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http://www.oracle.com/collabsuite/index.html

You can store XML according to a schema, and index it using B*Trees, or you can store it as a LOB and index it with function-based indexes or text indexes. There are tradeoffs to either. Here's a document explaining Oracle's implementation, though you need to sign up to OTN (free reg)

http://download-west.oracle.com/docs/cd/B14117_01/ appdev.101/b10790/xdb01int.htm#sthref46

Connection speed and non-transactional ?

Maybe for a small site.

Try MyISAM or InnoDB.

Now create a table with 30 fields:
userid : int, dataid : int, subdataid: int, someparam : int, a bunch of varchar(30), varchar(255), with 3 of them as FULL TEXT with index.
Create an index for any where clause field.

Now take this table, insert 1...50000 rows with incremental data and some field being identical.

Now create 10000+ rows with the same userid, and a mixture of dataid/subdataid, being equals, like this, (1,1,1), (1,1,2)...(1,1,1000),(1,2,1)...(1,2,1000)... you get the idea.

Make sure, the RAW DB file is at least 50 MB.

Now do 6 queries that looks like this:

select * from test where userid=1
and somevarchar likes 'test%'
and somevarchar2 likes 'foo%'
and someid > 10;

and let it crawl.

HTML page load time 30 seconds and up.

MySQL is great for small sites, but it doesn't scale up.
We encountered this problem on our LAMP server, when we added a *busy* site to our framework and the busy site was producing 10,000 hits per day... We had to move the site to a new server... with PostgreSQL.

BTW, I did some similar test with Oracle10g and PostgreSQL 8.1, I couldn't see much difference apart that Oracle seems to create indexes by itself and it cost 45K$ per processor, unless you buy a Dell/Oracle server blade deal.

You can try Oracle10g from http://otn.oracle.com/

The only fact that I will agree with you is:
MySQL Cluster seems to rocks [never test it myself],
but our friend Google seems to be using it a lot.

Of course, if your website has less than 1000 hits per month, like almost everyone here, there's no point between MySQL/PostgreSQL, use whatever you want.

It's called Oracle Text. It's fairly powerful, but a bit of a pain to work with.

Oracle has a *free* database now (in beta last I heard, but you can DL it). Oracle 10g Express (XE) edition. Still not GPL free, but at least $$$ free :)

http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/database /xe/index.html

Same codebase as the big daddy but with a few limitations (like you can't store 10TB of data in it, etc..)

In case you didn't know, Oracle are now offering a free version of 10g: Oracle Database 10g Express Edition

I see Oracle 9iR2 released for Solaris 10 SPARC 32-bit and 64bit. And Oracle 10g, RAC and non-RAC, is available on Solaris 10 for SPARC and x86. Solaris is an Oracle base platform, so I'd be very surprised it weren't supported.

I only checked a few products and platforms, so this is not a complete listing.

You can check platform certifications at:
https://metalink.oracle.com/metalink/certify/certi fy.istore_welcome

Why not digitize it and store it in an unbreakable database?

It sounds like it may be excessive for your needs, but the entire database is right here for you to test out.

These days I'm running a multi-terabyte data warehouse ... I could run my warehouse on the db2 express version for $1500 (total).

No, you can't. Oracle XE, the free version, is restricted to 4gb of data. Not 4tb, 4 gigs.

That's not a data warehouse, that's a data convenience store.

You should know that anyone can download the fully un-crippled version of the Enterprise DB from http://otn.oracle.com/ and use it all you want for development without paying a dime in licensing fees.

It's only when you go Production that you're required to have your Oracle licenses purchased.

The other (and related) issue is that administering an Oracle server can be a daunting task, and there's not a great deal of (free) literature available for it.

Daunting, yes. But on the contrary, I find Oracle to be one of the best documented databases on the market. There is an entire library of documentation you can download for free, search online, or get on CD with each release. In addition to that, there are forums on Metalink for paying customers, and the invaluable http://asktom.oracle.com/ website (free)! Most of the documentation includes relevant examples in addition to just technical reference.

Rarely have I been confronted with an Oracle issue that is not easily resolved by a combination of those reasources.

I agree about their Java tools. Anyone who uses Oracle should have some Quest tools laying around...

