Mark Porter, VP of Oracle Corp’s media server group says the database company’s plan to use DEC’s AlphaServer running NT as a primary development platform for its Video Server software does not jeopardize an existing development relationship it has with video server hardware manufacturer nCube Corp, which is owned and run by Oracle CEO Larry Ellison. Media Server, sold into broadband, intranet and internet markets enables customers to deliver video and audio to PCs, network computers, workstations and set-top boxes over a variety of networks. Oracle claims it is more reliable, scalable, flexible and portable than other products from Tektronix, IBM, StarLight and others. It says the software can serve multiple users at different bitrates simultaneously, using different video codecs from the same disks. It says other servers require that network connection bandwidths are established at the time the server is started. DEC, is axing its own four-year-old Mediaplex video server in favour of the Oracle software, after the market for video-on-demand failed to materialize following in the way vendors had anticipated a couple of year ago. DEC will continue to support its 40-odd Mediaplex customers who will also be offered a migration path to the Oracle technology. DEC’s formed a media business unit within its computer systems group to address this marketplace.
