Comparison between the "Key Players"

Hello, I am looking for some kind of comparison between the big relational database servers to have some hints for advantages and disadvantages of them. I am thinking of something like a tabular form identifying if and how good or bad certain features are achieved by them. Any hints for that?

Greetings ! May be this might help you. Ganesh ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- RDBMS Server Feature Comparison Matrix: Version 1.0.2 Copyright 1993 by Daniel Druker All Rights Reserved Product O = Oracle7 Version 7.0 S = Sybase Version 4.9 A = Ask/Ingres Version 6.4 I = Informix On-Line Version 5.0 NOTE: The 4th column is Informix, not Ingres. This confuses some people... Y = Yes, the feature exists in the current production product N = No, the feature does not exist in the production product * = See the note in the detailed description section B = The feature exists in a useable, late beta product. Product O S A I I. PERFORMANCE ================ 1. Row Level Locking Y N N Y 2. Page Level Locking N Y Y Y 3. Table Level Locking Y Y Y Y 4. Database Level Locking Y Y Y Y 5. Programmable Read Isolation Levels N N N Y 6. System Doesn't Escalate Locks Y N N Y 7. Programmer May Escalate Locks Y Y Y Y 8. Versioning / No Read Locks Y * * * 9. Dirty Read Mode N N Y Y 10. Multi Server Architecture Y Y Y N 11. Symmetric Multi-Processor Support Y Y Y Y 12. Support for Loosely Coupled Systems Y N Y N 13. Array Interface Y N N N 14. Shared Commits Y Y Y Y 15. Asynchronous I/O Y Y Y Y 16. Raw I/O Y Y N Y 17. Shared Log Files Y Y Y Y 18. Non-Blocking Queries Y * * * 19. Clustered Tables Y N Y N 20. Clustered Indexes Y Y Y Y 21. Hash Indexes Y N N N 22. ANSI Standard Cursor Support Y N Y Y 23. Backward Scrolling Cursors N N N N 24. Non-Blocking Sequence Generator Y N N Y 25. Unique-Key Generator Y N Y Y 26. Cost Based Optimizer Y Y Y Y 27. Optimizer uses Data Content Heuristics N N Y N 28. Optimizer Scans Entire Table to get Stats Y Y Y Y 29. Optimizer can estimate stats to save time Y N Y N 30. Optimizer uses network costs N N N N 31. Optimizer uses hardware costs N N N N 32. Optimizer knows real-time load factors N N N N 33. Optimizer moves join location Y N Y Y 34. Stored Procedures in Database Y Y Y Y 35. Cached Procedures are Shared Y Y Y N 36. Stored Procedures can return Sets Y N N Y 37. Stored Procedures Return All Datatypes Y N N Y 38. Stored Functions in Database Y N N Y 39. Stored Procedure Cache Y Y Y Y 40. Shared SQL Cache Y N N N 41. Parallel Data Query N N N N 42. Parallel Index Build N N N N 43. Parallel Sort N N N N 44. Performance Monitoring Tools Y Y Y Y II.INTEGRITY O S A I ============== 45. Adherence to Industry Standards SQL Interface Y Y Y Y FIPS 127-1 Validated Y * Y Y 46. Declarative Integrity Model Y N N Y 47. Cascading Updates N N N N 48. Cascading Deletes Y N N N 49. Loosely Typed Datatypes, Ala ADA Y N N N 50. Null Support Y Y Y Y 51. Database Triggers Y Y Y N 52. PRE- and POST- Triggers Y N Y N 53. Triggers fire once per SQL Statement Y Y Y N 54. Triggers fire for each row affected Y N N N 55. Programmer can control trigger fire order Y Y N N 56. Automatic Procedure Recompilation Y Y Y Y 57. Programmer Defined Datatypes N Y Y N 58. Event Alerters Y N Y Y 59. Database Events Call 3GL Program Y * * N 60. Stored Procedures