MSSQL vs Oracle - Just the facts

Ok guys and girls - This is an issue that keeps on comming back. So, I would like to start a true features and functionality comparison. I'll probably put it out on a web page in time. Here is the start of a list that took me about 5 minutes to develop. Please add or dispute to your hearts content. Prove me right or wrong. I don't care. Thanks much..........

My experience is 1 year with Oracle supporting 50+ instances on over 20 servers, 4 years with Sybase on about 12 servers, 2 with MSSQL < 7 on a few servers and a two recent MSSQL 7.0 servers. Sybase however, is no longer is a contender in this argument in my opinion.

Please enjoy the following as a starting point only.............

For Oracle

Supports multiple platforms (NT, Unix, Linux) Many performance tuning options
Supports multiple instances per server
Supports shared server setup
Parallel query and parallel server
Sequences for automating item increments Packages for improved performance
Ability to Monitor/review sql
Significant performance information available Can run multiple versions from single server Support for more table index options (reverse,iot,etc..) Procedural language support and ANSI SQL in PL/SQL Standby server support
Able to recover to point in time to failure Hot, cold, logical backup options
Changed block level backups available
Row Level Locking
Inherent ROWID Support

Against Oracle

Difficult to setup
Complex DBA support
Expensive

Against MSSQL

NT only
Few performance tuning options
Single database per server
Dedicated server setup only
Single processes only
Must be coded using tables
Single stored procedurs
No SQL monitoring capabilities
Little performance tuning information available Only one version can be installed per server Few table index option supported
ANSI SQL Support only
n/a
Only able to recover from last full backup Cold and logical backups only
Datafile backups only
Page level locking
Must create own rowids

For MSSQL

Easy to setup
Simple DBA support
Cheap

--
Doug Coan
Senior Client Server System Integrator
AEGON USA
dcoan_at_aegonusa.com

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Before you buy. Received on Tue Nov 23 1999 - 11:56:48 CST