Compatibility Between EntepriseDB and Oracle

Have you wondered what features are compatible between Oracle and EnterpriseDB? Have you wondered if EnterpriseDB is REALLY compatible with Oracle?

EnterpriseDB has compiled a new document called the Oracle Compatibility Developer's Guide. You can download the Oracle Compatibility Developer's Guide for EntepriseDB 8.2 or the Oracle Compatibility Developer's Guide for 8.3 Beta.

This new document should help answer one of the most common questions I get asked, i.e., what is compatible and what is not compatible between EnterpriseDB and Oracle. If you are interested in EnterpriseDB but haven't taken the plunge, check out this document.

Speaking of compatibility, I plan to start a series of articles that directly compares a feature between Oracle and EntepriseDB (with mentions to pure PostgreSQL).

LewisC

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EDB*Plus and EDB*Loader Emulate Oracle’s SQL*Plus and SQL*Loader: EnterpriseDB 8.3 Beta

EnterpriseDB Advanced Server’s enterprise-class, cross-platform developer and DBA console now includes EDB*Plus, a command-line terminal interface that emulates Oracle’s SQL*Plus. Like SQL*Plus, EDB*Plus allows users to run SQL and PL/SQL commands interactively. Oracle users accustomed to SQL*Plus will find EDB*Plus immediately familiar. In addition, EnterpriseDB’s new EDB*Loader emulates Oracle’s SQL*Loader and provides even deeper compatibility.

EnterpriseDB Advanced Server 8.3 adds several new features that enhance the database’s ability to run, unchanged, applications written for Oracle. For example, there are more than 20 new Oracle-compatible system views, Oracle-compatible packages now support comments, and ROWNUM can now be used in sub-queries and views. In addition, EnterpriseDB’s new bulk binding feature, which allows collections of SQL statements to be collected and run together to improve performance, further improves Oracle compatibility.

Other updates to the new software include:

• A DBA monitoring console that provides real-time charting for CPU and memory usage, disk I/O, and cache hit ratios across multiple EnterpriseDB databases

• Support for embedded hints, which can alter program execution

• Transaction error recovery support, which enables implicit statement-level transactions

• Updateable cursors

• Definer/invoker rights to provide controlled access to database objects

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Is EnterpriseDB Express Gone?

I was at the EnterpriseDB web site recently and noticed that the downloads have changed a bit. I no longer see a download for EnterpriseDB Express. If you remember a while back, I had found an annoyance with the installation of the express version.

Now you go right to the advance server download and get a messsage.

You have downloaded EnterpriseDB Advanced Server. Currently, EnterpriseDB Advanced Server 8.2 requires a Product Key in order to use the software above 1 CPU, 1 GB of memory, and 6GB of data. This product key will be removed from future releases of EnterpriseDB Advanced Server.

The message also provides a license key so that you can install the software. Kudos EnterpriseDB. I appreciate it. I'm not opposed to an express version. Actually, I think it makes a lot of sense. But before implementing it, the software should be able to limit itself.

It looks like that's what they plan to do.

I also noticed a new feature/offering. EnterpriseDB now offers a Developer Support Pack.

Need some help getting started with EnterpriseDB Advanced Server? Sign up for 6 months of technical support today for just $99. This Developer Support Pack is to be used for development only and not for production implementations.

That is an incredibly reasonable price for a developer to get up to speed. I didn't read the details but if that allows a developer access to phone support, $99 for half a year can't be beat.

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EnterpriseDB Wins One From MySQL

Do you do GEO? If you do, you've probably at least heard of PostGIS, the Postgres GIS extension. PostGIS just gave EnterpriseDB a big win over its open source competition.

FortiusOne leads the market towards the next generation of Web mapping. Its breakthrough Intelligent Mapping technologies offer rich information visualization on maps and unprecedented access to geographic data. FortiusOne innovations include: high-speed Web-based geographic analysis tools, a flexible and scalable Web services platform supporting the special needs of geographic data, and an innovative application of social networking techniques to geographic knowledge creation.

FortiusOne's main product is GeoCommons. GeoCommons houses a large geospatial database with more than two billion attributes, 35,000 variables, and 1,500 datasets. As a fast-growing startup, FortiusOne required a low-cost, powerful database solution to run GeoCommons. Originally, FortiusOne selected MySQL; however, when FortiusOne was preparing to deploy the first public beta of GeoCommons, they encountered major performance roadblocks.



FortiusOne has migrated GeoCommons from MySQL to EnterpriseDB Advanced Server and improved overall system performance by 80%.