The Oracle Documentation Suite is freely downloadable from their own website.
http://www.oracle.com/technology/documentation/ind ex.html

I think that only good reason to obtain 10g is to learn Oracle. If I was working at a company that was moving to Oracle, or at least talking about it, I would DL this to learn it for improved job opportunities.

• Available on 32-bit Linux and Windows
• Installs using native installers
• English (single byte character set) and International (Unicode) versions available with support for 10 major languages
• Supports up to 4GB of user data
• Utilizes a single CPU on multi-processor or multi-core machines
• Can use up to 1GB RAM (single instance only)
• Fully upgradeable to other Oracle Database 10g editions
• Oracle Text for efficient text-based searches

Like the title of my reply already said ... you can almost download any tool of Oracle for free. (except the Apps Suite) Only for development purposes like stated on http://otn.oracle.com./ You can download the _entire_ Oracle 10g2 Production Relase DB, the developer suite, and so on & .... It is only a problemn when you use it in your company. My 0.02$ Regards

Oracle is very open in its pricing. check out http://oraclestore.oracle.com/ and you can customize what you want.

Sorry for replying to my own comment. pushed submit too fast. according to the XE faq: Any application developed for Oracle Database XE will run completely unchanged with Oracle Database 10g Standard Edition One, Standard Edition, or Enterprise Edition; so u can backup a DB created in XE, and restore it on the bigger ones. I still wonder if you can do it the other way around. the importance being that u could then do development on something like a laptop without needing to use another small footprint db like msde, mysql or postgresql.

Direct link -> http://download.oracle.com/otn/nt/oracle10g/xe/Ora cleXE.exe/

You can download the beta for Linux and Windows from http://www.oracle.com/technology/software/products /database/xe/index.html

Did anyone check out the "export controls" for the download?

Good for a laugh if nothing else:
(http://www.oracle.com/technology/software/htdocs/ xe_lic.html?http://www.oracle.com/technology/softw are/products/database/xe/htdocs/102xewinsoft.html)

-I am not a citizen, national, or resident of, and am not under control of, the government of Cuba, Iran, Sudan, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Syria, nor any country to which the United States has prohibited export.
-I will not download or otherwise export or re-export the Software, directly or indirectly, to the above mentioned countries nor to citizens, nationals or residents of those countries.
-I am not listed on the United States Department of Treasury lists of Specially Designated Nationals, Specially Designated Terrorists, and Specially Designated Narcotic Traffickers, nor am I listed on the United States Department of Commerce Table of Denial Orders.
-I will not download or otherwise export or re-export the Software, directly or indirectly, to persons on the above mentioned lists.
-I will not use the Software for, and will not allow the Software to be used for, any purposes prohibited by United States law, including, without limitation, for the development, design, manufacture or production of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons of mass destruction.

Granted I'm not familiar with Oracle, but I don't think it'd be too handy in the manufacture of chemical or biological weapons.

Excuse the trollish comment, I couldn't resist... Now that I caught your attention, you might like to know this. Remember this thing called "read consistency", and how important it is to get it implemented both correctly and efficiently (MVCC) in order to achieve this other thing called "scalability"?

Well it turns out SQL-Server 2000 implemented read-consistency via locking, which means that it can never have the scalability of Oracle (or even Postgres, which also uses MVCC) in OLTP scenarios.

Oracle introduced the use of MVCC in version 4, 1984 !!! (ask Tom Kyte). Finally, MS has caught up. It'll be interesting to see how the implementation performs.

Er, sorry, version 2 is what I meant.

The Oracle Cluster filesystem is also available under the GPL. Dunno if that fits the bill; the description here is sort of vague. It sounds like a seriously ambitious project to approach for someone who doesn't even know what can be done, let alone what's within his budget.

Oracle has sucky documentation?
Not to get horribly off topic, but: http://www.oracle.com/technology/documentation/dat abase10gr2.html
I think it said something like 5000 pages when I sent the printjob to my boss' printer (Hey, he refused me the 2-day DBA!).

For some reason I seem to remember the first time I ran across PHP it was called "The home page construction kit" and I remember thinking it must have been some sort of translation or something that was abbreviated PHP in another language. I tried look through some of my old e-mail, but I don't remember where I put the really old ones.

