RE: XPS

-----Original Message----- From: owner-informix-list@iiug.org [mailto:owner-informix-list@iiug.org] On Behalf Of Data Goob Sent: 29 May 2005 04:16 PM To: informix-list@iiug.org Subject: Re: XPS Fred Nurk wrote: > "Neil Truby" <neil.truby@ardenta.com> wrote in message > news:3fo1v1F8h8niU1@individual.net... > >>"Data Goob" <datagoob@netscape.net> wrote in message >>news:Utvle.5$p5.0@fe82.usenetserver.com... >> >> >>>So the DB2 guy is pushing a big sale based >>>on a lot of CPU's, but the Power5 guy is pushing fewer CPUs to do the >>>work. Nice little quandary they got themselves into. >> >>But this is a "quandry" - I prefer the term "balancing act" - that applies >>even more to Informix resellers, because of Informix's pricing. The list >>price per cpu for an IDS 9 or 10 licence is about '34,000. The temptation >>is there then to skimp on processors, not for the hardware cost itself, >>which is relatively insignificant, but to keep down the database software >>cost. Since becoming p-Series sales accredited I have to say though that >>I am hugely impressed: we also sell HP9000 series but these Power 5 boxes >>really are the dog's bollocks, so maybe people are getting away with it >>because of the excellent hardware performance. >> >>I don't know what the answer is though, except maybe to cut the IDS price >>to at least reduce the software cost component ... >> > > With most projects, the single biggest cost is the software. Fortunately > here in OZ I can get DB2 cheaper than SQL Server (standard edition CPU) and > Oracle (Standard Edition CPU) for a Workgroup Unlimited license. Though I > am having disucssions on new Informix licenses so I can't say. > >When it comes to comparison shopping "db-vendor vs MS-SQL-Server", it is >important to compare the "Workgroup" version of your product with SQL->Server >and not others. For example DB2 Workgroup is comparable to SQL-Server, but >DB2 EEE has functionality that SQL-Server does not, such as shared-nothing >clustering, and a lot of other goodies. Not many SQL-Server shops are even >aware of this, not to mention what a pain-in-the-neck SQL-Server clustering >is compared to a real database engine. You'll often hear SQL-Server people >quickly pipe up that SQL-Server can do HA, which is so rigid and delicate >as to be laughable. ( You could get Windows people into Sybase and do them >a better service. :-) Anyway the point is, DB2 is competing into SQL->Server >space on the Workgroup level. > >The license price is quite dramatic though ( 26K USD ) when considering >DB2 EEE, which is what you would really want in most if not all cases in >any >kind of real enterprise. It is baffling why IBM is charging so much for >EEE though in light of how cheap hardware is, and how prolific SQL-Server >is, at least here in the USA. > [snip] I am being told that DB2 is still a lot cheaper than Informix - why is that ? sending to informix-list