Database high availability is everything when you’re a purely online business like Priceline.com. Think about it: an online travel site? Without the “online” and “site” parts of that equation, you don’t have the travel. Which means you’re not selling anything if your databases go offline. And with so much competition out there, that’s a scary thought.
Want to karate kick Captain Obvious?
Capsize Kayak? Take on Travelocity? That’s not happening if you’re dealing with database downtime during migrations and upgrades. And no one wants to lose business to companies whose mascots include a hobo in a bellman costume and an elderly garden gnome – that’s just insulting. Priceline wasn’t about to lose sales to a white-bearded lawn troll.
Uh-uh, Papa Smurf.
So what did Priceline do? They found a secret weapon. And I’m not talking about William Shatner’s finger guns. Though Captain Kirk mime-shooting high prices in a 007 tux is bad a$$. Hotels.com may have a retired cruise ship captain. But Priceline has the captain of the Starship Enterprise!
Along with something else that’s pretty mind blowing.
It’s called real-time data replication. And it’s what Priceline uses to achieve nearly 100 percent uptime during database migrations and upgrades. Without it? Whoooo-eee! Priceline would be looking at major outages for its database projects, each requiring hours of downtime. But with the toolset they use, they can’t even remember the last time they had an outage due to a database issue.
So what is this magical toolset?
It’s called SharePlex®, and it’s what Priceline uses to maintain multiple copies of their critical databases, so they can switch applications seamlessly between them. That means they can perform rolling upgrades to new database versions, do hardware or software maintenance on their servers and even take systems out – all without interrupting service to customers.
And that’s huge.
Because when customer service is interrupted by database downtime, things can quickly spiral out of control. But with SharePlex data replication, Priceline can get anyone and everyone exactly where they need to go – at a fraction of the price. Which, come to think of it, is exactly what SharePlex does for your data.
The proof is in the Priceline.
For more than a decade, the top travel site has achieved nearly 100 percent high availability by using SharePlex. And if it’s worked this well for a company whose entire existence hinges on downtime prevention, imagine how much it could help your organization. Better yet, see for yourself with a free, 30-day trial.