Data; it lives and it grows – with NonStop SQL, data truly has found a home.

Did we all catch the news? Is life truly imitating art? William Shatner hitched a ride inside Jeff Bezos’ spaceship for a short trip into outer space! Star Trek’s Captain James T. Kirk of the fictional USS Enterprise (NCC-1701 ) aboard the real New Shephard rocket for a voyage that lasted just ten minutes or so, but reaching a speed of 2,235 miles per hour it made it up as high as 65+ miles. Even at the ripe old age of 90, Shatner was able to experience what could only best be described as fictional back when he first stepped onto the flight deck of his spacecraft all those decades ago.

However it was a much later series of Star Trek that gave me the inspiration for the article Data; it lives and it grows – with NonStop SQL, data truly has found a home, published in the Sep – Oct 2021 issue of The Connection. In Star Trek Next Generation we were introduced to the character Data. Perhaps the favorite character of my daughter’s, Lisa, it was hard to ignore the processing capabilities of this humanoid robot. This issue of The Connection was centered on the topic of data so what better way to introduce an article than with a reference to Lieutenant Commander Data:

Perhaps the most enduring character from the fictional Star Trek franchise just happens to be Data. With his positronic brain he could out-compute the likes of Vulcans and in so doing, endeared himself to viewers worldwide, given his total lack of emotion. Before Data, there had been Spock, but in Data we saw a significant upgrade albeit one with absolutely no understanding of humanity. In many ways, the mere thought of having someone like Data onboard the spaceship USS Enterprise, gave the scriptwriters that all-important way out whenever situations escalated beyond belief. With Data, there was always an option.

Whether you want to address the topic of data with where it is created, and for the NonStop community we know that data is created on NonStop, or simply by what amount of data we are dealing with, there is no escaping the reality that data has become central to the plans of IT everywhere. During his keynote address to kick-off NonStop TBC 21, Jeff Kyle talked about his Data Solutions Organization. Turns out, the NonStop Enterprise Division (NED) is part of what we had previously called Mission Critical Solutions but is now being referred to as Data Solutions. Expect to hear more about this in the very near future.

What this tells us is that not only is data central to the plans of enterprise IT, even as we acknowledge that data is created on NonStop and that data is indeed the new currency of business, but also tells us that NonStop systems possess some of the industry’s best tools for dealing with data. The history of data is intimately connected to databases and to the ongoing evolution of database solutions. For decades emotions have run high as to the best model to follow when it comes to optimal database implementation that at times these discussions bordered on the religious, as I note in The Connection and yet, for the NonStop community, this relentless pursuit of database optimization has now broken new ground. Welcome to the world of NonStop SQL Cloud Edition:

Who could have imagined that we would welcome the latest iteration of NonStop SQL as the NonStop team brings to market NonStop SQL Cloud Edition? Yes, from data processing to data base to data in the cloud, the answer may not be as simple as 42, nor is it to be found coming from the android, Data, but rather, only a few keystrokes away as NonStop continues to deliver on the database needs of corporations today. And still, even as 2021 draws to a close, there will be many more CIOs who are still trying to wrap their heads around NonStop SQL and the value it affords every corporation.

When you consider how NonStop today has become more of a software solution than simply a clever box packaged to better support transaction processing, there are three main areas of interest that have arisen for the NonStop community. During this past NonStop TBC 21 all three were given a lot of attention. And these three areas? From my own observations how could we overlook this grouping:

Modernization, including tools and languages;

Security in all its many variants and yes;

Data! After all, without data there would be no information and with no information, what would we call our industry? Certainly not IT!

These references to Star Trek, to Captain Kirk and to Lieutenant Commander Data not forgetting too that reference in passing to The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, only go so far when it comes to reinforcing the story of data. However there are even more references to other works in The Connection article but to read the article in full, simply follow the hyperlink above. And should you experience any difficulties with the link then simply cut and past the url below into your favorite browser –

https://connect2nonstop.com/data-it-lives-and-it-grows-with-nonstop-sql-data-truly-has-found-a-home/