The new Bull offering, that received the Powered by Oracle label, is particularly intended for companies wishing to secure and speed up the deployment of Oracle Databases, in the framework of consolidation projects or deployment of new databases.

With DataScale, companies benefit from Bull's expertise both in large servers and in the deployment of Oracle Databases in the Data Center.

DataScale combines the Reliability, Availability and Serviceability (RAS) required by production environments.

In order to facilitate the implementation of Oracle Databases and Oracle RAC technologies, DataScale configurations are totally pre-installed. Bull is thus able to accelerate and secure the deployment of large Database infrastructures at a lower cost.

"The upstream pre-installation of the DataScale offering saves time when implementing large Oracle Databases. In addition it dramatically reduces IT costs and improves the control over the data architecture", stated Olivier Gaumont, Bull's NovaScale Enterprise Business Unit Director.

DataScale provides powerful functionalities to administrate and run infrastructures:

• Linux OS pre-loaded with the additional components required for a complete, consistent and fast Oracle installation
• Bull's Database Load Partitioning software to allocate resources according to needs
• NovaScale Master to monitor the entire configuration

"Being able to control data proliferation as well as Database multiplication has become a major challenge. In this context, DataScale rapidly becomes a competitive advantage. Bull and Oracle have been co-operating for many years during which Bull demonstrated a high expertise in the implementation of complex and highly available Oracle Database architectures", declared Patrick Lemartret, Technology Marketing Manager, Oracle France.

The industrialized manufacturing process improves the reliability of the infrastructure as a whole and simplifies support and maintenance operations.

Bull delivers a variety of services from the installation to the implementation of Oracle Databases in order to meet customers' needs. The Bull offering includes the management of software releases and patches, as well as configuration parameterization and fine-tuning.

Bull's Oracle Competence Center brings its expertise in sizing, proof of concept (POC), best practices and optimization to deliver ready-to-deploy configurations on the customer site.

The DataScale offering consists of four configurations, supporting Red Hat EL 4.5 AS:

• Standard Configuration (1 TB) including one cluster based on 2 NovaScale Intensive servers and one StoreWay Optima storage sub-system supporting Oracle 10g Enterprise Edition and Oracle RAC.
• Enterprise 1 Configuration (2 TB) including one cluster based on 2 NovaScale Intensive servers and StoreWay Optima storage sub-systems with Bull HA ARF (Application Roll-over Facility) solution, supporting Oracle 10g Enterprise Edition or Standard Edition
• Enterprise 2 Configuration (2 TB) including one cluster based on 2 NovaScale Intensive servers and StoreWay Optima storage sub-systems supporting Oracle 10g Enterprise Edition and Oracle RAC
• Enterprise 3 Configuration (4 TB) including one cluster based on 3 NovaScale Intensive servers and StoreWay Optima storage sub-systems supporting Oracle 10g Enterprise Edition and Oracle RAC

Standard configuration (1TB) list price is 57.600 kEUR. Available immediately.

This latest certification further strengthens the 23-year partnership between Bull and Oracle. An "Oracle Certified Partner" since 2000, Bull has Centers of Excellence in Europe, as well as specialized Oracle teams in France. Bull supplies the hardware platforms (from its Escala and NovaScale ranges) for some of Oracle's largest customers in Europe.

When it comes to Oracle services, Bull operates throughout the entire "Design, Build, Operate" value chain: from architecture definition, systems integration and implementation, to outsourcing services.