Informix vs MySQL
A user reported that developers benchmarked Informix 10 (via JDBC 3.10) against MySQL on a simple stored procedure (one update, two inserts) and found MySQL faster, and asked for arguments in Informix's favour. Replies questioned the benchmark rather than fixing anything: how many concurrent sessions, which MySQL storage engine (MyISAM isn't transactional), and how large the test data was — non-ACID operations on tiny tables are naturally quicker. Points raised for Informix included transactions/data integrity, online backups, advanced replication and scaling to very large data and user counts, while MySQL was credited with easier administration, bigger community, better docs and lower cost. No benchmark re-run or definitive resolution is recorded.
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Some of our developers compared Informix 10 using JDBC 3.10 to MySQL for a simple one update, two insert stored procedure and found MySQL to be faster. In order to prevent an hysterical stampetde to MySQL, could anyone provide me with some bullet points on why Informix is a better product. In particular, what are the shortcomings of MySQL in comparison to Informix. Thanks. Walter Lowich
Hi, I think it all depends on what you want to do... I come from a MySQL environment and I've been making my first steps in Informix. I can give you quite some background on the MySQL part, but I'm absolutely no expert in informix yet... just so you know. If you want a system which is easy to manage, has a huge community (good for questions), lots of tutorials, good documentation, good books, is easy for the developers, etc... go for MySQL. MySQL is quite stable, but we were running in quite some problems when the DB reached a certain size. Optimization of tables etc fixed the problem temporarily, but we saw we were pushing at the limits of a single server solution (Cluster would have been the next step). If you don't have a big budget, go for mysql too. ;) Is your system going to cater huge amounts of data (Terrabytes), you want a robust system or you want an IBM supported DB... go for Informix. Be sure to follow courses because it lacks in good, recent books. Documentation and tutorials are scarce compared to mysql and you have a small community (most on the iiug list I guess lol). One of the major advantages of Informix over MySQL is it's replication functionality. It's a lot more advanced than the MySQL replication. ut it will also cost you money depending on what you wan. From development point of view, we have noticed that MySQL has made some leaps forward in the last versions and has a lot more options than informix in the standard version. Informix can be extended by datablades, but it tends to be costly. I know our developers have been cracking there brains to get queries that worked on MySQL to work on Informix. It just doesn't compare... MySQL is too loose and informix is quite strict. I get developers complaining because their queries don't work and all I can say is, "well, that's how it should behave..." Examples: * in a group by statement in mysql you can have fields in the select part which are not in the group by clause or used in an aggregate function * functions such as MD5, IF, etc... are not available in the standard informix version If your developers/dba are used to working with mysql, either stick with it or give them a good course in informix. If you're using Java, you should have no problems with JDBC. If you're using PHP, goodluck... it will work eventually. Oh btw, just gonna give you this catchpharse to conclude "nobody ever got fired for choosing IBM" ;-) With kind regards, Jeroen On 07 May 2008, at 16:05, WALTER LOWICH wrote: > Some of our developers compared Informix 10 using JDBC 3.10 to MySQL > for a > simple one update, two insert stored procedure and found MySQL to be > faster. > In order to prevent an hysterical stampetde to MySQL, could anyone > provide me > with some bullet points on why Informix is a better product. In > particular, > what are the shortcomings of MySQL in comparison to Informix. > > Thanks. > > Walter Lowich > > > ******************************************************************************* > Forum Note: Use "Reply" to post a response in the discussion forum. >
Hi, you can find many reasons for using a specific database system. What are your requirements? Some important points: Do you need transactions? Did you compare both systems running with transactions? Do you need online backups? Regards, Andreas > ------------------------------------------- SPAR Österreichische Warenhandels-AG Hauptzentrale A - 5015 Salzburg, Europastrasse 3 FN 34170 a Tel: +43 662 4470 24223 Mobile: +43 664 6259575 E-Mail: Andreas.KUTSCHE@spar.at Internet: http://www.spar.at Wichtiger Hinweis: Der Inhalt dieser E-Mail kann vertrauliche und rechtlich geschützte Informationen, insbesondere Betriebs- oder Geschäftsgeheimnisse, enthalten, zu deren Geheimhaltung der Empfänger verpflichtet ist. Die Informationen in dieser E-Mail sind ausschließlich für den Adressaten bestimmt. Sollten Sie die E-Mail irrtümlich erhalten haben so ersuchen wir Sie, die Nachricht von Ihrem System zu löschen und sich mit uns in Verbindung zu setzen. Über das Internet versandte E-Mails können