August 2, 1995 - Object World, Booth #44 - Sydney, Australia - Versant Object Technology Corporation, provider of the leading object database management system for multi-user, distributed applications, today announced shipment and general availability of new products and services enabling customers to deploy new object applications for business advantage. Focused on high availability database operations, the new offerings are the following:

• Release 4.0 of the industry-leading VERSANT ODBMS, which includes multi-user performance enhancements, event notification, and administrative enhancements;
• the new VERSANT Fault Tolerant Server that provides for continuous database operation and transparent server failover;
• Enhanced customer support services, for supporting organizations deploying nonstop applications

Customers and analysts are equally excited about the opportunities provided by the VERSANT solutions. As Mitch Kramer, consulting editor at Patricia Seybold Group said, "the VERSANT Fault Tolerant Server is a breakthrough product for the object technology market, demonstrating Versant's commitment to address real business requirements. Organizations are making a safe bet as they adopt VERSANT as a key element of their database and object technology strategies."

More importantly, customers are able to deploy applications that combine the capabilities of object technology with the extensive management and operational database functions required by mainstream computing environments. In a related release, AG Communication Systems, a joint venture of AT&T and GTE, selected VERSANT to be the core of its intelligent network product line. Said Tony Nunziato, project administrator "We selected VERSANT because it helped resolve our need to support complex object models with the operational performance and reliability our customers demand."

"Versant's deliberate focus on network management and telecommunications is creating solutions that meet the tough requirements expected across a variety of industries," said David Banks, president and CEO of Versant. "Whether the application involves personal communications systems, ATM network management, on-line service provisioning or power grid management, we partner with our customers to provide the solutions they demand to meet their business challenges."

Initial product shipment is for the Sun and Hewlett-Packard platforms. Shipment on other supported platforms will follow shortly. Existing customers with active support contracts will receive Release 4 as part of their normal software maintenance. Contact Versant for pricing information.

ABOUT VERSANT ODBMS RELEASE 4

VERSANT ODBMS Release 4 is a comprehensive product providing a host of features including:

• Optimistic locking. For environments with many reads and relatively few updates, optimistic locking creates significant improvements in query performance and overall throughput;
• Query enhancements, including support for navigational queries and cursors. Navigational queries allow VERSANT to process complex, multi-class queries on the server, reducing network traffic and improving performance by reducing the need to move objects during query processing. Additional improvements include support for pattern matching and Boolean functions;
• Versant's new server-based event notification feature (described below) improves performance by reducing costly "polling" between clients and servers on the network.

Event Notification and Database Triggers

VERSANT ODBMS Release 4.0 provides an advanced event notification protocol. Using this feature, users can register for events with a database server and be notified when a given event occurs. Much like stored procedures in the relational world, users can execute methods based on the particular event. Versant's event notification mechanism is server-based, meaning that event triggering is detected by the VERSANT ODBMS server. Unlike client-based event notification schemes, Versant does not require the modification of existing applications to detect and act on database events.

Management Utilities

VERSANT ODBMS Release 4.0 also includes the following:

• Support for log rollforward. Rollforward ensures database integrity by providing the ability to recover up to the last committed transaction in the event of database volume failure or severe user error. This feature complements Versant's existing on-line, incremental backup facility.
• Performance monitoring utilities which provide for the collection and analysis of performance statistics for VERSANT databases and applications. These tools provide a convenient means for database administrations to monitor and improve database application performance.
• Support for asynchronous replication and data distribution.

ABOUT VERSANT FAULT TOLERANT SERVER

The VERSANT Fault Tolerant Server represents a breakthrough in database technology. Providing transparent failover, the VERSANT FT Server allows applications to continue operating even when there is a disruption caused by either system or network failure. Automatic resychroniztion and geographic redundancy ensure that customers can deploy new services with guaranteed up-time and integrity.

ABOUT VERSANT

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