Re: Migrate data from SQL Server 2000 to Oracle 9i (AIX)

"Krist" <xtanto_at_hotmail.com> wrote in message news:cb48a3b.0405242245.62c4e254_at_posting.google.com...
> Hi All,
>
> We want to migrate data from MS SQL 2000 / SQL 7 into Oracle 9i on
> AIX. Can any gurus here please tell me :
>
> Whats the best/easiest tool to use here : OMWB or DTS ? or other tools
> ?
> Is there any known issue here ?

I find dts easiest to use of the two you mention. You don't however entirely say what the business problem is which makes recommending a tool somewhat tricky.

DTS is excellent for moving data around and transforming it in simple ways, OMWB makes a reasonable attempt at moving databases from MS to Oracle. These are two different business problems however, one involves extracting data from one source and moving it elsewhere - typically for reporting or dw reasons, the other involves migrating schemas/databases from one platform to another.

On the whole I don't like any tool that automates the second of these two processes - even if it is sold by Oracle Corp :). This is because the known issue is that different platforms have different characteristics and shouldn't be treated as alternative black boxes. Instead the smart enterprise or developer will look to maximise the platform they are on. This isn't a task that has yet been successfully automated - and to be honest I don't think it will be. Tools like OMWB are useful only in so far as they might give a starting point.

DTS on the other hand is a pretty good ETL tool, and has the advantage of being free. It isn't however alone in the market place Oracle has a tool called SQL*Loader that does an excellent job of loading and transforming flat (and other) files into Oracle Databases and a quick google for ETL tools will reveal a host of others.

So I think it is probably best to define what you wish to do and ask the group for experiences rather than focus on tools ease of use. After all a hammer is really easy to use, but it doesn't help me much in fitting an expansion card to my PC.

-- 
Niall Litchfield
Oracle DBA
Audit Commission UK
http://www.niall.litchfield.dial.pipex.com/

P.S. there aren't many gurus in this or any other group - gurus tend to hang
out on mountain tops, in temples and as the old prayer book had it places
where they sing. They tend to be noticeably short of usenet access and RDBMS
experience. There are however many skilled and experienced IT professionals
here, they just have more experience or relative knowledge.