Another Cloud Database Coming Soon

EnterpriseDB plans to release a cloud version of it's database offering which will run on Amazon EC2 and store it's data on S3. This will apparently compete directly with SimpleDB, but provide all the advanced relational database features we all know and love.

In an interview conducted last week in advance of today's announcement of the Cloud Edition plans, Zurek declined to disclose specifics about the company's pricing plans. But the pricing "will be disruptive," he said. "I don't think Oracle will like this."

Sounds good to me. I'm not sure how these guys will package it up, but what I would really like to see is a simple on-demand model like SimpleDB with a real relational database. Create databases and tables on demand, pay only for storage and processing power, automatic/transparent scaling, no maintenance.

Java has Achieved Cockroach Status

I just read through this article on Ted Neward's blog where he attempts to answer this question. He makes a good point about how prolific the JVM really is today.

Here's a thought: Let's leave Java where it is, and just start creating new JVM languages that cater to specific needs. You can call them Java, too, if you like. Or something else, like Scala or Clojure or Groovy or JRuby or CJ or whatever suits your fancy. Since everybody compiles down to JVM bytecode, it's all really academic--they're all Java, in some fundamental way. Which means that Java can thus rest easy, knowing that it fought the good fight, and that others equally capable are carrying on the tradition of JVM programming.

Beyond that, I'll add that it's also found everywhere: computers, phones, and all sorts of other devices.

Don Box from Microsoft responded to the article on his blog saying:

Java has achieved cockroach status and its inventors should be proud.

Mission accomplished.

All I can say is that I'm glad I'm on the cockroach team.

EC2 Teaches Bad Habits

A twitter from Eric Hammond:

EC2 teaches bad habits: I almost shutdown a remote non-EC2 server when I was done using it