A First Hand Glimpse of Oracle’s Server Specifications and IT Influence

Those of us following the growth of Oracle from a RDMS company to an enterprise hardware and software product provider were offered a rare first-hand glimpse into the business’ evolutionary journey. In an interview with CyberMedia, Oracle’s Executive Vice President of Product Development, E. Abraham Mathew shared his thoughts looking through the company’s past acquisitions to Oracle’s leading role in the IT industry.

During the conversation, Mathew was asked about a Gartner survey indicating the company’s fourth quarter global shipment in hardware had dropped by 40 percent, and further showed a 32 percent drop for the year despite its acquisition of Sun. He responded, "We never had plans to compete on unit volumes when we acquired Sun," adding, "If you look at market share in terms of profit and revenue we have grown substantially since Sun’s acquisition, but if you look at the market share in the unit volume, obviously that is not our focus area."

He further divulged Oracle’s plan to compete in the hardware sector in two categories of servers: x86 and SPARC; and two categories of storage: Tape and Exadata Storage Cell.

With SPARC, the company offers a RISC-based system going from two-socket systems to 32 socket systems. Similarly, the x86 servers offer solutions starting from two sockets up to a 16 socket system. Mathew indicated these two categories have lead to considerable growth in revenue since the Sun acquisition.

Tape storage, originally from Storagetek who was acquired by Sun and is now a part of Oracle continues to develop newer products and is doing well, according to Mathew. Exadata Storage Cell is offered for the area of disc space in the company’s storage focus.

The company is looking to shrink its low-end servers; Mathew specifically mentions the x86 is a line to emphasize high-end models as an area taking up Oracle’s market share. Alternatively, Vernon Computer Source and its UK affiliate, Hamilton Rentals, offer an extensive, diverse server rental fleet available globally at competitive prices. With a large range of Oracle’s Sun server line in addition to other notable names, the companies offer both low and high-end servers—including Blade servers like the Sun Blade T6340 Server Module for maximum consolidation of overloaded data centers.

As for Oracle’s contribution to the IT industry as a whole, Mathew said it likely comes from its "very strong" line of database, middleware and application products. "Most of the enterprises around the world run their business on Oracle," he said.