Informix isn't ready to retire.

IBM said today it has refreshed its Informix Dynamic Server (IDS), adding continuous availability and disaster-recovery features to its online transaction-processing (OLTP) database.

IDS 11, code-named Cheetah, handles massive amounts of data at very high speeds and with little maintenance. This means that even small businesses with tiny or no IT staffs, but with multiple data-server locations, can process transactions.

To boost this iteration, IBM took continuous data-availability and disaster-recovery technology from its mainframe machines to help customers better manage their server clusters regardless of the distance between backup datacenters.

IDS 11 also features cell, column and row-level, label-based access control (LBAC) that provides a means of defining security hierarchies and classifications for the information that is being managed.

The revised software can also offer an even greater reduction in manual database administration, thanks to a new SQL-based Admin API (define) that monitors and performs administrative tasks for applications. Moreover, a new data query scheduler monitors events and resources, freeing up database admins to tackle other datacenter tasks.

Other new features in IDS 11 include a GUI-based admin for remote administration; a Web feature service API for location services; and functions for XML publishing.

OLTP databases offer speedy transaction processing for financial services firms, telecommunications vendors and other vertical markets where fast, reliable transactions are key.

OLTP servers such as IDS, which IBM gained by buying Informix in 2001, are geared for online processing; flagship databases such as IBM's DB2, Oracle's 10g or Microsoft's SQL Server handle mixed workloads of processing and analytics.

IDS 11 comes less than a year after IBM launched its DB2 9 Viper software to fortify its fight versus Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and Oracle 10g in the multi-billion-dollar market.

While IBM doesn't break out database software sales, the company said in a statement IDS was a key contributor in helping IBM's database business post year-over-year double-digit growth in the first quarter of 2007. This growth helped sales for the company's broader information-management software business increase 20 percent year-to-year.

Oracle, which researcher IDC said boosted its lead in the database market from 2005 to 2006, is expected to launch its highly-anticipated 11g database at an event in New York next month.