“We slammed into a brick wall with MySQL,” said Chris Ingrassia, chief technology officer, FortiusOne. “As an example, MySQL’s rather limited and incomplete spatial support dramatically impacted performance. We were looking for an affordable database solution, but we required enterprise-class features and performance that MySQL simply couldn’t deliver. Plus, philosophically we want to support open source-based technologies like EnterpriseDB.”

The PostGIS geospatial extensions to PostgreSQL played a key role in FortiusOne’s selection of EnterpriseDB Advanced Server, a PostgreSQL-based solution, and dramatically improved performance. FortiusOne needed to run complex spatial queries against large datasets quickly and efficiently, and found the MySQL spatial extensions to be far less complete and comprehensive than PostGIS. EnterpriseDB Advanced Server processes some of GeoCommons’ database-intensive rendering requests in one-thirtieth of the time required by MySQL. During peak loads, GeoCommons processes more than one hundred thousand complex requests per hour, requiring true enterprise-class performance and scalability.

“EnterpriseDB occupies that crucial middle ground between MySQL and Oracle,” continued Ingrassia. “EnterpriseDB is priced competitively with MySQL, but provides significantly better performance and advanced features you just don’t find in most open source databases.”

You can get additional information about GeoCommons at the GeoCommons FAQ. Checkout some cool screenshots at the FortiusOne screenshot page.


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EnterpriseDB Fall Webinar Series

Sign up for Live Webinars from EnterpriseDB. The December Data Warehouse one looks really good.


October 4, 2007 9AM ET & 2PM ET
Top 5 Ways to Supercharge Your Database
Abstract: - Join EnterpriseDB to learn 5 simple ways to supercharge your EnterpriseDB and Postgres databases to gain the best performance. From Dynatune™ to auto-vacuuming, there are simple ways to optimize your database without sacrificing availability and reliability

Speaker:
Jim Mlodgenski - Vice President, Worldwide Technical Services EnterpriseDB

October 10, 2007 1PM ET
Lowering TCO While Raising Revenues for Business Intelligence Applications
Abstract: - Join EnterpriseDB and JasperSoft to learn how to implement a fully functional BI architecture based on open source technologies that addresses the paradox of lowering your customer’s TCO while improving professional services revenue.

Speakers:
Jose Morales - Vice President, Business Development, JasperSoft,
Bill Doyle - Sr.Vice President, Business Development, EnterpriseDB

October 23, 2007 12PM ET
What is Enterprise-Class? Going Beyond the Checklist to Select the Right Database for Your Application
Abstract: - In this webcast, renowned industry guru Curt Monash provides an objective context in which to evaluate and select the right DBMS based on your application's needs. He will discuss how all DBMS' features are not all created equal in the way they address application-specific demands. Particular focus will be given to the unique requirements of transaction-intensive applications.

Speakers:
Curt Monash - Monash Information Services,
Derek M. Rodner - Director, Product Strategy, EnterpriseDB

October 30, 2007 9AM ET & 2PM ET
Building New Applications on EnterpriseDB Advanced Server
Abstract: - Join EnterpriseDB experts to learn more about building new applications on EnterpriseDB Advanced Server. Topics include:

* PL/SQL compatibility
* Stored Procedures, Packages, Functions, Triggers, etc.
* SQL Query Profiler
* Procedural Language Debugger
* Developer Studio

Speaker:
Derek M. Rodner - Director, Product Strategy, EnterpriseDB

November 7, 2007 9AM ET & 2PM ET
Using EnterpriseDB to Offload Reporting to Increase Performance and Save Money
Abstract: - Learn how EnterpriseDB Advanced Server is being used to offload reporting from production Oracle databases to increase productivity and performance, while saving companies millions of dollars.

Speaker:
Derek M. Rodner - Director, Product Strategy, EnterpriseDB

November 28, 2007 9AM & 2PM ET
Building a High Performance and Scalable Environment with EnterpriseDB
Advanced Server
Abstract: - Vendor solutions like Oracle RAC™ can provide additional performance up to a certain point, but in most cases, the cost of these solutions far exceeds the benefits. Join EnterpriseDB experts as they show you how to architect a highly scalable environment to deliver optimal performance without sacrificing availability or reliability

Speaker:
Jim Mlodgenski - Vice President, Worldwide Technical Services, EnterpriseDB

December 5, 2007 9AM & 2PM ET
Best Practices for Data Warehousing
Speaker: - Join EnterpriseDB experts as they take you on a guided tour of GridSQL™ for EnterpriseDB Advanced Server. From architecture to implementation, learn how:

* GridSQL’s “shared-nothing” distributed architecture is transparent to the application
* Servers can be easily added to the grid to increase performance
* DBAs can monitor and administer the entire grid or a single server from a simple, easy-to-use graphical interface

Speaker:
Jim Mlodgenski - Vice President, Worldwide Technical Services, EnterpriseDB

December 12, 2007 9AM & 2PM ET
Database Worst Practices: The Top 5 Mistakes Developers Make and How to Avoid Them
Abstract: - Applications today are growing more and more complex, and with that complexity comes the increased risk of error. Join EnterpriseDB experts as they discuss the "Top 5" mistakes that developers make and how to avoid them.

