E-learning system supported by Sun Microsystems' database subscription service

   Sun Microsystems today announced that the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE) in Germany has purchased a MySQL Enterprise Unlimited database subscription to provide extra support for the E-learning system that the university's IT staff has developed and deployed for the entire University Alliance Metropolis Ruhr (UAMR). With Sun's MySQL Enterprise Unlimited offering, the UDE receives access to the advanced MySQL Enterprise Monitor software as well as around-the-clock technical support for any number of database applications – all for one affordable, fixed price.

The MySQL database has been the basis of web-based applications at the UDE for the past twelve years. In that time, more than 600 databases have been developed for academic purposes, for example. Since 2007, the University of Duisburg-Essen, the Technische Universität Dortmund and Ruhr-Universität Bochum have cooperated at different levels within the scope of the UAMR. As part of this alliance, UDE's task was to develop a joint E-learning platform to track and manage the students' compulsory courses. This system needed a database with high requirements for application availability and performance.

Due to the many years of good experience, MySQL was quickly selected as the underlying database for the managing of electronic courses. All data required for hundreds of available online courses is tracked in MySQL -- including student and teacher information, course descriptions, curriculum, user activity, and results attained. To meet the growing requirements on the database and system availability, the UDE purchased a MySQL Enterprise Unlimited subscription. MySQL replication is used to ensure reliability and data backup.

Sun's MySQL Enterprise Monitor offers important support for monitoring the system environment and identifying potential problems before they occur. “The MySQL Enterprise Monitor informs us about the health of all MySQL Servers at a glance and whether the installed replication is working properly,” says Ulrich Schilling, SGV Server/Data at University of Duisburg-Essen.

MySQL Enterprise Unlimited also provides the University's web staff with access to the qualified expertise of Sun's MySQL technical teams -- allowing them to deploy and support an unlimited number of MySQL Enterprise database servers for a single low, set price.

About Sun's MySQL Database

MySQL is the most popular open source database software in the world. Many of the world's largest and fastest-growing organizations use MySQL to save time and money powering their high-volume Web sites, critical business systems, telecommunication networks, and commercial software. At http://www.mysql.com, Sun provides corporate users with premium subscriptions and services, and actively supports the large MySQL open source developer community.