Maybe I should e-mail Rasmus and see if I mis-remember that.

You are kidding here, right? I mean, OSS is great, and as a means of generating better version of/good alternatives to products that help sell your product it is a great idea for business. Becoming the "masters of open source databases" does not help oracle because oracle sells databases. For them the true return on investments from open source software comes from products that either depend on oracle's software or make the software oracle uses work better. If it does not make your software inherently better or inherently required it is NOT a decent business investment.

Really, what this shows is not how far from "grokkin' the source" a company is, it shows how far from understanding business some open source advocates are.

You are kidding here, right? I mean, OSS is great, and as a means of generating better version of/good alternatives to products that help sell your product it is a great idea for business. Becoming the "masters of open source databases" does not help oracle because oracle sells databases. For them the true return on investments from open source software comes from products that either depend on oracle's software or make the software oracle uses work better. If it does not make your software inherently better or inherently required it is NOT a decent business investment.

Really, what this shows is not how far from "grokkin' the source" a company is, it shows how far from understanding business some open source advocates are.

I'll admit it, I love Oracle.. They are the only database vendor out there making real advances.. Everyone else, DB2, SQL Server, etc are playing catch up. I'll be the first to admit they are not perfect... At times i'm as frustrated as anyone else..

Article on open standards..

Something like Oracle Application Server maybe?

That's a good MS promoter!
If it doesn't run on Windows, it's Jerry-rigged, and pushing companies to write cross-platform software would just be pushy.

Here's a little-known-fact about linux: Many major software manufacturers write software that runs on linux. The ones that don't, are doing it based on marketing strategies. If the market changed, so would their coding practices. As a business owner, I do not have the type of money to back up a Microsoft platform, and I also cannot justify using the software due to quality and corporate tie-ins. When I'm bigger, maybe I'll dig myself a hole and dive in head first (Microsoft said they already have it started for me whenever I feel like jumping).

Honestly, if Adobe made their software for Linux, then I would guess at least another 29 million people would switch over to linux. I just love how software like Blender 3d, Firefox, Thunderbird, OpenOffice.org, Zend Studio, Star Office, MySQL, Oracle, Apache, PHP, and many many others all work on Windows and Linux, and oftentimes MacOSX, but lazy companies like Adobe/Macromedia, Autodesk, and most gaming companies choose to single out one or two platforms to target simply because of marketing strategies.

Microsoft has chosen time and time again to refuse to implement global standards simply because they want to lock people into using their software. Your post proves that their marketing strategy works.

Also keep in mind that hardware working with the operating system says more about the hardware manufacturers than the operating system. Microsoft has been known to strongarm hardware manufacturers to not create linux drivers, and many hardware manufacturers are just too lazy to work with the linux community.

So while Linux, being about half the age of windows, is still lacking in a few areas, it is still more stable and provides enough features for me to use. I still keep a windows box around at work for troubleshooting other users' microsoft office problems, and for running the Adobe Creative Suite, but you can bet I'll be formating every windows box I own as soon as Adobe releases Linux binaries. (considering how closely related OSX and Linux are, I still don't understand why they don't make a linux port)

In short, if industries really did shift to linux, companies that write software wouldn't hesitate to change as well. It is our fear of something different that keeps us on Windows, and keeps software developers from writing linux code, resulting in jerry-rigged solutions like Firefox, Thunderbird, PHP, Apache, Oracle Enterprise server, and others. (note the sarcasm)

There are drop-in replacements for exchange:

Communigate Pro http://www.stalker.com/ is a drop-in replacement for exchange with minimal changes.

However, if I were to want a solution that blows exchange away, I'd look to:
Oracle Collaboration Suite http://www.oracle.com/collabsuite/index.html, which goes far beyond Exchange into voicemail, desktop sharing, and remote access. It's simply amazing.

In contrast, the Unix approach generally has been to favor process creation and context switching at the cost of some efficiency for long-running processes, to favor multiprocessor memory management at the cost of increased hardware complexity, and to favor process or thread-level independence at the cost of making interprocess communication more difficult.

Same database version running the same version of our code, runs at LEAST 25% faster on Linux (RedHat Advanced Server 2.1) than Windows (XP). I don't think I'm allowed to give any numbers for 10g yet, but let's just say it's a whole lot faster than 9iR2 running the same code. 10g + Lniux = blazing speed (sorry for the marketing blurb, but our development team still can't get over how much faster it is).

