Re: Advice for an Oracle Jock -Reply
Kevin I do not dispute your comment about Distributed database because I know nothing of Oracles implementation; However I do think that your comment that oracle has a technology edge should be appended with the words 'in one/some area(s)'. In the area of DSS and Data warehouse it would seem that Informix has the edge because of it's ability to internally multithread a single large query; whereas Oracle, although it has the ability to parrallelise OLTP queries over multiple CPUs has no ability to partition a single query over multiple CPUs. This is why Informix regard Oracle Parallelism as a spare tire that they have dragged out of the trunk. I have raised this as a question in the group before, expecting, as is usually the case, to receive a spirited defence from the Oracle monitors. Their stoney silence at the time seemed pretty damning, I thought. In terms of Global Network bandwidth, our organisation, like many others is finding that we prefer in any case to replicate discrete data between gloabl sites rather than distribute the database. As network bandwidths improve and networks become more robust; no doubt this will change. All the best -- -- Peter Tashkoff NZ Kiwifruit Project Consultant/DBA Marketing Board. Standard Disclaimers apply This posting may not be used by any commercial organisation to vilify another. >>> M Kevin McHugh <mkmchu@fax.cs.mci.com> 12/June/1996 06:46am >>> I have worked with both DBMS'. Granted it was Oracle 6.x, but I've been there. I find that there are several reasons to prefer Informix to Oracle. - Easier install - More easily managed DBMS environment - Better customer service - Informix let's you switch databases without bouncing the server ( Did Oracel fix this in 7.x???? ) - Price - Attitude of the sales reps and the company in general I found the change to Informix to be painless. Almost all the knowledge you have gained with Oracle will transfer to the Informix environment. The software specific stuff will need to be learned, but what else would you expect? I also recommend that you go for it based on diversifying your skill base. That way you can switch between the two and open up the bidding for your time / talents. Both companies will be around for a while. The only problem I saw was moving the Oracle*Forms 2.x stuff into Informix 4GL. That took an Informix consultant ( I did not have the time or experience to get it converted within the schedule ). Oracle has a bit of a technology edge right now. If the specific problems you will be asked to address fall in that area AND you must solve it quickly, then choose Oracle. But, you will pay and pay and pay through the nose for the convenience. This edge is in the distributed database area. I believe that Informix has not solved ( or released at any rate ) a multiple machine fully distributed DBMS. I think Oracle offers that. Perhaps the Informix monitor can comment on that. In short: Go for it!!! I think you will be glad you did. -Later Kevin +------------------------------+-------------------------+----------------+ | Kevin McHugh - SW Engineer | mkmchu@fax.cs.mci.com | | MCI Telecommunications Corp. | (719) 535-5278 | +------------------------------+-------------------------+----------------+ | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. | | This posting is copyright and may be used only for the purposes | | of professional study. Use of this posting in any commercial | | environment is explicitly prohibited. This posting may only be | | reproduced for personal archival purposes. | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+