PocketDBA extends remote management to Teradata

Expand Beyond has developed a version of its PocketDBA remote management software for use with data warehousing systems from NCR’s Teradata division, the companies will announce Tuesday.

PocketDBA can make database administrators (DBAs) more efficient by allowing them to monitor and manage their databases while they’re away from the office using a Web browser or a wireless device such as a PDA. It can also help keep systems up and running by allowing DBAs to fix problems more quickly.

Expand Beyond already offers remote management software for databases from Oracle, IBM and Microsoft. The product for Teradata was developed jointly with Teradata, said Ari Kaplan, Expand Beyond’s chief executive officer and chief technology officer.

PocketDBA for Teradata allows DBAs to perform virtually all the tasks that they can with Teradata’s client/server tools, according to Kaplan, such as checking the status of load utilities, monitoring and adjusting query performance and restarting a node if it goes off-line. Teradata also designed a “dashboard” for the product that shows the status of each node, Kaplan said.

DBAs can already perform some of those tasks over the Web, but the ability to manage a Teradata system remotely from a wireless device is a first for customers, said Vickie Farrell, Teradata vice president of marketing.

PocketDBA for Teradata is available now from Expand Beyond, based in Chicago, or directly from Teradata, in San Diego. Pricing ranges from $25,000 to $50,000 depending on the number of nodes being managed, and the software runs on Palm OS and Pocket PC devices, Research in Motion’s newer Blackberry devices, and laptops and desktops.

With PocketDBA now supporting most of the main database platforms, Expand Beyond is turning its attention to software that provides remote access to applications, such as a sales application used by a worker in the field, Kaplan said.