Re: What's the largest Oracle DB a PC can host?????/

Mark D Powell wrote:

> Daniel Morgan <dmorgan_at_exesolutions.com> wrote in message news:<3CFFC368.91C69925_at_exesolutions.com>...
> > Richard Hollingsworth wrote:
> >
> > > Hi folks. I know this is an esoteric question, but I need help.
> > >
> > > I've been asked to evaluate and make recommendations for our next DB and
> > > it's a big one. We don't know the eventual size, but it COULD top 20 TB
> > > easily.
> > >
> > > Management wants to save $$$ and use PC servers. I'm no PC expert, but I
> > > really don't think even the largest, fastest PC server on the market would
> > > be able to handle that effectively.
> > >
> > > Am I wrong? Can the latest PC servers with massive disk arrays, multiple
> > > processors, and gigs of memory handle a DB of that size effectively?
> > >
> > > It will be a web-based logistics DB for the ARMY if that helps.
> > >
> > > Thank you for any input at all.
> > >
> > > Richard Hollingsworth
> > > BOEING
> >
> > Contact John W. Cline ... you will find him in Exchange.
> >
> > Likely he will tell you the same thing I am now and would have when I was
> > there ... Teradata if it is a warehouse ... Oracle if it is OLTP. Though from
> > the size of it I think Teradata is your answer. The company has quite a few
> > machines, has in-house expertise, and compatibility with other system's is
> > assured.
> >
> > I know management wants to save money ... that's why I'm no longer there as a
> > consultant <g>. But they will spend substantially more using bubble-gum and
> > paperclips to put together some untested system that will BSOD on them. Tell
> > them if they don't believe me that I am awaiting new of when DCAC finally
> > comes fully on-line.
> >
> > Daniel Morgan
>
> 1 - I have talked to a shop that has a 7 - 11 Terabyte Warehouse on
> Oracle and their complaints did not center on Oracle's performance.
>
> 2 - I think the actual processing of a logistics system for the Army
> would most likely behave somewhere between a giant OLTP and a DSS.
> But that is hard to say just from a one line burb. But from my Navy
> days I can remember that we had information not just on US material
> but also on NATO material as well.
>
> 3 - I think what is meant by PC server is very important to the
> answer. Someone could mean Intel based processor machine rather than
> just a desktop configured to be a server. You can get some pretty big
> Intel based machines as I know that at least 16 processors are
> available running under Microsoft's Data Center OS.
>
> 4 - This leads me to believe the most important factors being A - that
> the machine have at least 4 processors so that Oracle Parallel Query,
> PQO, can be effectively applied, and B - that that an appropriate disk
> array is used to house the database.
>
> 5 - Without a knowledge of the load and required processing all the
> responses to this thread are just WAGS (Wild Assed Guesses).
>
> HTH -- Mark D Powell --

I agree completely. But having years as a consultant in the Boeing company I have a bit of familiarity with how things work. And trying to cobble together a bunch of separate machines is bleeding edge for them and projects usually just end up hemmorhaging money. They start out with a brilliant idea of how to save some and then end up spending far more in the end trying to make it work.

Teradata, though little know, is excellent for DSS, its triggers and procedures languages being not even close to the same league as Oracle and the other majors. But if the point is to put tons of data into a box and quickly extract what you need it is blazingly efficient.

That said, Teradata has versions that install on PCs and, in fact, I have a personal copy running on WinNT.

Though I didn't say it before, as a citizen of the United States, and someone protected by its military, it gives me the creeps to think that my security could be at risk due to a critical system being on anything as shaky as Intel architecture and its associated operating systems.

Daniel Morgan Received on Fri Jun 07 2002 - 10:25:14 CDT