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IBM Toughen Database Storage Competition

IBM has decided to end EMC`s trespassing into its data management territory, and it will release new storage compression software, code-named Venom. The new software is designed to assist customers lower their storage hardware costs and usage by half. Venom, which IBM adapted from its mainframe machines, boosts CPU and memory bandwidth of servers by compressing rows of data.

The technology has been inserted into the company`s upcoming DB2 Viper data server, currently being revved by customers and partners. To this point, IBM has pitted DB2 as a weapon to fight rival database makers Oracle and Microsoft. "Venom not only will attack IBM`s traditional database rivals, Oracle and Microsoft, it will take aim at a new target -? storage hardware competitor, EMC," the letter from IBM said.

Venom, designed for Windows, Linux and UNIX systems, works by allowing database administrators to use row compression for compressing data objects in multidimensional clusters. Row compression offers disk, input/output and memory savings for large tables with repetitive data patterns. The company also plans to introduce a new piece of software that helps customers automate storage management, a boon for administrators looking to cut back on manual upgrades.