DB2
DB2 is a Data Management product from IBM. DB2 offers industry leading performance, scale
and reliability on any choice of platform. It is mainly used in LINUX environments. DB2
technologies have the following features embedded in them:
1. Self-maintenance of databases and automation for the database administrators.
2. DB2 supports the standard Web services which are the new style of application
processing.
3. Grid computing takes advantage of the clustered scalability of DB2 to support large scale
databases & high availability to the large number of simultaneously accessing users.
4. DB2 is part of the infrastructure to support reliable, scalable and secure e-business on
demand.
5. Business Intelligence in built into the DB2 engine.
6. DB2 content management supports for the both media asset management and
enterprise content management.
DB2 lowers the overall cost of managing data by offering the following features:
1. Autonomics
2. Deep Compression
3. Performance
4. Scalability
5. Security
6. Reliability
7. pureXML
8. Multi-vendor SQL and API support
9. Comprehensive Tools
10. Virtualization
Advantages offered by DB2:
 Extensive support options
 Runs on multiple platforms
 Scalable for large environments
 Very stable
 Arguably fastest for large datasets
 Supported by many third-party applications
Disadvantages of DB2:
 Can be very expensive
 Complicated licensing
 Limited training options
 Requires "hands on" administration
 Limited add-on tools
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/data/library/techarticle/0301jones/0301jones.html
http://searchoracle.techtarget.com/tutorial/Diving-deeper-into-the-SQL-database-features
Oracle
Oracle is the first commercially available relational database management system (RDBMS).
Below is the list of Oracle releases along with the year of release.
Release
Oracle6
Oracle7
Oracle8
Oracle8i
Oracle9i
Oracle10g
Oracle11g
Year
1988
1992
1997
1998
2001
2003
2007
Oracle had included a number of capabilities into the Oracle 11g like self-tuning which include
automated storage and memory management and intelligent tuning advisors. The most
important 11g new automation features are:
1. Automatic Memory Tuning:
In 11g all the memory can be tuned automatically by setting one parameter.
2. SQL Performance Analyzer :
11g automatically apply SQL profiles for statement which give 3-times better
performance than the existing statement.
3. Automated Storage Load Balancing :
Optimal Load balancing is achieved by allowing single storage pool to be shared by
multiple databases.
4. Automatic Diagnostic Repository:
An “incident” ticket is automatically raised to notify the DBA, when critical errors are
detected.
Oracle RAC/Grid Features:
1. RAC instance load balancing :
Oracle JDBC provides connection pool load balancing facilities through the new Load
Balancing Advisory tool.
2. Oracle RAC parallel upgrades:
It has rolling upgrade features which allows database to be upgraded without any
downtime.
3. Faster Grid provisioning :
Oracle 11g OEM has provisioning installed and configured on every server blade which
has Oracle RAC pre-installed.
4. ADDM for RAC:
Directives are added to Automatic Database Diagnostic Monitor (ADDM) which ignores
all the issues that the user is not concerned about.
Advantages of Oracle Database:
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Extensive support options
Runs on multiple platforms
Scalable for large environments
Very stable
Arguably fastest for large datasets
Supported by many third-party applications
Disadvantages of Oracle Database:
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Requires trained and certified administrators
Can be very expensive
Complicated support options
Upgrades can be complicated
http://www.dba-oracle.com/oracle11g/oracle_11g_new_features.htm
SQL Server
SQL Server is the database system from Microsoft. SQL Server’s ease of use, availability and tight
Windows operating system integration makes it an easy choice for firms that choose Microsoft
products for their enterprises. Microsoft SQL Server 2008 is the platform for business
intelligence solutions.
Following are the features of SQL Server for Business Intelligence:
1. Analysis Services:
They provide real time analytics. By enhancements in the scalability and integration with
the Microsoft office SQL server provides extended business intelligence at all levels of
business.
