A wave of announcements from the Netezza user conference last week includes a major software release that doubles performance and capacity; the inclusion of i-Class advanced analytics capabilities with TwinFin appliances; a Netezza Migrator product, which allows software proprietary to Oracle databases to be run on Netezza; and the new Netezza Data Virtualizer to simplify, accelerate and optimise the integration of data stored across multiple Netezza appliances.
Advanced analytics, enhanced workload management
From the third quarter of 2010, the TwinFin appliance will include i-Class advanced analytics capabilities and Netezza Performance Software (NPS) Release 6.0 software, at no additional cost.
i-Class technology eliminates the need to move data into specialised systems for advanced analytics, thus speeding up application performance and simplifying operations. It also includes the spatial analytics functionality, which was previously provided as a separate software component.
Beyond doubling the performance of the current TwinFin release, NPS 6.0 includes significantly enhanced workload management features with no need for additional hardware, power or cooling.
A key performance enhancement is based on the inclusion of clustered base tables, where data is range partitioned in multiple dimensions at once. Queries are speeded up because blocks that fail to match in any one of the cluster dimensions are simply not retrieved. Using dimensions to represent the Who, What, Where and When means the Why could be retrieved 30 to 40 times faster than is possible today.
These inclusions are all about making analytics faster, cheaper and deeper. They also allow large user populations to run complex and diverse workloads simultaneously on the appliance.
The NPS Release 6.0 and i-Class module is available via a software-only upgrade for existing TwinFin and Skimmer customers.
Keep using software proprietary to Oracle databases
Companies that have invested in software proprietary to Oracle databases are no longer trapped by existing systems and contracts when considering a TwinFin system.
Netezza Migrator customers can run extract-transform-load and business intelligence applications, custom-built for Oracle, on TwinFin. The product uses technology licensed by Netezza from EnterpriseDB under the terms of EnterpriseDB's embedded-partner programme.
Netezza Migrator enables data warehouse migration from Oracle to a TwinFin appliance, allowing customers to benefit from the performance, scale and cost advantages of their TwinFin appliance, while still maintaining their investment in Oracle technology, training and staff experience.
Data integration across multiple appliances
Powered by Composite Software, the Netezza Data Virtualizer creates an integrated view of data that is physically distributed across multiple Netezza appliances.
As enterprise-wide analytical needs grow, customers have an increasing need to integrate information from various analytical stores to come up with the 'Wow' answers. The Netezza Data Virtualizer delivers query results to reporting and analytic applications from within a grid of Netezza appliances, regardless of the data's physical location.
The Netezza Data Virtualizer, developed by Composite Software, is licensed and supported by Netezza. The product is planned to be generally available early in the second half of calendar year 2010.
Raising the bar
“With this release, Netezza once again raises the bar significantly in terms of its position in the analytics market,” says Chris O'Connell, managing director of BITanium.
“More than doubling the performance of a technology, which is already an order of magnitude faster than traditional environments, just blows away any objections to deep analytics of your most complex and detailed data. And this ability is the key to performance of organisations in the intelligent economy.”
Share
Netezza Corporation
Netezza Corporation (NYSE: NZ) is the global leader in data warehouse and analytic appliances that dramatically simplify high-performance analytics across an extended enterprise. Netezza's technology enables organisations to process enormous amounts of captured data at exceptional speed, providing a significant competitive and operational advantage in today's data-intensive industries, including digital media, energy, financial services, government, health and life sciences, retail and telecommunications. Netezza is headquartered in Marlborough, Massachusetts and has offices in Northern Virginia, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Japan, Korea, Australia and Singapore. For more information about Netezza, please visit www.netezza.com
BITanium
BITanium places itself firmly in the business intelligence and data warehousing market. Our insight into the BI sphere is that the solution architecture and underlying information engine is all-important, and that given a solid foundation, business intelligence can be deployed to all levels of decision-makers in their chosen delivery mediums. At BITanium we bring new insight into how our technical staff wants to be managed, with the result that we deliver high quality services to our customers, with a team of highly motivated and happy staff. This always translates into increased business value in your hands.
Editorial contacts