| Open source embedded database regains commercial, community support |
Aug. 10, 2004
A company in Bellevue, Wash. is supporting an embeddable open source database to promote its consulting services and embedded database development community. ITTIA offers several levels of support for db.* (pronounced "dee bee star"), a lightweight C-language database with a 20-year pedigree targeting set-top boxes, telecom, and other embedded uses.
An "orphaned" product
The db.* database was first released in the 1980s as dbvista by Raima, according to ITTIA Marketing Representative Daniel Hornal. Raima was subsequently acquired by Centura, which invested heavily in the product and released it as db.* in 2000. "Centura spent millions developing and documenting it," notes Hornal.
When Centura went out of business "in the dot-com bust," according to Hornal, it established db.* as an open source project at Open Avenue. However, Open Avenue itself went under some time later, and the database languished without commercial or community support.
The code was released under the Centura Public License, a derivative of the Mozilla Public License that stipulates that the database must be run only on open-source operating systems such as BSD and Linux. "Outside of that restriction, runtime, development and distribution are free, and developers do not need to give away their source code to use db.*" according to ITTIA.
Embeddable features
The database has a footprint as small as 150KB, according to Hornal, and a C language API "that will be familiar to anyone who has used C." Add-ons are available to support XML and ODBC.
The database supports multiple users through a lock manager, and features multi-stage database commits, "so that OS or application crashes will not corrupt data." It is fast and stable enough for use in real-time systems, according to ITTIA, and has been used in scientific and medical instruments and in telecom devices. For example, telecom equipment manufacturer Marconi recently adopted the database and joined Club ITTIA in order to access ITTIA's support services.
Club ITTIA embedded database community
ITTIA says it is making the database available for free, along with thorough documentation, to promote its consulting business and "Club ITTIA," its embedded database community. The company says it is in the process of launching the second stage of Club ITTIA, a community for embedded database developers worldwide. The Club includes free user forums, while paid membership avails developers of db.* updates and beta programs, and enhanced support options.
A standard Club ITTIA membership costs $500. A Premium membership costs $2,000, and includes five hours of technical consulting, as well as the XML and ODBC add-ons to the db.* database.
db.* can be downloaded from ITTIA's website, here.
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