Managing the open source PostgreSQL database has often been the domain of command line tools and scripts. That's now about to change thanks to the release of Postgres Enterprise Manger from commercial PostgreSQL firm, EnterpriseDB.
EnterpriseDB is also taking PostgreSQL beyond the confines of traditional data center deployments with a new Postgres Plus Cloud Server service. The new services and tools come as EnterpriseDB ramps up their PostgreSQL offerings in the wake of Oracle's takeover of Sun and the MySQL database.
"What we're trying to do at EnterpriseDB is to really make it easier for the user to deploy more PostgreSQL," Karen Tegan Padir, Vice President, Products and Marketing at EnterpriseDB told InternetNews.com.
Padir noted that one of the big barriers to adoption that EnterpriseDB has encountered is management and monitoring for PostgreSQL. She said that when EnterpriseDB looked at their customer base they found a lot of single server deployments. The question of why people aren't deploying multiple servers then came up, which led down the path to the new management tool.
"With Postgres Enterprise Manager you get all the features of pgadmin and we have a whole bunch of additional features on top of it," Padir said.
The pgadmin tool is the open source tool that has been part of PostgreSQL for a decade, providing command line management for the database. The Postgres Enterprise Manager in contrast, provides a graphical user interface. Padir added that the Enterprise Manager also provides a performance management dashboard that delivers information about storage, memory, user and session activity. The system also provides alert management with items that admins need to be concerned about.
The SQL Profiler that is part of the system allows users to pinpoint and diagnose poorly performing SQL and it also does tracing of SQL statements. Capacity planning and forecasting is another module that is included in the system. The Enterprise Manager also goes a step further to help admins get system configuration and security set up right.
"We have a thing called Postgres Expert that is kind of like a DBA (Database Administrator) in a box and it helps to enforce best practices," Padir said.
The Postgres Enterprise Manager is able to manage both community versions of PostgreSQL as well as EnterpriseDB's commercial Postgres Server versions.
"It's a client server architecture with agents, where the agents get deployed on community PostgresSQL 8.2 and up," Padir said.
Postgres Plus Cloud Server
EnterpriseDB is also aiming to make it easier to run PostgreSQL in the cloud with their new Postgres Plus Cloud Server. The new cloud server provides a database as a service with cloud enhanced features.
"We're taking the PostgreSQL database and we're adding the ability to add a replica and perform failovers," Padir said. "We're taking the core aspects of the database and then applying the elasticity that a public cloud provides."
Both the new cloud server and the management technology are all part of EnterpriseDB's effort to capture share as users look for alternatives to Oracle's MySQL.
"We're seeing a huge growth and appetite for PostgreSQL since Oracle acquired Sun," Padir said. "People are looking for alternatives and they're looking for ways to reduce cost."
Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at InternetNews.com, the news service of Internet.com, the network for technology professionals.
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