Thread: comparision chart

comparision chart

From
clayton cottingham
Date:
hello:

im working on a comparison chart for features between different
databases

mysql postgresql db2 sqlserver oracle and sybase

im not looking for anything too granular
10000ft level totally cool

thanks!!


Re: comparision chart

From
Christopher Sawtell
Date:
On Wednesday 20 February 2002 12:39 pm, clayton cottingham wrote:
> hello:
>
> im working on a comparison chart for features between different
> databases
>

Open Source Projects.
==================

mysql
------

http://www.mysql.com/

Widely used as a very fast read only database. Backs _many_ web sites.
Locking at the table level only, thus update of the database best done when 
effectively in single-user-mode. Transactions implemented using external 
methods. Questionable stability under heavy load. Said to be improving.

Weird semi-open licence. See:- http://www.mysql.com/support/arrangements.html

postgresql
-----------

http://www.postgresql.org/

Somewhat slower, but absolutely solid. Many datatypes, with inheritance.
Transactions implemented using builtin methods. Fine grained locking thus 
safe multi-user read-write operations possible. Extensively used for reseach 
and beginning to used for real world financial recording. Many "add-on" 
third-party projects and language APIs. Documentation sometimes rather 
cryptic and difficult to understand, but definitely improving.

Source code available under BSD Licence.
Several very helpful mail lists. 
Several pretty well-written books available.

Commercial Offerings.
==================

db2
---

http://www-4.ibm.com/software/data/db2/

Dirived directly from the original RDBMS from IBM. Mature stable system, 
possibly suffering from compounding overbyte and creeping featureitis. Fast 
and works well. Extensively used in the commercial world. 

Free downloads and CDROMs for personal use; commercial binaries available for 
many platforms including Linux.


sqlserver oracle and sybase

I have no experience of these.

you forgot

Interbase
----------

http://www.borland.com/interbase/

SAP
---

http://www.sap.com/

Purports to be Europe's leading commercial database.
Underlying engine GPL licensed. Binaries for several platforms and source 
available for d/l and free on CDROMs. Huge range of commercial applications 
supported.
Infomix.
--------

http://www.informix.com/     which forwards to:-
http://www-4.ibm.com/software/data/informix/

IBM have recently bought Infomix to both extend their customer base and for 
its technical features. Commercial binaries available for many platforms, 
free for personal educational use on Linux. Truly extensive, well written, 
but chaotically organised, documentation. Works very well. Common distant 
ancestor with postgresql.

HTH

--
Sincerely etc.,
Christopher Sawtell.


Re: comparision chart

From
"Johannes Grødem"
Date:
* Christopher Sawtell <csawtell@paradise.net.nz>:

> Widely used as a very fast read only database. Backs _many_ web sites.
> Locking at the table level only, thus update of the database best done when 
> effectively in single-user-mode. Transactions implemented using external 
> methods.

The version with InnoDB has row-level locking and transactions.  (And
is supposedly very fast, unlike the BDB-tables.)

http://www.innodb.com/

-- 
johs


Re: comparision chart

From
"Christopher Kings-Lynne"
Date:
> > Widely used as a very fast read only database. Backs _many_ web sites.
> > Locking at the table level only, thus update of the database
> best done when
> > effectively in single-user-mode. Transactions implemented using
> external
> > methods.
>
> The version with InnoDB has row-level locking and transactions.  (And
> is supposedly very fast, unlike the BDB-tables.)

I love how they still call it 'mysql' instead of 'sql wrapper around someone
else's better backend library'...

OK, so they have tables with transactions - so now what happens if you do
this?

* begin a transaction
* do a select for update that joins two tables, one with transactions and
one without
* another connection deletes some rows from the transaction-less table out
from under you
* update the transaction-less table
* update the table with transactions
* drop the table with transactions
* rollback the transaction

All sorts of crazy fun!!!  It's insane!

(Just my 2c - let's not start another flame war...)

Chris



Re: comparision chart

From
clayton cottingham
Date:
thanks for all your help all,

i guess i wasnt so clear on what i mlooking for, based on your replies.

im looking for something like:


Database    MySQL    Postgresql    Oracle    
Transactions    Partial    Yes    Yes            
RowLock    No    Yes    Yes            
Constraints    No    Partial    Yes            
Programmable    Partial    Yes    Yes            
Secure    Yes    Yes    Yes            
FailSafe    No    Yes    Yes            
Hotback    No     No    Yes            



but i want the features list to be succinct enough 
to hand off to clients, nothing too in depth but enough that a 
layperson could discern useful features etc 

so i guess what im looking for is:
good keywords for global level features and
the yes or no's for each database, 

i have been searching the net and ive found a few 
but nothing to relevant, usually the veriosn s are out of date.

so for totally approaching off topic status!!


Re: comparision chart

From
"Josh Berkus"
Date:
Clayton,

> 
> Database    MySQL    Postgresql    Oracle    
> Transactions    Partial    Yes    Yes            
> RowLock    No    Yes    Yes            
> Constraints    No    Partial    Yes            
> Programmable    Partial    Yes    Yes            
> Secure    Yes    Yes    Yes            
> FailSafe    No    Yes    Yes            
> Hotback    No     No    Yes            

SQL-92 Compliance   50%    85%    75%  (very rough estimate)

Regarding your rating of Postgres, what do you mean by "partial"support of constraints?  And what is "hotBack"?

