Re: From Unix client to Unix Oracle server?

"Ramon F Herrera" <ramon_at_conexus.net> wrote in message news:c9bc36ff.0108030426.40ea56aa_at_posting.google.com...
> Hello:
>
> I am working on an application which will run on several Unix hosts
> (as clients). The central server is another Unix machine running Oracle.
>
> The server is the easy part: it runs Oracle 8.1.7 and RedHat Linux 7.0
> The client part is giving me a lot of grief, because the host is
> an SCO OpenServer 5.0.5. Oracle has dropped support for SCO
> and when I called them, they suggested that I use ODBC from a
> 3rd. party vendor. Following Oracle's advise, I have been looking
> into EasySoft, OpenLink and InterSolv/Merant.
>
> What bothers me about these companies' ODBC products (BTW: Merant
> doesn't support SCO anymore, so I am left with only 2) is the
> many layers that they have. They talk about "agents", they talk
> about "brokers", they talk about "ODBC to ODBC bridges", etc. All that
> stuff sound like a lot of overhead and my application needs to be
> as fast as possible. Being a Unix guy, I can't stop thinking:
> "why don't they have a single ODBC layer, which I install on the
> SCO client, giving me the ability to write ODBC apps, and connecting
> to the server (which should remain _untouched_; no extra software,
> after all it already has Oracle's Net8, and a listener on port 1521)
> using Oracle protocols?" I don't need all those extra "brokers"
> and "agents", just a good ODBC library (located in the client only,
> I repeat).
>
> EasySoft has 3 pieces of software, one goes in the client (which I already
> tested, it comes with a small demo that connects to their MS Access NT
> in England, I just hope that the performance over the USA Internet is
> better that what I experienced). In addition, I am supposed to install
> 2 more layers in my Linux Oracle server, making all this even slower.
> It seems that what they do is run sqlplus internally, bypassing the
> obvious faster connection (port 1521).
>
> So my first question is: does anyone out there know of a company that
> does ODBC in a simpler way, running in the client only and that has
> support for the SCO OS5?
>
> The other question that comes to mind is: how does Oracle do the above
> (Unix-to-Unix) connection? -assuming that both client and server run
> some supported Unix like Solaris or Linux. I have checked and used
> OCI, but that won't help me now because OCI does not go over a
> network: the app must be in the same host as the Oracle server.
> Is this correct?
>
> What tools does Oracle Corp. offer that will allow me to write a C
> application which will query a remote Oracle server?
>
> Thanks for your insight and suggestions.
>
> -Ramon F. Herrera

Your assertion OCI doesn't go over a network is painfully wrong. OCI uses sqlnet.
Any Unix to Unix connection in Oracle, better: any Oracle connection from whatever client to whatever server uses sqlnet. BTW: just as ODBC does.
I believe any ODBC driver will need sqlnet, the Wintel drivers definitely do, and I don't see why Oracle would allow to develop a complete replacement for sqlnet.
So, IMO, you are in a dead ally by sticking to SCO.

Hth,

Sybrand Bakker, Senior Oracle DBA Received on Fri Aug 03 2001 - 12:43:22 CDT