leicht manipuliert oder unter fremdem Namen erstellt werden. Daher schließen wir die rechtliche Verbindlichkeit der in dieser Nachricht enthaltenen Informationen aus. Der Inhalt der E-Mail ist nur rechtsverbindlich, wenn er von uns schriftlich bestätigt und gezeichnet wird. Sollte trotz der von uns verwendeten Virus-Schutzprogramme durch die Zusendung von E-Mails ein Virus in Ihre Systeme gelangen, haften wir nicht für evtl. hieraus entstehende Schäden. Wir danken für Ihr Verständnis. Important notice: The contents of this e-mail may contain confidential and legally protected information that is in particular related to operational and trade secrets, which the recipient is obliged to treat as confidential. The information in this e-mail is made available exclusively for use by the addressee. In the event that the e-mail may have been sent to you in error, we would ask you to kindly delete this communication from your system and to contact us. E-mails sent via the Internet can be easily manipulated or sent out under someone else's name. We therefore do not accept legal liability for the information contained in this communication. The contents of the e-mail are only legally binding if they have been confirmed and signed by us in writing. If, in spite of our using Antivirus protection software, a virus may have penetrated your system through the sending of this e-mail, we do not accept liability for any damage that may possibly arise as a result of this. We trust that you appreciate our position. ------------------------------------------- -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- > Von: ids-bounces@iiug.org [mailto:ids-bounces@iiug.org] Im Auftrag von > WALTER LOWICH > Gesendet: Mittwoch, 07. Mai 2008 16:06 > An: ids@iiug.org > Betreff: Informix vs MySQL [12004] > > Some of our developers compared Informix 10 using JDBC 3.10 to MySQL for a > simple one update, two insert stored procedure and found MySQL to be > faster. > In order to prevent an hysterical stampetde to MySQL, could anyone provide > me > with some bullet points on why Informix is a better product. In > particular, > what are the shortcomings of MySQL in comparison to Informix. > > Thanks. > > Walter Lowich > > > ************************************************************************** > ***** > Forum Note: Use "Reply" to post a response in the discussion forum.
> Some of our developers compared Informix 10 using JDBC 3.10 to MySQL for a > simple one update, two insert stored procedure and found MySQL to be faster. With how many concurrent sessions? Which backend for MySQL (MyISAM is not transaction safe)? > In order to prevent an hysterical stampetde to MySQL, could anyone provide me > with some bullet points on why Informix is a better product. In particular, > what are the shortcomings of MySQL in comparison to Informix. Two words: "data integrity". The reasons not to use MySQL are abundantly available on the web; personally I don't know why anyone *would* use MySQL. If you want a free database there is PostgreSQL (superior, by far, in performance and features to MySQL). But you can even get free (as in beer) versions of DB2. When you see perf numbers you need to ask hard questions. Operations on tiny tables that aren't ACID are *of course* going to be much faster than true ACID operations. But nobody in 2008 would [sanely] build a non-transactional application.
Adam Tauno Williams said: > > Two words: "data integrity". The reasons not to use MySQL are > abundantly available on the web; personally I don't know why anyone > *would* use MySQL. If you want a free database there is PostgreSQL > (superior, by far, in performance and features to MySQL). But you can > even get free (as in beer) versions of DB2. I think you can get "free-beer" versions of IDS as well. Not that I'd advocate using them for commercial reasons, of course! (I suspect the same constraints would apply to "free" DB2 as well.) -- Bye now, Obnoxio "There were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear got the best of you, and in your panic you turned to the Labour Party. They promised you order, they promised you peace, and all they demanded in return was your silent, obedient consent."
> Some of our developers compared Informix 10 using JDBC 3.10 to MySQL for a > simple one update, two insert stored procedure and found MySQL to be faster. > In order to prevent an hysterical stampetde to MySQL, could anyone provide me > with some bullet points on why Informix is a better product. In particular, > what are the shortcomings of MySQL in comparison to Informix. > > Thanks. > > Walter Lowich Walter: One execution? Were they using the default storage system that doesn't support transactions? And likely on a small test database, yes? Try that on a 2TB DB with 100 concurrent users (or 10,000) and see what happens! Art S. Kagel Oninit (www.oninit.com) IIUG Board of Directors (art@iiug.org) Disclaimer: Please keep in mind that my own opinions are my own opinions and do not reflect on my employer, Oninit, the IIUG, nor any other organization with which I am associated either explicitely or implicitely. Neither do those opinions reflect those of other individuals affiliated with any entity with which I am affiliated nor those of the entities themselves.