2. Integration Services(SSIS):
It is the next generation data integration platform that integrates data from any source.
It provides many features that help teams to build & deploy integrated solutions to
meet unique integration needs.
3. Data Mining:
SSAS provide tools for Data Mining to identify rules & patterns in data which can
determine and predict things. This is a powerful tool for making business decisions.
4. Reporting Services
SQL Server reporting service helps in designing both paper-based and interactive Webbased reports.
5. Clustering Support
Clustering enhances multi-instance support, and support for backup and restoring data.
6. Key Performance Indicators
It provides capability to define graphic, customizable business metrics to track key
corporate benchmarks.
7. Scalability and Performance
Scalability is improved using parallel partition processing, ROLAP or HOLAP partitions.
8. Report Builder
It enables the business users to create & deploy the reports with user-friendly
enterprise data model.
9. Proactive Caching
It combines with MOLAP performance with real-time data analysis & eliminates the
need to maintain OLAP stores.
10. Integration with the Microsoft Office System
It is tightly integrated with the Excel & SharePoint Server to provide ease of usage with
accessing, analyzing and collaborating on BI information directly.
Advantages offered by SQL Server:
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Excellent maintenance and development tools
Extensive support options
Very stable
Complete solution with little need for options and add-ons
Offers the lowest TCO in most cases
Supported by many third-party applications
Tightly integrated into Windows operating systems
Disadvantages of SQL Server:
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Runs only on Windows platforms
Not as robust as DB2 or Oracle
Can be expensive
Requires "hands on" administration
http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/2005/en/us/top-30-features.aspx
SYBASE
Advantage Database Server is a high performance client/server data management solution for
standalone, networked and internet database applications. Advantage provides security,
stability and data integrity with zero administration using the optimized data access. It provides
Indexed Sequential Access Method (ISAM) table-based & SQL-based data access.
Following are the key features of the Advantage Database Server:
1. Provides flexibility for data access through either native SQL or direct navigational
database commands.
2. Provides support for all development environments including Delphi, .NET, FoxPro,
Visual basic etc.
3. Provides ease of administration and reduces the DBA cost.
4. Provides complete referential integrity which includes primary/foreign key definition
and cascade updates & deletes.
5. Provides complete transaction processing, database security and encryption support.
6. It is a fully scalable database.
7. Uses centralized storage management system to protect database from network failure.
8. Provides support for Replication to distribute changes from tables in one database to
another remote database.
Advantages of Sybase:
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Flexible data access
Optimized
Easy to Manage
Data Security
Highly scalable
Disadvantages of Sybase:
http://www.sybase.com/files/Data_Sheets/ADS-0308-ds.pdf
MySQL
MySQL is the world’s most popular open source database software for cost-effectively delivering
reliable, high-performance and scalable e-commerce, online transaction processing for database
applications.
The MySQL Database provides the following features:
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Scalability and Flexibility
It can be used for any kind of applications ranging from 1MB to massive data
warehouses holding terabytes of information
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High Performance
It is achieved through Table and Index Partitioning, ultra-fast load utilities, distinctive
memory caches, and full-text indexes.
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High Availability
It runs high speed master/slave replication. Specialized clusters servers offering instant
failover.
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Robust Transactional Support
Support for transactions that are atomic, consistent, isolated and durable. It provides
distributed and multi-version transaction support.
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Strong Data Protection
It is achieved by using powerful authorization mechanisms. It also provides powerful
encryption & decryption functions.
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Comprehensive Application Development
It supports stored procedures, triggers, functions, views, cursors etc. It can be easily
embedded in any application using the plug-in libraries.
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Management Ease
Event Scheduler automatically schedule common recurring SQL-based tasks. Ease of
installation & download.
Advantages of MySQL:
 It is open source software so reduces the licensing cost.
 No cost of development purpose.
 Good for small application
 Easy to learn & master.
 Ease of administration.
Disadvantages of MySQL:
 Does not support very large databases
 Does not support ROLE, COMMIT.
