Kevin Closson's Blog: Platforms, Databases and Storage

Yes, July 11 2007 is here and so is Oracle11g. I wonder what that stuff was that I’ve been testing since December 2006? Anyway, this CNNMoney.com article covers the launch this morning. It’s standard fare news coverage, but I picked something out and I thought I’d see if I could blog it first. The article states:

Oracle Fast Files

The next-generation capability for storing large objects (LOBs) such as images, large text objects, or advanced data types – including XML, medical imaging, and three-dimensional objects – within the database. Oracle Fast Files offers database applications performance fully comparable to file systems. By storing a wider range of enterprise information and retrieving it quickly and easily, enterprises can know more about their business and adapt more rapidly.

Odd. I’ve known that feature as SecureFiles for months now. Looks like a name change.

Is it True?
I don’t know whether LOBs in 11g Fast Files or Secure Files is faster than accessing them from calls to a filesystem. I’ve tested a lot of Oracle11g and that isn’t one of the features I’ve looked at. I did blog on this feature rather pessimistically way back in November 2006 in this blog entry—before I had my hands on Oracle11g.

My Take?
I hope the Secure/Fast Files feature is indeed faster and better than calls out to a filesystem. The more comprehensive Oracle becomes the better! Regular readers of my blog know the topic of unstructured data is a regular rant of mine.

Here is a link to a late-breaking Oracle paper on SecureFiles.