BOSTON, Dec. 12 -- xkoto Inc., a provider of data virtualization solutions, today announced immediate availability of version 3.5 of its flagship middleware application, GRIDSCALE.

The new GRIDSCALE release extends xkoto’s ability to deliver continuous availability and horizontal scalability of its customers’ most critical data and applications. This patent-pending technology enables commercial, off-the-shelf databases to run in a geographic grid with the same or better reliability and performance as much more expensive proprietary systems. With GRIDSCALE, customers gain a number of benefits including 24x7 continuous availability, data scalability on demand, the elimination of down time/maintenance windows, complete safety for data across multiple sites and better utilization of hardware assets.

“Zero tolerance for downtime and the imperative to access enterprise data around the clock has become the operative watchword for all businesses today, and many forward-looking organizations have realized that virtualization technologies -- and not simply more hardware -- are fundamental to ensuring 24x7 data availability,” said Albert Lee, chief strategy officer of xkoto. “Recognizing this inherent issue, xkoto continues to set the pace for technology innovation in the increasingly critical area of continuous availability. Unlike point products targeting data protection and replication at a departmental level, GRIDSCALE 3.5 is a proven solution for ensuring data access, availability and protection across the enterprise, including at remote sites.”

GRIDSCALE 3.5 is feature packed with the following new capabilities:

• Support for IBM’s DB2 version 9.5 and DB2 on Windows -- GRIDSCALE 3.5 now supports applications running DB2 on Windows, significantly increasing the reach of Windows from a departmental offering to a more credible mission-critical environment.

• Recovery from backup -- simplifies the addition of new nodes on-the-fly to the data grid, GRIDSCALE 3.5 reduces administration, increasing responsiveness and increasing the robustness of the environment.

• Connection pooling -- GRIDSCALE 3.5 now permits database connections to be shared and reused by multiple applications, significantly improving application performance.

• Auto alerts -- GRIDSCALE 3.5 automatically delivers error and diagnostic/exception messages providing greater operational efficiency and responsiveness to significant conditions within the GRIDSCALE environment, enabling users to instantly identify detected faults. This eases and simplifies the monitoring of the GRIDSCALE environment.

• Ability to configure GRIDSCALE via a Web GUI -- further simplifying administration of the GRIDSCALE environment.

"As a DB2 Gold Consultant, I see a variety of database solutions but I have found none that could match xkoto in offering continuous availability, load balancing and horizontal scalability. We lead with this solution when our customers have these types of requirements," said Frank Fillmore, president of The Fillmore Group. "The enhancements in GRIDSCALE 3.5 further extend xkoto's technology leadership."

About xkoto

Founded in 2005, xkoto's technology platform enables the replication and virtualization of data. The GRIDSCALE Database Load Balancer manages a geographic grid of standard, commercial databases, making them appear virtually as a single local database so that applications become continuously available and horizontally scalable. Through its proven disruptive technology, xkoto currently empowers SMBs and Fortune 100 companies to decrease costs and increase utilization. Recently named one of Deloitte's 2007 Companies-to-Watch, xkoto's technology partners include IBM, Microsoft, Novell, Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems and Sybase. xkoto is based in Toronto and Boston. For more information about xkoto, visit www.xkoto.com.