Re: Which Version is the best

Hi Christian,

This is a question I was asked frequently in class and I preferred to answer it with my favourite answer, it depends.

You need to weigh up the pros and cons of particular versions and make an educated decision. Currently, I believe there are two quite viable options, either 8.1.7 or 9.2 (and the answers so far seem to suggest this. I hear no one shouting out for 8.0.5). Both are currently supported (vital) and both have advantages and disadvantages that your organisation needs to determine and prioritise in order or importance and relevance.

For example, some pros and cons of 8.1.7 are:

Pros:
-It's a very stable release (some say since 7.3.4)
-There's much expertise available in the market
-Many reference sites to base your system on

Cons:
-You don't access to the new features of 9i which your organisation may
value (obvious example is RAC but there are many others)
-You have to make 2 significant upgrades rather than the one
-Possible increase in required training (in that you need to learn 8i then
9i) and 8i training through Oracle University is not that easy to come by (speaking in the Aussie market here)

The pros and cons of 9.2 are kinda the reverse:

Pros:

-Have access to new features that your organisation may value and see as
important components to your solution.
-Only the one significant upgrade
-Only the one batch of training

Cons:

-Possible concerns regarding it's stability and number of support issues
being raised
-Reduced level of expertise in the market
-Fewer reference sites

to name a few.

In my experience, it's more common to see sites using the more cautious approach than jumping onto the newest release of Oracle. Many wait to see that third significant digit increment a tad before moving onto the next release and moving on from their current stable environments (the threat of desupport is often the final motivator).

So it really does depend so suz out the pros and cons and make the decision that's right for your organisation.

Good luck

Richard

"Christian Lang" <clang_at_mediaprint.at> wrote in message news:6cf185c9.0207010722.2765f38e_at_posting.google.com... > Hi,
> we plan to upgrade our production Database from 7.3.4.5 to a newer Version.

> Shall we go to 817 or is it better to upgrade to 9i. What did you think?
>
> thanks for your opinions
> Christian Lang