a server failure.
If the Coherence product is not widely known, despite being now on version 3.3, that’s because Oracle got its hands on the technology with the acquisition of privately held Tangosol this March, on undisclosed terms.
The Coherence technology that Oracle bought was already in use by around 1,500 customers. It’s applicable to so-called extreme transaction processing environments, so it’s no surprise that most of Tangasol’s customers were in financial services, telecommunications and logistics.
But Oracle said this latest release, version 3.3, features enhanced performance, quality-of-service and clustering capabilities, tighter integration with Oracle Fusion Middleware and support for Microsoft’s .Net Framework.
Clustering has been improved with self-tuning communication capabilities, including high-performance packet bundling and dynamic flow control; performance has been improved thanks to enhanced multi-core support. It also now supports Java SE version 6 and Microsoft .Net. It integrates with various other Fusion Middleware products such as Oracle Application Server and Oracle TopLink.
Oracle Coherence 3.3 is available now and comes in three flavors – Standard, Enterprise and Grid, with different levels of scalability and, as you would expect, pricing. Standard Edition pricing starts at $4,000 per CPU, while the Grid edition which gives a shared enterprise-wide data services platform starts at $20,000 per CPU. A free evaluation version is available from the firm’s web site.
