Assailed on the one side by thrusting young relational database software developers moving their programs onto cheap personal computer platforms and on the other by the likes of Teradata applying massively parallel processing to the task of fast database access, Britton Lee Inc, Los Gatos, Calfornia is having to come up with some pretty smart new strategies of its own. This week the company came up with one, which it describes as a new market development programme directed at the DEC market, together with a new boss to run that show, and launch of a new DECnet interface between VAX/VMS systems and its own shared database systems. Over 250 Britton Lee database systems are already attached to DEC VAX family systems, but this new market development programme is our first targeted marketing programme aimed at the DEC market, the company says. The objectives of the programme are to increase awareness by DEC users of our high performance, SQL relational database capabilities, and to work in partnership with leading suppliers of software tools and applications development languages to package system and software solutions tailored to the VMS environment. As for the partnerships, well there aren’t any yet, but Britton Lee hopes to make joint announcements with several companies over the next few months. The company has tapped a former DEC marketing man, John Klem, to manage the new programme: his immediate previous post was general manager of Paralax (well that’s how Britton Lee spells it) Software Publishers, which he joined from DEC. Splitting the odd infinitive, Klem says that he intends to vigorously promote Britton Lee’s ability to allow VMS and Ultrix systems to share access to our shared database systems, which are full-function SQL relational database servers used by our customers for production database applications. In addition, we will emphasise the ability of non-DEC systems such as MS-DOS micros, Sun and Apollo workstations, IBM VM/CMS mainframe systems and other Unix systems to also share relational data with DEC systems using Britton Lee’s shared database systems. Our marketing effort should integrate well with DEC’s marketing programmes aimed at multi-vendor solutions, he adds hopefully. And the DECnet protocol for Ethernet is now available as a new method of connecting Britton Lee database processors to VAX/VMS and MicroVMS hosts where previously users had to adopt the XNS protocol over Ethernet to support VMS host processors. No degradation The DECnet protocol resides on an Ethernet network processor within the database processor and functions as a DECnet end-node using the standard DEC-supplied DECnet software so that VMS hosts remotely connected via DECnets can also access the Britton Lee database, providing a transparent way for a network of remote systems to access a shared SQL database. A single Britton Lee system can support both Ultrix and VAX/VMS systems concurrently, and also support non-DEC hosts to create a mixed vendor production-oriented SQL relational database system. Ultrix systems can be connected to the Britton Lee database via TCP/IP protocols over the same Ethernet work: the database processors use intelligent network processors with their own local memory so that multiple protocols can be handled simultaneously with no degradation so that all TCP/IP or DECnet protocols are managed by the Ethernet Network Processors. The DECnet Ethernet processor is in beta test and will be available for use with VMS and BL700 databases in the third quarter 1988 and shortly thereafter for the BL300 series. TCP/IP for Ultrix was released in April. The DECnet Ethernet processor (including DECnet software) for the BL700 is $10,000, for the BL300 is $6,000. The field upgrade of existing systems costs a little more. XNS Ethernet processors out in the field can also be upgraded to DECnet Ethernet processors, for $5,000 on BL700 models and $2,500 on the BL300s.
