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View Full Version : Mobile Online Database Access Using PocketDBA


Andy Sjostrom
11-25-2002, 09:09 AM
<a href="http://www.xb.com/products/pocketdba/">http://www.xb.com/products/pocketdba/</a><br /><br />PocketDBA from Expand Beyond is a database administration tool for online access to database servers. The software consists of two parts: a server part that interfaces with Oracle, SQL Server and DB2 databases and a Pocket PC client part implemented as thin Web application tailored for Pocket Internet Explorer.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/pocketdba_01.gif" /><br /><br />The server part can be installed on Windows, Solaris or Linux. Expand Beyond has developed a Java driver that works as a proxy between the Web application and the databases. PocketDBA works with your existing VPN solution, if you have one installed.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/pocketdba_02.gif" /><br /><br />PocketDBA targets connected scenarios including data management, database administration and underlying server management. In my opinion, PocketDBA can be considered in companies that already have WiFi networks in place and already use Pocket PCs. You can read more at Expand Beyond's site. It's too bad that there is no pricing information available and that the only way you can try it out is by using an online emulator from their site.

jayman
11-25-2002, 11:58 AM
Any reviews anywhere????

Brad Adrian
11-26-2002, 03:51 AM
This makes tremendous sense to me, and I hope that my employer starts using it soon. One of the main reasons I have to lug my notebook PC with me when I travel is that I often have to provide minor updates to databases about my interactions with clients and customers. If I could access and edit those databases with my Pocket PC, I would be in heaven!

petevick
11-26-2002, 10:30 AM
Hi,
there is an alternative to this, with a trial version - Pocket RDA at my web site www.gui-innovations.com

Pete

Oracle_DBA
12-09-2002, 05:15 PM
I actually gave PocketDBA a try a few months back. The folks at Expand Beyond even sent me a wireless Palm pre-configured with the software. Server side setup was fairly easy and I was up and running in a few hours. I used the product for about two weeks and was very impressed with it. I was able to monitor my development Oracle instances, run various pre-configured statistics, view objects and their properties and even run ad-hoc SQL scripts against the database. At the time, the only thing I could not do, which was a major deterrent, was run commands at the OS level such as starting and stopping database listeners and shutting down and starting up database instances. I understand that they have added OS level interaction with their PocketAdmin product. At the time I was using a Palm, so I didn't have the option of opening a telnet session, but I believe that the ability to do so on a Pocket PC negates the need for PocketAdmin. I'm not sure what other functionality PocketAdmin provides that would make it worthwhile on a Pocket PC.

The price I was quoted from Expand Beyond was quite reasonable and I felt that the product was well worth it. Unfortunately, at the time I was looking at it, the monthly cost for wireless access was prohibitively high and service was unreliable in my area. Since my company operates on a tight budget, we decided to hold off on purchasing the product until wireless access costs came down and reliability increased. Now that those requirements have been met, I plan to revisit the purchase of PocketDBA when preparing the coming years IT budget.

Hope this information helps.