Starting from Oracle Database version 8, Oracle has introduced one character that came up with the version number of its databases, e.g., Oracle database V8i, 9i, 10g, 12c.
What are i,g, and c mean in the oracle database version? These letters refer to the Internet, grid computing, and cloud computing respectively.
What is “i” Meaning in the Oracle Database Version?
Starting with Oracle database version 8i and 9i, Oracle added the “i” letter to the version of its database that stands for “Internet” which means the database support internet technology such as JVM (Java Virtual Machine) and HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol), later on in version 9i Oracle added more support to XML (Extensible Markup Language) data format.
What is “g” Meaning in the Oracle Database Version?
Coming to 2003, by releasing Oracle database 10g and later 11g Oracle has introduced another letter “g” that stands for “grid computing“.
What is grid computing? according to Oracle definition.
Grid computing turns computing into a utility, where users don’t care where the data resides, or what computer processes a request. Users request information or computation and have it delivered – as much as they want, whenever they want. For the DBA, the grid is about resource allocation, information sharing, and high availability. Oracle Database with Real Application Clusters and Oracle Clusterware provide the infrastructure for your database grid. Automatic Storage Management provides the infrastructure for a storage grid. Oracle Enterprise Manager Grid Control provides you with holistic management of your grid.
Oracle
What is “c” Meaning in the Oracle Database Version?
When comes to the new release of Oracle database 12c Oracle has introduced a new letter “c” that stands for “cloud“.
From this point, Oracle has supported the cloud with compelling features such as Oracle Multitenant, Oracle Advanced Compression, dominant security features, and high availability. We will explain what those are in more detail in later articles. But for now, you can see these two videos:
Check this video from Oracle for an overview about Multi-tenant Cloud Database Architecture
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=em2B_B5L4mQ
Check this video from Oracle for an overview about Oracle Database-Advanced Compression
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS8Daw63fUM
Conclusion
Oracle has its way of introducing the most cutting technology that their database is supporting, whether “i” or “g” or “c” when you say databases; Oracle has a big part of the market because of continuous improvements and innovations that started with the Internet, Grid Computing, Cloud, and who knows, what is more, it could be “v” for Virtual.
