The PostgreSQL open source database project has released the first beta of version 9.1, which its developers say has more new features than appeared with the 9.0 release, including synchronous replication to help prevent data loss.

While Oracle trumpets its open source MySQL database management system this week at the company's OpenWorld conference, the creators behind MySQL's rival, PostgreSQL, have released a major new version of their rival database software.

The latest generation of the open source PostgreSQL database is now available with version 9.0 adding support for new replication and failover capabilities, which its developers hope will accelerate adoption in cloud environments.

With the impending release of version 9.0 of the open-source Postgres database, due in mid-August, the developers behind the project are hoping that the new features will attract more interest from enterprises.

EnterpriseDB, which offers a supported version of the open-source PostGres database, is now offering unlimited subscriptions that will allow organizations to run as many copies of the database server software as they desire. Total cost? US$40,000 per year.

The release of the first beta of version 9.1 of the open source PostgreSQL database has opened a new era in enterprise-class reliability and data integrity that can compete with the big names, say its developers.

SkyMapper, a newly-launched Australian observatory is playing a key role in the Southern Sky Survey project, a five-year initiative to map and study the observable universe from the southern hemisphere. Yet while Skymapper has the potential to find objects as large as Pluto drifting in our outer solar system and quasi-stellar objects on the far edge of the universe, scientists say the project is equally important because it heralds the arrival of a new era in astronomy -- one where researchers can draw on freely available online data about the universe instead of having to wait months, or even years, for a chance to observe the night sky through a billion-dollar physical telescope. The project is also powered by some serious IT and relies heavily on the open source community to run. It will also create one of Australia's largest databases at around 470 terabytes.