Oracle has created a converged infrastructure package to compete with  other cloud-in-a-box options including the EMC dopminated VCE vBlock which combines EMC storage with Cisco UCS servers and Nexus network switches.

The new X5 Virtual Compute Appliance can be paired with Oracle’s FS1 flash storage system for what Oracle promises will be a complete converged infrastructure system. Oracle has claimed its system will be 50 per cent cheaper than the Cisco-EMC hybrid – and easier to install.

The launch follows Oracle’s announcement of five new appliances for the data center market. The range includes a new X5 Database Appliance aimed at branch offices and distributed organisations. The new version of the appliance has flash caching, extra computing capacity and storage, along with integrated InfiniBand connectivity.

Appliances take on custom clusters

Alongside this the new Oracle Big Data Appliance X5 is being positioned as an alternative to custom-built compute clusters for Hadoop and NoSQL. It comes with twice the random access memory and two and a quarter times more CPU cores than its predecessor. The logic is that clients should run their Oracle Big Data SQL on an Oracle supplied hardware platform. The system also lets users run SQL queries against data stored in Hadoop and NoSQL databases.

 Another addition to the X5 series, the Zero Data Loss Recovery Appliance, has been launched to create an integrated data protection system for Oracle databases. As with all the X5 series, Oracle promises faster processors, more capacity per rack, faster recovery and higher throughput than the competitive VCE offering.

 “We’re going to compete for that core data center business,” said Oracle chairman Larry Ellison in a statement. “Customers want their data centers to be as simple and as automated as possible.”

The sixth-generation Oracle Exadata Database Machine X5 has 50 per cent faster processors and 50 per cent more memory than the previous model of this appliance. It includes an all-flash storage server using PCIe flash drives, Non-Volatile Memory Express flash protocol and scale-out capacity via InfiniBand.

VCE was started as a joint venture between Cisco and EMC and, although Cisco has pulled back from its earlier commitment to the VCE gospel, it is still providing kit for VCE, as well as the networking bits of IBM’s VCE rival Versastack, and other similar ventures. Cisco’s UCS business VP Paul Perez, said this market doesn’t need a price war.

“We feel pretty good about our hand in the converged infrastructure market,” Perez said. “Cisco UCS has become the system of choice for integrated infrastructure offerings from NetApp, Red Hat, HDS and most recently IBM. Oracle has a lot of catching up to do.”