News

Pervasive on replication trail

• By Jack Vaughan
• October 16, 2002

Embedded database maker Pervasive Software Inc. last week announced that a release candidate edition of Pervasive.SQL Version 8 is available for public testing. In September, the company announced the availability of Pervasive DataExchange, which incorporates data replication.

The new database has been improved to make greater use of non-disk memory, and SQL performance has been improved for applications that use ODBC, JDBC, ADO/OLE and PDAC. A Turbo Write Accelerator improves performance of apps that update, delete or insert records frequently.

Pervasive continues to find success offering databases that have transactional and relational capabilities in the ''mid-market,'' said Suaad Sait, vice president of marketing at Pervasive.

This market is very different than the high-end market, he said. ''We need to deliver a database that has low cost of ownership over the life of an application.'' The immediate need he sees from customers today are in the areas of data transfer and replication -- thus the enhancements that constitute V8.

Wider interest in replication results from some changes in the way small- and medium-sized businesses operate, said Stephen Slezak, senior product manager at Pervasive. ''Even in this space, multi-site offices are a reality. That used to be the realm of the larger enterprises,'' he said. ''Now mid-sized enterprises need it, too. That's why we came up with our replication and data exchange [products] at this point in time.''

General availability of Pervasive.SQL V8 is expected by the end of this calendar year. The company said ISV partners participating in the V8 beta indicate significant performance increases. The release candidate is available for Workgroup as well as Windows NT/2000, Linux and NetWare server platforms.

Spun off from Novell in 1994 as Btrieve Technologies, Pervasive Software claims a channel of more than 10,000 business application developers, system integrators and solution providers. Users include Novell, Microsoft, Great Plains Software, PeachTree Software, Fair Isaac, Disney World, Radio Shack, Cardiff and others. David Sikora took over as president and CEO of Pervasive in July of this year.