Please. Now we're up to version five, and have finally implemented the features that *nothing* past a pre1.0 beta should be without. Its almost humorous how much usage this extended file manager has gotten in past years.

Fortunately for everyone though, Oracle has just announced [oracle.com that they are open sourcing their famous database platform. Long live free software.

With support well into the next decade, I would say no, it doesn't count as squashing them out.

from http://www.oracle.com/support/premier/lifetime-sup port-policy.html

"Oracle's Lifetime Support Policy further extends support for PeopleSoft and JD Edwards applications as well. For currently supported PeopleSoft and JD Edwards releases, we are offering Premier support for five years from their general availability date. This is an extension of an additional year over what we had previously announced. We will still continue to deliver tax, legal, and regulatory updates for six-years for the PeopleSoft Enterprise and JD Edwards EnterpriseOne applications. For JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Xe and 8.0 customers, Premier support is now available through 2013. And for PeopleSoft Enterprise 8.8 customers, we are offering an Extended support option through 2011, as well as an upgrade from PeopleSoft Enterprise 8.8 to Project Fusion."

Long ago (1994) Oracle acquired Rdb which came with VMS and people were alarmed thinking the sky was falling because Oracle would convert the customer base to its flagship database engine and let Rdb wither. Well it didn't exactly happen like that. What withered was VMS but Rdb is still maintained and improved by Oracle as a separate database product. http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/rdb/inde x.html/

Of course Oracle makes money on Rdb. Oracle's strategy is probably to make money with InnoDB too. They may be sneaky and improve InnoDB and keep quiet for a few years and then when people get dependent on it they will up the license fees.

How to make money on open source: Get people addicted with "free" open source software but charge them for key critical components, training, and support. Oracle is not alone here.

Hey man, I got some really good stuff for ya here and I'll give ya some for free just because I like you and I'm so nice. It's really good shit. Here, try some on me.

That would make it really awkward for MySQL AB to say anything to the effect that they intended to somehow compete with Oracle. It would presumably be grounds for terminating the ability for MySQL AB to continue to sell their product with a transactional engine...

not sure where you're getting that...

According to IDC, it's Oracle...according to Gartner, it's IBM..but SQL Server is a distant 3rd.

http://www.oracle.com/corporate/investor_relations /orcl_db_strength.pdf

Here's the link for those interested:

http://www.oracle.com/corporate/press/2005_oct/inn o.html

The license for InnoDB is up for renewel next year... guess that means that Oracle has a very strong position against MySQL. Maybe that's why MySQL is issuing press releases saying that they're not a competitor. MySQL may have to actually drop the InnoDB storage engine -- at Oracle's discretion.

http://www.oracle.com/corporate/press/2005_oct/inn o.html

Perhaps MySQL is saying "We aren't competing with Oracle" because Oracle has MySQL in a difficult position. Oracle just purchased InnoBase, the makers of InnoDB. They get to "renegotiate" the terms next year. MySQL may end up having to drop the InnoDB storage engine, and transactions along with it. After all, it's Oracle's option.

Also take a look at this

So an OSS solution for this type of software doesn't have the familiar advantage of cost due to it being free (as in beer). But this doesn't mean that this mail server software doesn't have a significantly smaller TCO. And the AJAX interface is a nice touch. But things like how well the software can handle disk failures, how easy it is to do backups, how easy it is to handle 1 million mailboxes, etc. are the factors that make mail server software succeed or fail.

Note: Exchange doesn't do any of these things well.

Many companies (Oracle, IBM and others) distribute modified versions of Apache without providing source code. Those versions of Apache are privative software, they are not Free Software anymore. That would never happened if Apache were under the GPL.

Red Hat Global File System now supported by Oracle, EMC and NetApp

http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/database /clustering/certify/tech_generic_linux.html
http://www.redhat.com/en_us/USA/home/company/news/ prarchive/2005/press_rh-gfs_support.html

The Oracle Technology Network
http://otn.oracle.com/ - LOTS of FREE online books and tutorials.