Call 3GL Program Y * * N III. DATABASE O S A I ============= 61. Portable Y Y Y Y 62. Automatic Database Recovery Y Y Y Y 63. Multiplexed Log Files Y Y Y Y 64. Database Mirroring N Y N Y 65. On-Line Database Backup Y Y Y Y 66. Automatic Log Backup Y Y Y Y 67. On-Line Software Diagnostics Y Y Y Y 68. Hot Standby Server Y Y Y N 69. Full Cluster Utilization Y N Y N 70. On Line Recovery Y Y N N 71. Parallel Backup of multiple files Y N N N 72. Parallel Recovery of multiple files Y N N N 73. Multiple Log Files Y N Y N 74. Resource Limiter/Governor Y N Y N 75. DBA Utilities Y Y Y Y 76. Database Auditing Y Y Y N IV.DISTRIBUTED RDBMS O S A I ====================== 77. Distributed Join Y N Y Y 78. Synchronous Table Replication Y N Y N 79. Asynchronous Table Replication Y N N N 80. Connections to other Databases Y Y Y N 81. Programmatic Two Phase Commit Y Y Y N 82. Transparent Two Phase Commit Y N Y Y 83. Two Phase Commit to Heterogeneous RDBMS Y N N N 84. Movable Transaction Coordinator Y N N N 85. Remote Procedure Calls Y Y Y Y 86. RPC's Protected by Two Phase Commit Y N Y Y 87. Heterogeneous Data Support Y Y Y N 88. Procedural Database Gateway Y Y N N 89. SQL Based Database Gateway Y Y Y N 90. XA TP Monitor Compliant Y N N Y 91. Top End TP Monitor Support Y Y Y Y 92. CICS TP Monitor Support Y Y N N 93. Trans. Can Span Multiple Net Protocols Y N Y N 94. ODBC Support B B B B 95. SQL Access Group Support B B B B V. DATABASE SECURITY O S A I ====================== 96. OS Security Integration Y Y Y Y 97. User Group Privileges/Roles Y Y Y N 98. Mandatory Access Control * * * * 99. Undergoing for Evaluation by NCSC Y N N Y 100. Standard Tools with Trusted Product Y N N Y 101. Non-Dedicated Trusted Server Y N Y Y 102. Product being evaluated at C2 Level Y N N Y 103. Product being evaluated at B1 Level Y N * Y 104. Product Certified (Europe) at B1 Equiv N N Y N VI.LANGUAGES & TOOLS O S A I ====================== 105. SQL Procedural Language Y Y Y Y 106. Text/Image Datatypes (BLOBS) Y Y N Y 107. Union Operator Y Y Y Y 108. Select for Update Y N Y Y 109. Outer Join Operator Y Y Y Y 110. Dynamic SQL Y Y Y Y 111 Static SQL Y Y Y Y 112. EXPLAIN Command Y Y Y Y 113. Transaction Savepoints Y Y Y Y 114. Aliases/Synonyms Y Y Y Y 115. NIST Verified Conformance to Standards Y * Y Y 116. 3rd Party CASE Tools - Upper and Lower Y Y Y Y 117. Internal CASE Tools - Upper and Lower Y Y N N 118. Graphics Tools Y Y Y Y 119. Internal Email System Integration Y N N N 120. 3rd Party Email System Integration Y Y Y N 121. Trigger/Stored Proc Sends Email Y Y Y N 122. Office Automation Tools Y Y Y Y 123. Bit-Mapped Graphics Y Y Y Y 124. National Language Support European Y Y Y Y Semitic Y N Y N Asian Y N Y Y 125. Precompiler Support C Y Y Y Y COBOL Y Y Y Y Pascal Y N Y Y PL/I Y N N N SAME/DL N N N N ADA Y N Y Y Fortran Y N Y Y C++ B N N N 126. Function Call Interface C Y Y Y Y COBOL Y Y Y Y ADA Y N Y Y Pascal Y N Y Y PL/I Y N N N SAME/DL N N N N Fortran Y N Y Y C++ B N N N 127. Module Language Y N Y N 128. Bind Variable Support Y N Y Y PART 2: Other Important Stuff 1. Theoretical Limits 2. Practical Limits/References 3. Datatypes and Precisions DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF CATEGORIES ================================== 1) Row Level Locking ==================== First, a little about granularity. The small