Oracle Corp yesterday formally announced Oracle7 version 7.3, called Universal Server. The all-purpose server, which begins shipping this week, claims to enable thousands of simultaneous PC users to access and manage any information for any application over any network. Whatever the interface, the Server can deliver a mix of video, text, email, spatial and audio information to users in any location. It is a combination of Oracle7, the client/server relational database and complete Web, text management, messaging and multimedia servers. It offers users a platform designed to handle network-centric computing, mission- critical on-line transaction processing (OLTP), on-line analytical processing (OLAP) and data warehousing applications. Oracle Universal Server is available in an Enterprise Edition and Workgroup edition. The Enterprise edition, consists of the Oracle7 enterprise relational database, the Oracle Enterprise Manager and also offers different options (eg. Video or OLAP). The Workgroup Edition is made up of the Oracle7 7.3 workgroup relational database, Oracle Enterprise Manager and is intended for entry level and branch autoamation applications. An Oracle spokesperson told Computergram the company hoped the server would attract users who traditionally opted for non-integrated specialty servers. Supporting the Oracle7 Advanced Networking Option, the server was demonstrated at the Oracle Developers’ Conference in San Francisco this week on a working prototype of the Network Computer,a low cost tool for accessing the Internet.