Speaker:
Jim Mlodgenski - Vice President, Worldwide Technical Services, EnterpriseDB

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EnterpriseDB Webinar: Building a Highly Available Infrastructure

A new Webinar about EnterpriseDB (not from me). Building a Highly Available Infrastructure for Your Database and Application.

It's next wednesday, September 26, 2007 at 9am and 2pm Eastern. I guess it repeats. It's an hour long.

Here's the blurb from the email I received:

What does an hour of downtime cost you? Analysts report that just one hour of downtime can cost businesses millions of dollars, and some never recover.

What applications are mission critical today? In the past, only those applications that controlled finances were considered mission-critical. But, today, almost every application, from your e-commerce website to your email and calendaring system, are considered mission-critical and candidates for high-availability planning.

While everyone agrees that downtime is caused by three major areas - people, processes and technology - every effort is being made to ensure that technology is never the cause.

Join EnterpriseDB and Continuent experts as they show you how to implement a highly available environment for your database infrastructure. Topics include:

• Online Operations
• Point-in-Time Recovery
• Back Up and Failover Processing
• Data Storage Access

You will also discover how Continuent uni/cluster technology can remove all single points of failure in your infrastructure by using a synchronous, multi-master approach to database replication. Key uni/cluster technology capabilities are:

• "Always On" database and application services with instant, automatic and transparent failover
• Automatic load balancing - use any database server to process user queries
• Near-linear scaling of application users and load

Questions and requests for additional information will be addressed to help you with your installation.

I plan to register and check it out. I'll post the highlights afterwards.

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Bob Zurek's Open Letter to the Wall Street Journal

News has been slow in the EnterpriseDB world lately. I haven't posted in a while.

Bob Zurek is EnterpriseDB's (fairly) new CTO. He is an ex-IBM exec and maintains his blog on the IBM DeveloperWorks blog area. He's been blogging for a long time so I'm not sure how he worked out the move from IBM to EnterpriseDB and kept the same area.

Anyway, Bob posted an open letter to the Wall Street Journal about a reporter's take on Open Source. Bob objected to the reporter, Walter K. Mosberg, classifying open source as a two-edge sword.

But open source is a two-edge sword. While it draws on smart developers from many places, nobody is ultimately responsible for the quality of the product, and open source developers have an imperfect feel for how average people use software.

Bob says:

I’d like to respectfully take issue with this statement. As a person active in the tech industry, you know that there has been a strong open source track record in the software industry where many companies, both open source and traditionally commercial have embraced open source in a very big way. These companies include the likes of IBM, Sun and Novell but also emerging open source companies like EnterpriseDB, Talend, Compiere and SugarCRM. All these companies absolutely take responsibility for the quality of the product. I would also say that many of these companies employ some of the best user experience experts in the industry. As a former IBM executive I know that IBM works very hard on providing the user with the best experience in all aspects of their software. Making a statement claiming “open-source developers often have an imperfect feel for how average people use software” is not fair to those projects that employ user experience experts and put a great deal of effort in understanding average users.

I would actually be more inclined to agree with Mossberg. Most open source projects do not "employ user experience experts" or "put a great deal of effort in understanding average users". Not to say it's not good software. Look at postgres. Technically superior software but you still need to edit a complex text file to configure user permissions.

I would say that open source is a two-edge sword for other reasons too. I have spent most of my career working in large enterprises and I can tell you that the question of support, quality and licensing comes up very often.

"Who will support it and how long will they be around?" Can you name all of the company's that started as a support organization for an open source package and are no longer around?

GPL, LPGL, etc are death to large enterprises. The legal touch-points make for some interesting discussions when you are recommending an open source tool. Any time you need the lawyers to use "free" software, you might as well drop it.

That's one of the benefits of having a company like EnterpriseDB around. It's not open source. It's based on open source. Having to pay to use something just seems to make sense to lawyers. Anything else freaks them out.

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