App Dev Question: To logoff or stay connected?

We have a number of client-server applications that access Oracle to store and retrieve data, but are probably only active around 5% of the time, at the most. Most of the time is spent viewing/analyzing the data, or the application may just be sitting idle. My dilemma is whether or not to have the applications logon each time they wish to perform an Oracle transaction, and then logoff once the transaction is completed. We currently have both types of applications.

From a developers standpoint, it is less of a hassle to logon one time when the application starts and logoff when the application is terminated
than to logon and logoff each time they wish to perform an Oracle transaction. Also there is some overhead (delay) in connecting to Oracle
each time. However, from a DBA and system administrators point of view, it seems it is more desirable to have the application disconnect after each transaction. That way there aren't extra processes (OS or Oracle) on the server. Also you may not require as large of an Oracle user license since, for example, all 100 application users may not be simultaneously logged into Oracle. Most of the time they will be viewing the data or the application will be sitting idle.

What are the opinions of the Developers and DBAs on this newsgroup? My preference, as a DBA and Developer, is to logon and logoff for each Oracle
transaction, but that view is not shared by everybody. Thanks in advance
for your responses.

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Michael Twaddell
Raytheon Systems
twaddell_at_ti.com Received on Fri May 22 1998 - 07:34:51 CDT