Oracle has finally released a version of its Internet File System, a software program that lets users store, search and e-mail Web pages, documents and other unstructured data in an Oracle database.
IFS is intended to substitute for the file system associated with a given operating system, such as Unix or Windows NT, according to the company.
By linking IFS with the Oracle database, users gain important benefits: they can store, search and protect data using the database's security and redundancy features.
"IFS lets you treat all kinds of data as if it were one type," said Jeremy Burton, Oracle vice president of Internet platforms.
"The Web browser broke the link between applications and the operating system. IFS will break the link between the file system and the operating system," Burton added.
As a result, developers can use IFS with the database to version' unstructured data - to keep different copies, with different access privileges, of such things as documents, no matter by what application the documents are used.
The software will be released about mid-May, at which point pricing will be revealed. Local officials said the software will be free for existing Oracle database users.