-Josh 


______AGLIO DATABASE SOLUTIONS___________________________                                      Josh Berkus Complete
informationtechnology      josh@agliodbs.com  and data management solutions       (415) 565-7293 for law firms, small
businesses       fax 621-2533   and non-profit organizations.      San Francisco
 


Re: comparision chart

From
clayton cottingham
Date:
Josh Berkus wrote:
> 
> Clayton,
> 
> >
> > Database      MySQL   Postgresql      Oracle
> > Transactions  Partial Yes     Yes
> > RowLock       No      Yes     Yes
> > Constraints   No      Partial Yes
> > Programmable  Partial Yes     Yes
> > Secure        Yes     Yes     Yes
> > FailSafe      No      Yes     Yes
> > Hotback       No      No      Yes
> 
> SQL-92 Compliance   50%    85%    75%  (very rough estimate)
> 
> Regarding your rating of Postgres, what do you mean by "partial"
>  support of constraints?  And what is "hotBack"?
> 


sorry i guess i wasnt clear
i grabbed that from another site, 
and i got confused by some of the terms!

thats why i was looking for some insight from the list!!


im glad to know someone else doesnt know what that mean

ttfn

> -Josh
> 
> ______AGLIO DATABASE SOLUTIONS___________________________
>                                        Josh Berkus
>   Complete information technology      josh@agliodbs.com
>    and data management solutions       (415) 565-7293
>   for law firms, small businesses        fax 621-2533
>     and non-profit organizations.      San Francisco


Re: comparision chart

From
Brian Knox
Date:
What is the definition of 'hotback' in this case? I thought that you could
run pg_dump to dump a database while it was being actively used... could
you give more information as to why you say that postgres does not support
hot backups?

On Wed, 20 Feb 2002, Josh Berkus wrote:

> Clayton,
>
> >
> > Database    MySQL    Postgresql    Oracle
> > Transactions    Partial    Yes    Yes
> > RowLock    No    Yes    Yes
> > Constraints    No    Partial    Yes
> > Programmable    Partial    Yes    Yes
> > Secure    Yes    Yes    Yes
> > FailSafe    No    Yes    Yes
> > Hotback    No     No    Yes
>
> SQL-92 Compliance   50%    85%    75%  (very rough estimate)
>
> Regarding your rating of Postgres, what do you mean by "partial"
>  support of constraints?  And what is "hotBack"?
>
> -Josh
>
>
> ______AGLIO DATABASE SOLUTIONS___________________________
>                                        Josh Berkus
>   Complete information technology      josh@agliodbs.com
>    and data management solutions       (415) 565-7293
>   for law firms, small businesses        fax 621-2533
>     and non-profit organizations.      San Francisco
>
> ---------------------------(end of broadcast)---------------------------
> TIP 6: Have you searched our list archives?
>
> http://archives.postgresql.org
>



Re: comparision chart

From
Troels Arvin
Date:
On Wed, 20 Feb 2002 07:08:46 +0100, "Christopher Sawtell"
<csawtell@paradise.net.nz> wrote:

> mysql
> ------
[...]

MySQL has a well-documented replication system (which also works well, I
hear). Simple one-way replication seems easy to set up.

> postgresql
> -----------

There doesn't seem to be a consensus about how to replicate PostgreSQL
databases.


(Normally, I don't advocate MySQL before PostgreSQL, but as this
discussion shows, there _are_ areas where MySQL is in front.)

-- 
Greetings from Troels Arvin, Copenhagen, Denmark


Re: comparision chart

From
Roberto Mello
Date:
On Wed, Feb 20, 2002 at 09:36:12AM +0100, Johannes Gr?dem wrote:
> 
> The version with InnoDB has row-level locking and transactions.  (And
> is supposedly very fast, unlike the BDB-tables.)

And the InnoDB implementors seem to have as much a distorted mind as the
rest of the MySQL Team:

"Exchange on MySQL and Innobase: Are They DBMSs, Let Alone Relational?"
http://www.dbdebunk.com/

One of the "pearls" by Heikki Tuuri from Innobase:

"This is semantics, but I think Codd and Date in the 70s meant by a
relational database something which has a relational query language. Thus
any database which has a query language somewhat similar to the relational
algebra or SQL can be called a relational database."

Should tell you something about what kind of product they are building.

-Roberto

-- 
+----| http://fslc.usu.edu/ USU Free Software & GNU/Linux Club |------+ Roberto Mello - Computer Science, USU -
http://www.brasileiro.net/      http://www.sdl.usu.edu/ - Space Dynamics Lab, Developer    
 


Re: comparision chart

From
Mark kirkwood
Date:
Previously...
>
> Regarding your rating of Postgres, what do you mean by "partial"
>  support of constraints?  And what is "hotBack"?
> 

The confusing terms probably my fault - (Someone probably saw an old
posting of mine) - apologies in the time travelled sense...

I think partial constraint meant that there was "create" but no
"alter/drop/disable/enable" for them (This was circa Pg 7.0.0).

And I seem to recall thinking about a hotbackup in the sense of :
i) able to back up the db while it is running (and)
ii) able to use use the transaction logs to "catch up" after a media
failure (assuming the logs are backed up somehow too)

Clearly most of the crowd can do i), but fewer do ii) - mainly the
commercial ones.

I am less sure these days the ii) is so important. Many folks seem to
manage by means of using i) combined with replication or fault tolerance
at the os or hardware level (but I am ranging off the topic here...)

best wishes for the chart

regards

Mark