Re: Informix vs. Oracle

Informix - blocks writers on checkpoints. Unsuitable for any environment where response time is critical, like my webserver where I'm stuck with it. Has fewer knobs to tune, for example it's difficult to tune use of temp space for non-parallel queries. Much less rich SQL and procedural languages for stored procedures - for example no create or replace, and dropping the sp if it doesn't exist is an error and aborts your script; can't embed queries in the from clause; optimizer can't handle more than 3 OR's if 1 includes an AND clause - turns it into a full table scan. Seems to use spin locks when doing checkpoints (how can it use so much CPU when it's using Async I/O?). Log headeaches.

Oracle - doesn't block during checkpoints. Has much more rich and expressive SQL and PL/SQL languages. Has Java in the database available today. Optimizer can handle more complex expressions (though it's not without bugs either). Simpler and more knobs. Read consistency uses resources, but doesn't block readers. Rollback segment headaches.

Really in the end you'll have problems with whatever you choose, the question is will they be intractable or tractable. And everybodies got bugs...

mr_daemon_at_my-dejanews.com wrote:
>
> In article <01be9d7d$6b87b040$38434cc0_at_txu>,
> "Tony" <tonyxu89_at_yahoo.com> wrote:
> > Could anyone give a comparision of Informix vs.
> Oracle database server or
> > point out where I can find related information?
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
>
> INFORMIX: cleaner more modern design, server
> is more stable and gives better perfoemance
> on equivalent hardware. Less effort required
> of the DBA. The Illustra purchase
> provides a very nice object-relational
> database for Informix users.
>
> ORACLE: runs on any hardware in the world.
> If you have some 3-rd party software
> which must access the databaase,
> you can be sure that ORACLE will be supported,
> INFORMIX may not be ( INFORMIX is never the
> #1 priority of other vendors like SAP for ex.)
> Object support in Oracle 8 is half-baked;
> the free PostgresSQL database is better
> than Oracle for object support.
>
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Received on Thu May 13 1999 - 18:46:21 CDT