Ask 'Tom'
http://asktom.oracle.com/ - a place to go to ask questions and read FAQs ... but mostly the latter.

The Oracle Technology Network
http://otn.oracle.com/ - LOTS of FREE online books and tutorials.

Ask 'Tom'
http://asktom.oracle.com/ - a place to go to ask questions and read FAQs ... but mostly the latter.

It's interesting how PHP is 'complete junk', yet you have not named any closed-source software that's better.

There are (and have been for some time) component-based frameworks for web development that show PHP for the crap that it is. These days, ASP.NET (see http://webui30.componentart.com/ for example components) and JSF (see http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/jdev/htd ocs/partners/addins/exchange/jsf/doc/tagdoc/core/i mageIndex.html for example components) look to be taking over, but Apple Webobjects has been around for some time. These are giant fully-tested and documented frameworks.

Oh, and I like how you admit that Linux (at least as a server) and Apache are both better than any alternatives for what they do, yet assert that it's a commerical organization that have made them this way. That is just flat-out wrong, and a trivial knowledge of the timeline of those projects would have shown that.

Linux was a hobby OS and used only in small-time hosting operations before the big companies got involved. Perhaps you should reexamine the timeline. Apache only took off early because it was the upgrade path from NCSA httpd, which was the original standard. From there, many companies have been providing support through the ASF.

What's the best mail server?

Pick any big company's mail solution (aside from Microsoft's), and you'll find something that's more managable, more scalable, better documented, and more featureful than anything the open source world can offer. Examples: http://www.lotus.com/products/product4.nsf/wdocs/d ominohomepage and http://www.oracle.com/collabsuite/feature_email.ht ml

What's the best software firewall? I'm sorry, but I don't read up on firewall software very often, but I'm sure it's no different from my other examples.

It's interesting how PHP is 'complete junk', yet you have not named any closed-source software that's better.

There are (and have been for some time) component-based frameworks for web development that show PHP for the crap that it is. These days, ASP.NET (see http://webui30.componentart.com/ for example components) and JSF (see http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/jdev/htd ocs/partners/addins/exchange/jsf/doc/tagdoc/core/i mageIndex.html for example components) look to be taking over, but Apple Webobjects has been around for some time. These are giant fully-tested and documented frameworks.

Oh, and I like how you admit that Linux (at least as a server) and Apache are both better than any alternatives for what they do, yet assert that it's a commerical organization that have made them this way. That is just flat-out wrong, and a trivial knowledge of the timeline of those projects would have shown that.

Linux was a hobby OS and used only in small-time hosting operations before the big companies got involved. Perhaps you should reexamine the timeline. Apache only took off early because it was the upgrade path from NCSA httpd, which was the original standard. From there, many companies have been providing support through the ASF.

What's the best mail server?

Pick any big company's mail solution (aside from Microsoft's), and you'll find something that's more managable, more scalable, better documented, and more featureful than anything the open source world can offer. Examples: http://www.lotus.com/products/product4.nsf/wdocs/d ominohomepage and http://www.oracle.com/collabsuite/feature_email.ht ml

What's the best software firewall? I'm sorry, but I don't read up on firewall software very often, but I'm sure it's no different from my other examples.

Assuming you already know something about databases:

http://asktom.oracle.com/
http://tahiti.oracle.com/
http://metalink.oracle.com/

Tom Kyte's books
Cary Millsap's books
Oracle Press books
The Oracle Concepts Guide from tahiti above for your version
comp.databases.oracle.server (watch out, there are some bigheads)

And you can download and run a full-blown Oracle setup on your own for free, as long as it's for learning.

There are lots of crap books and bad advice out there; concentrate on understanding from the above first so you can spot those.

Do backups. Use RMAN. Test backups.

Assuming you already know something about databases:

http://asktom.oracle.com/
http://tahiti.oracle.com/
http://metalink.oracle.com/

Tom Kyte's books
Cary Millsap's books
Oracle Press books
The Oracle Concepts Guide from tahiti above for your version
comp.databases.oracle.server (watch out, there are some bigheads)

And you can download and run a full-blown Oracle setup on your own for free, as long as it's for learning.

There are lots of crap books and bad advice out there; concentrate on understanding from the above first so you can spot those.

Do backups. Use RMAN. Test backups.