Re: Why ORACLE is so expensive ????

In article <6aom0t$28g$1_at_nntp1.ba.best.com>, Visual Design Inc. <jjanarth_at_shell5.ba.best.com> writes
>
>
>We need a database for our web server. So I called Oracle and they want
>$80,000 for a Oracle 8.0, This will allow unlimited users (unlimited hits
>? ).
>
>Am I missing something here. I have seen Oracle 8.0 for about $1750.00 I
>understand these comes with 8 user licensee.
>
>Jay

Oracle change their licencing and pricing all the time, but the last I heard it went something like this.

For conventional (ie non web) servers there is the option of named user or concurrent user (actually "concurrent device" to allow for the same user having multiple sessions from the same client.) Concurrent user is about twice the price of named user.

Servers are classified into bands and each band has a minimum number of user licences, with the low end usually being 8. This minimum applies per CPU, so that multiple cpu servers have a minimum which depends on the number of CPUs installed. There is a special low end classification for which you can buy Workgroup Server with a minimum of 5 (or maybe 8) users. This may be where the 1750 comes from.

I have only ever bought Oracle when working for large customers with discount agreements, and not for some time, but very roughly a named user would be about 500 sterling (say 800 US$ at current rates) and a concurrent user about 1000 pounds.

Because of the "connectionless" nature of http, these rules can't be applied. You could have a user community of thousands, with concurrent connections to the database in single figures. To get round this Oracle have a higher minimum user licence for Web servers, which is presumably where your $80,000 comes from.

I believe the distinguish between "intranets" and the internet, with intranets being cheaper.

As I said, this information is not the most recent, so it may no longer be entirely accurate. Corrections are welcome from anyone with more up to date knowledge.

-- 
Jim Smith