Re: Oracle comparison

> We felt that MySQL was reliable, performed well (especially speed) and
> had good platform/OS independence.

Tanstaafl...

It is fast until you start to do concurrent updates and queries - then it'll grind to halt at some point, as with all databases featuring lock-based concurrency control mechanisms. It this sense, MS Access db is no worse than mySQL, and you can run it for free (you have free Jet engine and even MSDE, which is a cut-down personal SQLServer, if need be) except that it's from Microsoft, which you seem to rule out just because it's Microsoft and not for any technical reasons.

So far, I didn't see more concurrent database than Oracle. This alone makes it very good choice for web applications. Add to it complex server-side programming language (PL/SQL) not found anywhere else (and nothing close to it in functionality), plus server-side Java2 (if need be) and wide choice of built-in utility packages - and it becomes obvious platform of choice (if you're not constrained on budget of course), just because you can keep your business logic close to your data and build any interface to it (or any number of) easily.

-- 
Vladimir Zakharychev (bob@dpsp-yes.com)                http://www.dpsp-yes.com
Dynamic PSP(tm) - the first true RAD toolkit for Oracle-based internet applications.
All opinions are mine and do not necessarily go in line with those of my employer.