Re: Oracle vs. Oracle Workgroup

John Whitney (jwhitney_at_crl.com) wrote:
: I would like to know what the difference is between plain old Oracle7 and
: Oracle7 for Workgroups. I know that the setup is much easier in OFW and
: that there are new graphical tools, but I don't know what database features
: might be missing from Oracle7. As a DBA, would I have the same configuration
: and tuning capabilities as with Oracle7?
 

: John Whitney

Hi, good questions.

From what I've read, there is a limit of about #25 users for OWS. It is "pretuned" (what ever that means) for departmental, as opposed to enterprise applications.

If you install the SQL*Networked version of Oracle7 (client) for Windows when it is released, you supposedly will get all the DBA GUI "goodies" to use with a "full" Oracle7 Server just like OWS has.

For the blissfully ignorant reader: Oracle Workgroup Server (OWS) runs on Windows NT, Netware and PC Unix(?).

"Full" Oracle7 for those platforms may require more installation and database creation work, and figuring out the "client" parts of your database may be more confusing. OWS probably bundles the client stuff better.

OWS probably makes the purchasing and installation parts of getting a departmental Oracle database up easier. It remains to be seen how OWS and Project "X" will help Oracle penetrate the low-end part of the database market.

Oracle has a long history of marketing crap (a tendency which they may be finally getting over), so beware until OWS is accepted. You may have to do an expensive upgrade in 3-5 years if OWS dies from not getting "market share". Get the "upgrade path" in writing when you buy a support contract?

Good luck,

EP Received on Sat Jan 21 1995 - 03:47:16 CET