Oracle vs Informix
I work for an internet startup that sells autos on the internet. We currently use Microsoft SQL Server as our database. We are looking to build a scalable robust database system before we go ipo. The choice is between Oracle and Informix. I would like to get people's opinions about each choice. I know that Oracle is going to cost more, so I would like the opinions to be about architecture, locking, tools, and overall how it is to work with the system. Thanks for your input. Jerry O'Connell Senior Database Administrator CarsDirect.com
Jerry O'Connell <jpoconnell@pobox.com> wrote in message news:3806D860.AD94FC87@pobox.com... > I work for an internet startup that sells autos on the internet. We > currently use Microsoft SQL Server as our database. We are looking to > build a scalable robust database system before we go ipo. The choice is > between Oracle and Informix. I would like to get people's opinions about > each choice. I know that Oracle is going to cost more, so I would like > the opinions to be about architecture, locking, tools, and overall how > it is to work with the system. Hi Jerry ! I think much things also depends on what kind of system you are going to develop. For very large applications, such as banking, I think Oracle is better - it's more friendly to developer and got more features then Informix. Also remember, that Oracle got more features than Informix as DB server, but Oracle's engine is slower then Informix. About monitoring - I think on Unix it's better in Informix, on NT I prefer Oracle monitoring tools. Also, remember, that Informix online backup is consistent without any logs, in Oracle only consistent backup is offline backup - when you kick users out, stops processing and perform backup. To made online Oracle backup consistent you must backup redo logs immediately after online backup ends. Also remember, that Informix is much scalable, especially on NT. Consider your hardware - Oracle needs more resources than Informix. If you are planning to have multiple databases on your server, choose Informix - in Informix you can have many databases with one Informix engine, in Oracle each database needs separate Oracle instance. So, it's your choice, and your money. But I think with any one of this RDBMS you will have success. ---------------------------------------------------- With best regards, Yuri Dovgart SAP R/3, Informix technical consultant, Senior System Consultant System Architecture and High Availability Systems, 'Telecominvest' company Email y_dovgart@tci.ukrtel.net ICQ 39284285 > > Thanks for your input. > > Jerry O'Connell > Senior Database Administrator > CarsDirect.com >
I've never used Oracle, but I've developed applications and managed Informix database engines for over twelve years. Oracle always seem to do a better marketing job and Informix always seem to have the better technology . . . . but that was years ago. You're sort of asking what's the best car to buy when your requirement is transportation. Informix, Oracle, Sybase, and Progress all are sufficient. . . . running under UNIX. I've managed projects with SQL Server on NT, and it's such a resource hog that you really can't do anything else on the machine when it's running, regardless of NTs instability. And, adding processors to an NT system just adds to system administration complexity. I'll get off my soapbox now. . . . but Informix is my choice. MoJo Risin -- In article <7u787r$li4$1@hyppo.gu.net>, "Yuri Dovgart" <y_dovgart@tci.ukrtel.net> wrote: > Jerry O'Connell <jpoconnell@pobox.com> wrote in message > news:3806D860.AD94FC87@pobox.com... > > I work for an internet startup that sells autos on the internet. We > > currently use Microsoft SQL Server as our database. We are looking to > > build a scalable robust database system before we go ipo. The choice is > > between Oracle and Informix. I would like to get people's opinions about > > each choice. I know that Oracle is going to cost more, so I would like > > the opinions to be about architecture, locking, tools, and overall how > > it is to work with the system. > > Hi Jerry ! > > I think much things also depends on what kind of system you are going to > develop. For very large applications, such as banking, I think Oracle is > better - it's more friendly to developer and got more features then > Informix. Also remember, that Oracle got more features than Informix as DB > server, but Oracle's engine is slower then Informix. About monitoring - I > think on Unix it's better in Informix, on NT I prefer Oracle monitoring > tools. Also, remember, that Informix online backup is consistent without any > logs, in Oracle only consistent backup is offline backup - when you kick > users out, stops processing and perform backup. To made online Oracle backup > consistent you must backup redo logs immediately after online backup ends. > Also remember, that Informix is much scalable, especially on NT. Consider > your hardware - Oracle needs more resources than Informix. If you are > planning to have multiple databases on your server, choose Informix - in > Informix you can have many databases with one Informix engine, in Oracle > each database needs separate Oracle instance. > > So, it's your choice, and your money. But I think with any one of this RDBMS > you will have success. > > ---------------------------------------------------- > With best regards, Yuri Dovgart > SAP R/3, Informix technical consultant, > Senior System Consultant > System Architecture and High Availability Systems, > 'Telecominvest' company > Email y_dovgart@tci.ukrtel.net > ICQ 39284285 > > > > > Thanks for your input. > > > > Jerry O'Connell > > Senior Database Administrator > > CarsDirect.com > > > > Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Before you buy.
Jerry, I don't know about Oracle but Informix is VERY easy to use and has a wide variety of tools. For cpu intense jobs, 4gl is as easy to use as visual basic and has a very nice compiler front end (terminal based which is doubly nice) named r4gl (rapid development), ace reporting is very useful and even easier to use and also has an easy to use compiler, saceprep. isql and shell scripts are the only other tools on the unix side we need. On the windows side odbc data sources accessed through vb are ideal. Jamie -- Jamie Delton jdelton@minn.net http://www1.minn.net/~jdelton Home of the Winwriter and the Winwriter sdk (Open Source) the world's first transparent font utility Jerry O'Connell wrote in message <3806D860.AD94FC87@pobox.com>... >I work for an internet startup that sells autos on the internet. We >currently use Microsoft SQL Server as our database. We are looking to >build a scalable robust database system before we go ipo. The choice is >between Oracle and Informix. I would like to get people's opinions about >each choice. I know that Oracle is going to cost more, so I would like >the opinions to be about architecture, locking, tools, and overall how >it is to work with the system. > >Thanks for your input. > >Jerry O'Connell >Senior Database Administrator >CarsDirect.com >