Caché 5.0 includes a number of new system-level features and enhancements.
The major new system features of this release are listed in the following sections.
The Caché system code now manages the in-memory life cycle of objects
and automatically closes objects when they are no longer referenced. By eliminating
the need for developers to manually perform these housekeeping chores, this feature
simplifies application development and increases application reliability.
Enterprise Cache Protocol (ECP)
This release of Caché introduces a new distributed data management system:
Enterprise Cache Protocol (ECP). Using ECP you can connect multiple Caché servers
together to create a single, virtual database spanning multiple, heterogeneous systems.
ECP is designed to let you easily configure (with no application change) systems that
offer great scalability as well as high availability.
ECP is a completely redesigned successor to DCP (Distributed Cache Protocol).
It offers the following features:
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Support for 8-KB database blocks. With ECP you can connect Caché
servers that make use of the newer, more efficient 8-KB block size introduced in version
4.1 of Caché.
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A robust transport layer based on TCP/IP. ECP uses the standard and
ubiquitous TCP/IP protocol for data transport, making it easy to configure and maintain.
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Efficient use of network bandwidth. ECP is designed to take full advantage
of the latest generation, high-performance networking infrastructures.
-
A shared network buffer cache. ECP uses a portion of a Caché
server's general database buffer pool as a shared network cache. This cache is shared
by all Caché processes on the server. This makes ECP more efficient and removes
a lot of the complexities associated with DCP's per-process network cache.
ECP is designed to interoperate with other ECP systems. ECP is heterogeneous;
each server within an ECP configuration can run on a different platform or operating
system.
To provide interoperability with older systems, Caché continues to support
DCP. You can use DCP and ECP concurrently.
The major system enhancements included in this release are listed in the following
sections.
Caché now includes a new license manager to provide a more accurate and
efficient count of users and system usage.
Additional Support for Clusters
Caché now supports clusters within the Tru64 UNIX environment.
The Caché Cluster support now uses multiple lock trees to provide superior
load balancing amongst cluster nodes.
Support for Large Memory Models
Caché now supports large memory models (for large database buffers) on
OpenVMS, HP-UX, and IBM AIX.
Support for Additional 64 bit Platforms
Caché now supports the 64bit versions of IBM AIX and HP-UX.
In general, globally-shared resources have been made more granular resulting
in much higher concurrency (number of users per system). This is especially true on
multi-CPU systems.
Additional Dynamic Structures
Some resources that were previously managed using a static (fixed) structures
now make use of dynamic structures to reduce configuration work. For example, the
maximum number of users is now determined dynamically at run time.
The system now maintains an index of routines and class definitions to make
searches for application components faster and more efficient.
The
JOB command is much faster on most platforms.
Additional DSM Compatibility Functions
The are additional DSM compatibility functions (additional
ZCALL emulation).
New System Class to Schedule Tasks
There is a new
%SYSTEM.Task class which allows users
to schedule tasks to run at different times of the day. See the class documentation
for more information.