Re: Informix vs. Sybase vs. Oracle vs. (gasp) MS SQL Server

From: Snorri Bergmann <snorri_at_strengur.is>
Date: 1997/04/15
Message-ID: <3353A408.F9C85873_at_strengur.is>#1/1


Pablo Sanchez wrote:

[Stuff deleted]

> I can do a *moderate* comparison between Informix and Sybase (32 bit
> port):
>
> Sybase 11.0.X Informix 7.22
> ------------- -------------
> o ~2 gig max for data cache o 1 gig max for data cache
>
> Drawback Informix. With a smaller data cache there's less data you
> can cache in memory.

Can't see the problem here. On 32 bit systems max memory is usually 2 gig
so you won't be using it all for data cahce anyway.

>
> o variable I/O read/writes: o based on platform, only 2/4K read/writes -
> 2/4/8/16K although on the log there are
> group writes
>
> Drawback Informix. I/O is *always* the bottleneck. Allowing 2/4K
> only is very limiting. Oracle does it even better... allowing up
> to 128K per I/O. Excellent for DSS and/or table scans.

This is incorrect. Informix has a configurable parameter RA_PAGES that you can
set to whatever you like. If you set it to 100 it would read 200K/IO for a system
with 2K pages.

>
> o private log cache manipulation o internal group commits, no management
> allowed by the dba
>
> Drawback Informix. By allowing the DBA to micro-manage the RDBMS
> you can tune for high performance. The log is always the
> bottleneck and allowing more "knobs" is excellent.
>

Don't know about this one!

> o table partitioning is limited o heavy support for table
> fragmentation
>
> Drawback Sybase. Informix has excellent "logical" striping. You
> can fragment (stripe) your table based on key values or
> round-robin. Very nice!
>
> o command line interface: o no command line interface. You
> isql/sqsh have to use their gui. Ick!
>
> Minor drawback Informix. Personally, I hate having to use their
> GUI. It's cumbersome because it's ascii based so it's not even a
> GUI.
>

What about dbaccess? I love it!

'Nuff said,
-Snorri

-- 
Snorri Bergmann                    | Mail:       snorri_at_strengur.is
Strengur Consulting Engineers      | WWW:        http://www.strengur.is/
Armuli 7                           | Phone:      +354 550 9000 (9007
direct)
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Received on Tue Apr 15 1997 - 00:00:00 CEST

Original text of this message