RE: Informix patches?

>From: "M.J.R." <doomdogak@yahoo.com> >I'm a dba in both an Informix and Oracle shop. I have >a question about patches. Four times a year (October, >January, April, and July), Oracle releases what they >call a Critical Patch Update, or CPU. Oracle >"strongly recommends applying the patches as soon as >possible," I believe because of security concerns. To >apply the patches, you must shut the databases >(instances) down, apply the patch, correct any and all >errors that occur (and it seems there's always at >least one, normally more), and then restart the >databases. To my knowledge, Informix doesn't release >such patches. Maybe I'm asking the wrong group, but >my question is how does Oracle know that every four >months a critical patch will be necessary? Why >doesn't Informix release such patches? I don't mean >to start another flame war, although they are fun to >read, but this has been on my mind for some time now >and I never read any mention of patches in this group. > Upgrades to new versions, yes, but not of any >patches, per se. > >Thanks for any insight! >MJR in Alaska > Well, as bugs get reported to Oracle, they are graded and given a priority. As they get fixed they are placed in to a specific patch and then at the approriate time, they are released. The upside is that you have the ability to schedule downtime and apply the patch in an orderly manner. The downside, depending on the nature of the patch, you could have a major problem that won't get fixed for another qtr or so. Its a trade off and to be fair its one way of providing support. Rather than patches, you do have minor releases with Informix. But I'm sure as I write this, someone from IBM is posting you a better and more "offical" explanation. _________________________________________________________________ Don't get caught with egg on your face. Play Chicktionary!' http://club.live.com/chicktionary.aspx?icid=chick_hotmailtextlink2