Oracle says version 12c of its database works better with Oracle's own Sun ZFS and Pillar Axiom storage, with better performance, easier storage config, and faster test and development set-up. But the ZFS product seems preferred over the Axiom. Oracle shoots out the following claims: The Sun ZFS Storage Appliances and Pillar …

Analysis What's going on with Oracle storage? Besides tape, which seems to be doing fine, does the IT giant have a long-term, viable external storage array product line at all? Oracle's general hardware business is in decline. Witness the chart below showing quarterly overall sales including hardware product revenues; storage sales …

Oracle says it is seeing strong growth in its NAS, SAN and tape storage portfolio. Maybe a high-end Axiom array is coming but, even so, there's no sign Oracle is about to emerge from the IDC Storage Tracker's "Others" category. The data excludes Oracle's engineered Exa- systems (Exadata, Exalytics, etc) and refers to basic …

Analysis Playing with the annual revenue numbers Oracle has just released indicates Sun HW-related revenues fell by $1.4 billion from 2011 to 2012. We'd better explain our reasoning. Oracle hardware products and support revenues were $6.944 billion in its fiscal 2011. They were $6.302 billion in fiscal 2012, a fall of $642 million. …

OpenWorld Oracle says it can squeeze its databases in ZFS and Pillar Data arrays with Hybrid Columnar Compression (HCC). HCC is applied to OLTP databases and data warehouses, with a claimed 10x to 50x compression for most datasets. Oracle says that by using HCC with ZFS or Pillar Axiom arrays its customers can throw out EMC or NetApp …

Oracle has released new Pillar Axiom software with better management, replication and physically separated domains of data. Pillar Data was the Larry Ellison-funded high-availability storage array startup, run by Mike Workman, which developed and introduced the Axiom arrays. These majored on storage quality of service, and the …

Comment It was a telling omission when Oracle introduced a storage guy to talk about why Pillar Data was such a great acquisition. It wasn't Mike Workman, Pillar's CEO and founder, but Phil Bullinger, Oracle's SVP for Disk Storage. Contrast that with Dell parading Phil Soran, Compellent's CEO, when it bought that company, or HP …

Comment Pillar investors will only receive cash from Oracle for the Pillar acquisition if Pillar revenues in 2014 exceed net losses from 2011 to 2014. The acquisition is structured so Oracle boss Larry Ellison's half billion dollar loan to Pillar is turned into preferred stock with other investors holding common stock. Larry gets 1.5 …

Pillar has a near-term refresh of its Axiom array coming by the end of the year, in the form of a release 5 (R5) system, to be followed by more updates in 2011. R5 is focused on a management update which will lay the groundwork for the management of multiple Axioms through one pane of glass. Mike Brewer, Pillar's VP for …

Enterprise storage suppliers are a picky bunch and will buy storage from outsiders only if they build a better mousetrap than their current suppliers. That's the view of "Mike", a senior storage strategy guy in a European enterprise, a Fortune 500-type company, with more than 10PB of storage capacity, I spoke to recently. And …

Pillar Data and Xiotech are much better at providing storage for 8,000 Exchange 2007 users than the competition in terms of drive spindle needs and response latency. Microsoft has encouraged its storage partners to run benchmarks at varying levels of Exchange user populations for both Exchange 2007 and 2010. We looked at the …

EMC is offering a guarantee with its Celerra unified storage arrays, saying you will need 20 per cent less raw capacity than from other suppliers, even though previously its bloggers have said such gimmicks are abhorrent. EMC Capacity Calculator You've got to use EMC best practices and there's no direct performance guarantee …

Pillar is adding four features to its Axiom software to make arrays protect data better and operate more efficiently. It's adding its own array-based replication to extend its current FalconStor and InMage functions with policy-based Application-Aware profiles to replicate data asynchronously between Axiom arrays. Pillar is …

Comment Larry Ellison founded Pillar Data on the premise it would become the next EMC or NetApp, and go through an IPO or be bought. On its way there it sees a new system that could replace 100 NetApp filers coming by 2012. This perspective on Pillar was given by its CEO and CFO at a customer summit in Phoenix, Arizona on March 10. …

Pillar Data Axiom storage arrays can go a whole lot faster, use less energy and be more reliable, thanks to a range of new features from flash drive enclosures to pre-emptive copies. A Pillar Axiom array is composed of storage enclosures or Bricks, I/O controllers called Slammers, and a Pilot management component. The company …

Analysis Oracle buying Sun Microsystems has caused people to wonder about the future of Pillar Data, Larry's other storage company. Pillar Data is backed by Larry Ellison's personal investment vehicle, Tako Ventures, possibly to the tune of half a billion dollars. Founded in 2001 the Silicon Valley-based firm has developed the Axiom …

Interview Is Pillar Data threatened by Oracle's purchase of Sun? El Reg talked with Bob Maness, Pillar Data's worldwide marketing VP, about business, flash memory and Oracle's Sun acquisition. Pillar Data is the Larry Ellison-funded storage start-up delivering its Axiom storage arrays with application-aware templates and storage quality …

To get the most bang for your storage buck, you should buy a Pillar Data Axiom 600 - according to the Storage Performance Council (SPC). The SPC-1 benchmark measures the IOPS performance of storage arrays and the cost per IOPS, both in a standard way so that different vendors' storage products can be compared. Pillar Data has …