Re: Best Oracle Platform??

BarryAZ wrote:
> I'm leaning strongly toward the Compaq box, but I'm worried about
> running into the 'ceiling' on performance. At only $25,000, I
> suspect I can afford to make that mistake ... once.

Barry,

	First let me admit that I'm definitely biased towards Unix,
	but I can also be objective.  We've used Oracle almost
	exclusively on Unix platforms (Sun, HP and others) and
	I guarantee you won't be disappointed in the performance or
	the administration.  If you're new to Unix, there is a
	learning curve.  Unix tends to have more primitive utilities
	so they're harder to learn, but once you know them they are
	much more powerful and can be adapted to almost any task.
	NT tends to give you very easy to use utilities, but limits
	your capabilities.  A good analogy would be buying a cheap
	power screwdriver versus a more expensive reversible drill.
	If all you need to do is drive some small screws, the
	screwdriver works better and costs less.  But if you later need
	to drill a hole, you have to go buy a drill anyway.  With the
	drill, you can do both.

	Unix adminstration is difficult if you're new.  But after
	a few months of experience and the proper tools and training,
	it's not that difficult.

	There are a lot of folks using both solutions happily, but
	here's a good question to ask:

	How many folks are unhappy with their Unix/Oracle solution
		and have moved (or want to move) to NT?
versus
	How many folks are unhappy with their NT/Oracle solution and
		have moved (or want to move) to Unix?

	I don't know for sure but I would bet there are a lot
	more in the second category than the first.  In my
	experience, once you REALLY know Unix you won't want
	to go back to NT.  But it takes a while to learn it.

	Good Luck.
	

-- 
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Allen Kirby			AT&T ITS Production Services
akirby_at_att.com			Alpharetta, GA.