DataSpaces, 2009-01

A monthly newsletter dedicated to the promotion of best practices and education in the data access and integration communities.

Brought to you by the team at OpenLink Software

January 2009

Dear OpenLink Community,

Happy New Year from everyone at OpenLink Software!

In the spirit of the new year, OpenLink is stocking its product portfolio with new offerings, introducing new approaches to old data integration hurdles, and challenging traditional concepts of data and computing with a paradigm shift that puts virtualized, multi-model DBMSs front and center. Strictly relational data access is a thing of the past. Powerful, context-based queries based on the Entity-Attribute-Value model are the way of the future, and OpenLink's Virtuoso Universal Server is the tool that will get us there.

Not ready for a paradigm shift? The team has put together a set of practical tips and tricks to assist you with your immediate migration and integration needs. Got trouble interfacing data in different DBMSs from different vendors? OpenLink has got you covered.

---

News & Announcements

---

New ADO.NET 3.5 Provider with Entity Frameworks Support

Equip your Microsoft .NET based applications, development environments, and programming languages with conceptual entity-based access to native and heterogeneous data sources. OpenLink's ADO.NET 3.5 Provider for Virtuoso provides Visual Studio 2008 and other Microsoft products with transparent access to 3rd-party DBMS tables linked into the Virtuoso Virtual Database.

Features include:

• ADO.NET 3.5 compliance
• .NET Entity Frameworks compatibility
• Full integration with Visual Studio 2008
• ADO.NET Data Services compatibility
• LINQ to Entities compatibility
• High-Performance & Scalability
• High Security
• Support for Native and 3rd party RDBMS engines including Firebird, IBM DB2, Informix, Ingres, Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, Progress (OpenEdge), Sybase, and many more
• Support for Native and 3rd party Web Services
• Tested against all major .NET applications and development environments

Full story...

Virtuoso+Neurocommons EC2 AMI released

The NeuroCommons project uses Linked Data Web technologies to create an open source platform for the management of data pertaining to the neurosciences, computational biology, and science in general. Use of Linked Data facilitates the execution of semantic queries against all information contained within NeuroCommons data stores. The Neurocommons AMI for EC2 is a pre-installed and pre-configured Virtuoso instance that provides a full copy of the NeuroCommons knowledgebase for quick and convenient personal research use.

Full story....

Bio2Rdf EC2 AMI now Ready

Bio2Rdf is a Bio Informatics knowledgebase comprising roughly 30 public data stores. The Bio2Rdf EC2 AMI is pre-installed, pre-configured instance of the scientific knowledgebase hosted on Amazon and is available for almost immediate use. Run semantic queries against the database or integrate it with your own data stores in under 2 hours.

Full story....

---

Developer Resources

---

The OpenLink team announces two, new ADO.NET 3.5 tutorials hot off the presses:

• Using Visual Studio 2008 to Build an Entity Frameworks-based Windows Form Application

• Using Visual Studio 2008 to Build an ADO.NET Data Services-based Application

---

Tech Tricks & Tips - Data Migration Edition

---

OpenLink Support believes forewarned is forearmed, so we are sharing our best data migration and integration advisories. Find more migration tips and tricks in our evolving "Data Integration & Migration Strategies" guide:

Data Integration & Migration Strategies Guide

Mind Your Own Bitness

"Bitness" or bit descriptor compatibility issues are a perennial problem with data migration and integration projects. Many client applications and DBMSs are hosted on 64-bit operating systems. Consequently, users assume a need for 64-bit data access drivers or providers. This is not the case.

Data access products must share the same bit descriptor as the local client application and/or DBMS. In many cases, 32-bit applications and DBMSs are running on the latest and greatest 64-bit machines.

To complicate matters.... It is not uncommon for 64-bit client applications and DBMSs to have 32-bit utilities -- or a mix of 32-bit and 64-bit utilities -- to perform data access tasks. Familiarize yourself with your architecture before embarking on mission-critical data access undertakings. Consult OpenLink Product Support if you need assistance.

Layers Upon Layers

Be wary of architectures that require a client application layer to sit on top of multiple data access layers that bridge to one another such as OLE DB to ODBC. More layers introduce the potential for more compatibility problems and troubleshooting headaches. Consult OpenLink Product Support for suggestions on architecture optimization.

Data Type Dilemmas & Parse Problems

Don't be surprised if attempts to query one DBMS with another DBMS-related client application results in data type compatibility or SQL syntax errors. This is a harsh reality of system integration, and many of these cross-DBMS and cross-vendor interoperability nightmares can not be resolved. Many vendors use lock-in as a market strategy, so their integration tools are an after-thought. OpenLink Software's business model hinges on the production of open, standards-based products that ensure smooth interoperability during demanding integration tasks. Consult OpenLink Product Support for additional information.

Master Your Data Management With MDM

Say goodbye to yesterday's short-sighted and problem-prone data integration projects. Free yourself from limiting DBMS schemas and incompatible migration tools produced by competing DBMS vendors. Forget rip-and-replace solutions that strain or exceed budgets in today's cash-strapped world. Embrace the prospect of easy access to holistic and context based views of all your mission critical, heterogeneous data -- not just within the walls of your enterprise, but on the World Wide Web, as well. OpenLink Virtuoso Universal Server is your Tool and the Entity-Attribute-Value model is your conceptual road map to true Master Data Management. Contact OpenLink Software to learn more.

---

Administrivia

---

We hope you enjoyed receiving this issue of DataSpaces. If you don't want to receive future editions of this newsletter, product announcements, or other news from OpenLink Software, please log in to our Web site and uncheck the "further information" box that appears on your User Details page.

Please do not reply directly to this e-mail. If you have any questions or comments regarding this newsletter, please contact us through our Web contact form.

This message produced and distributed by

OpenLink Software, Inc.
10 Burlington Mall Road
Suite 265
Burlington, MA 01803
+1-781-273-0900

---

OpenLink Software, Inc.
Making Technology Work for You

---