Oracle’s free database powers geospatial apps maker
This article describes how Farallon Geographics is using the Oracle Database XE, a slimmed down, free version of Oracle Database 10g, as a spatially aware database for location mash-ups and enterprise spatial data processing.
At the application server level, Oracle has an API that looks very much like Virtual Earth and Google Maps, so it’s capable of processing maps in a very fast and very scalable manner.
Oracle Database XE stores the geospatial data in an open format so that any outside GPS system can use it, and it can feed data directly into enterprise mash-ups—Web pages or applications that combine elements from multiple sources such as maps and photographs.