 Transactions are not handled very efficiently.
http://www.sun.com/software/products/mysql/features.jsp
PostgreSQL
PostgreSQL is a powerful, open source object-relational database system. It runs on all major
operating systems. It has many sophisticated features such as Multi-version Concurrency
Control, point in time recovery, tablespaces, asynchronous replication, nested transactions,
online/hot backups, a sophisticated query planner/optimizer, and write ahead logging for fault
tolerance.
Following is the list of Technical Features of PostgreSQL:
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Fully ACID compliant.
Referential Integrity.
Replication (non-commercial and commercial solutions) allowing the duplication of the
master database to multiple slave machines.
Native interfaces for ODBC, JDBC, .Net, C, C++, PHP, Perl, TCL, ECPG, Python, and Ruby.
Rules, Views, Triggers, Unicode, Sequences, Inheritance, Outer Joins, Sub-selects, An
open API, Stored Procedures, Native SSL support, Procedural languages.
Hot stand-by (commercial solutions).
Better than row-level locking.
Functional and Partial indexes.
Native Kerberos authentication.
Support for UNION, UNION ALL and EXCEPT queries.
Loadable extensions offering SHA1, MD5, XML, and other functionality.
Tools for generating portable SQL to share with other SQL-compliant systems.
Extensible data type system providing for custom, user-defined datatypes and rapid
development of new datatypes.
Cross-database compatibility functions for easing the transition from other, less SQLcompliant RDBMS.
Advantages of PostgreSQL:
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Immunity to over-deployment
Better support than the proprietary vendors
Significant saving on staffing costs
Legendary reliability and stability
Extensible
Cross platform
Designed for high volume environments
GUI database design and administration tools
Disadvantages of PostgreSQL:
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No default params in plpgsql
No support built into plpgsql to create web-based procedures
Tweaking for speed requires more work
http://www.postgresql.org/about/
Informix
IBM Informix is an exceptional relational database that offers outstanding performance,
reliability, scalability and manageability for businesses. IBM offers several Informix versions -from its limited Developer Edition, to its entry-level Express Edition, to a lowmaintenance online transaction processing (OLTP) Workgroup Edition all the way up to its highperformance OLTP Enterprise Edition. Often associated with universities and colleges, Informix
made the leap to the corporate world to take a No. 1 spot in customer satisfaction. Informix
customers often speak of its low cost, low maintenance and high reliability.
Following is a list of features offered by Informix:
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Options, not hassles, for achieving continuous availability
Informix Flexible Grid sets high availability option with low-cost hardware. Upgrades &
maintenance can be scheduled with no down time or even without having to use
temporary hardware.
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Speed and efficiency let you do more and spend less
In Informix analytical workloads are up to 50% faster due to multi-index scans and star
join optimization. Operations can be consolidated on a single database server
technology since Informix has strong performance as a single platform to address OLTP.
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Easy administration lets you maximize DBA resources
Informix autonomics include self-maintaining, self-configuring, and self-healing
capabilities. It also supports advanced datatypes like spatial, geodetic, and timeseries
data.
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Application development enhancements increase developer productivity and options
Informix enables faster development and testing of SQL queries, stored procedures and
Web Services using IBM Optim Development Studio, providing visual analysis of SQL
statements, execution and performance.
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Enhanced security speeds time to compliance
It has enhanced auditing & user authentication techniques. Informix brings trusted
context to solution providers to create a trusted connection between the middle tier
and the database, together with 3rd party authentication, greatly simplifying
administration.
Advantages of Informix Database:
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Makes use of Dynamic Scalable Architecture.
Supports Multimedia data types and datatypes created for specific business domain.
Enables user to create & use existing packages called DataBlade modules for
encapsulation.
Provides Web browser based system administration.
Disadvantages of Informix Database:
http://www-01.ibm.com/software/data/informix/feature.html