Oracle has announced the general availability of its Oracle9i Database Release 2 for 32- and 64-bit Windows Server 2003.

Taking a potshot at Microsoft, Oracle claimed it has helped thousands of customers build available, scalable and reliable database systems on the Windows operating system "at much lower total costs of ownership than Microsoft SQL Server on Windows".

The database giant claimed its clustering technology, Oracle9i Real Application Clusters, could offer "mainframe-class computing at a fraction of the cost" because it enables companies to deploy a single, low-cost server and then add more hardware - with no application changes - to accommodate growth.

Andrew Mendelsohn, senior vice president of Database Server Technologies at Oracle, said: "We're proud to offer immediate support of Oracle9i Database for both the 32- and 64-bit Windows Server 2003 operating systems.

"This means that customers can upgrade their Oracle database servers without any delay and immediately begin building and deploying applications for their Oracle environments."

Oracle9i Database Release 2 for 32- and 64-bit Windows Server 2003 is available for download from Oracle Technology Network.