IRI to Optimize CoSORT/ETL for IA-64 Platforms

Innovative Routines International (IRI) Inc announced plans to optimize IRI's SMP CoSORT sort and ETL acceleration software on Intel's Itanium processor. CoSORT will be ported directly to IA-64 server platforms running the 64-bit Windows 2000, Monterey64, and Linux64 operating systems. Future IA- 64 CoSORT releases will follow as more operating systems become available for the architecture.

With CoSORT optimized for IA-64, IRI customers will see more dramatic preload sort and ETL performance gains in very large database (VLDB) and warehouse (and e-commerce "data Webhouse") environments. According to Aberdeen Group*, Intel's Itanium processor directly addresses more than 4Gb of main memory, feeds data into parallel CPUs more effectively, and contains "massive chip execution resources to support more of everything - register, functional units, logic, instructions, cache, and data - translating to additional processing power well beyond what is available today."

"As the first sort released for 64-bit Unix flavors, CoSORT is ready to exploit the speed and responsiveness aspects of the Itanium architecture," observed IRI Business Development vice president David Friedland. "Direct CoSORT support for very large memory (VLM) means that multi-gigabyte sorts can run without temporary files. Senior IRI Analyst Kim Phillips added that "with CoSORT optimized for the Itanium processor, customers can protect their existing 32- bit application investments and meet their ETL performance needs with the 64- bit CoSORT package at the same time."

"Intel is pleased with IRI's plans to optimize CoSORT for the IA-64," remarked Sandeep Kundra, Intel's EBSM Tools Marketing Manager. "The combination of CoSORT's SMP coroutine sort engine and the features and capabilities of the Itanium processor provides an environment addressing the needs of today's E-commerce companies facing dramatic "data Webhouse" growth."

About CoSORT

CoSORT is the world's first, fastest, and most widely licensed commercial sort package on high-end UNIX and Windows NT platforms. CoSORT features several end-user and programmer interfaces to a parallel processing sort algorithm in a coroutine architecture. Included in its hardware-based, perpetual use prices are: data warehouse ETL, join and report generation functionality; third party sort replacement and conversion tools; support for more than 100 data and record types; automatic and manual SMP resource tuning; on-line documentation; and, on-site technical support in more than 30 countries. For more information on The CoSORT Company and its family of data management solutions, call 321-952-9400 or 800-333-SORT, or visit www.cosort.com.

*Aberdeen Group July 1999 Executive White Paper, Inside Intel's Merced: A Strategic Planning Discussion.