| COMPUTING PLATFORMS |
| Case Study |
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| Migrating a linearly
scalable, massively parallel data warehouse to an
'Open' environment |
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| The customer |
| The client is a
global leader in enterprise data warehousing and
enterprise analytical technologies & services.
Its clientele include the world's top players in
retail, telecom & airlines, top technology companies
and leading banks. It provides the expertise to
solve the most complex business problems for business
growth, increased efficiency, and improved customer
relationships. |
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| The challenge |
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Massive and
continuously evolving code base |
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Issues of heterogeneous
OS layer design |
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64 bit design issues of
interfacing changes due to OS |
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Strict address boundaries
enforced by architecture & structure alignment
issues |
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Challenges of assembly
code migration |
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| The solution |
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The team followed
a focused approach to understand the sub-systems
and porting issues |
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Phased implementation,
integration and segregation of platform dependent
code & independent code was carried out |
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The team successfully migrated
the database onto a 64 bit Solaris test bed |
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The migration effort involved
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redesign
of key components of the RDBMS that
were executed in kernel mode |
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development
of a scheduler |
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redesign of row formats |
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design of an expression
evaluator for a 64bit RISC processor |
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Developed several tools
to automate the project significantly
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tool
to analyze C code base and detect 64
bit porting issues |
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tool
for automatic trivial code changes |
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Porting and extensive
documentation were completed on schedule |
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| Benefits |
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3 Joint patents
and 7 invention disclosures |
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Increased product
stability – through enhanced supplementary
system tools for fault isolation, handling
and system maintenance |
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Ease of future enhancements
– development of a common code base
improved portability of all product |
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Competitive advantage –
through enhanced SQL engine and a redesigned
SQL compiler |
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97% decrease in test execution
time - Six Sigma techniques like Orthogonal
Arrays which were used demonstrated increased
testing efficiency |
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Enhanced product portfolio
- 64bit migration of parallel RDBMS placed
the client at par with competitors & led
to new business avenues |
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