Oracle 9i Database vs DB2 v8.1
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Oracle 9i Database vs DB2 v8.1
Alexander Chigrik
[email protected]
Introduction
Often people in newsgroups ask about some comparison of Oracle and DB2. In this article, I compare Oracle 9i Database with DB2 Universal Database version 8.1 regarding price, performance, platforms supported, SQL dialects and products limits..Platform comparison
Both Oracle 9i Database and DB2 Universal Database version 8.1 support all known platforms, including Windows-based platforms, AIX-Based Systems, HP-UX systems, Linux Intel, Sun Solaris and so on..Hardware requirements
To install Oracle 9i under the Windows-based platforms, you should have the following hardware::HardwareRequirements
| Processor | Pentium 166 MHz or higher |
| Memory | RAM: 128 MB (256 MB recommended) Virtual Memory: Initial Size 200 MB, Maximum Size 400 MB |
| Hard disk space | 140 MB on the System Drive plus 4.5 GB for the Oracle Home Drive (FAT) or 2.8 GB for the Oracle Home Drive (NTFS) |
To install Oracle 9i Database under the UNIX Systems, such as AIX-Based Systems, Compaq Tru64 UNIX, HP 9000 Series HP-UX, Linux Intel, and Sun Solaris, you should have the following hardware:
HardwareRequirements
| Memory | A minimum of 512 MB RAM |
| Swap Space | A minimum of 2 x RAM or 400 MB, whichever is greater |
| Hard disk space | 4.5 GB |
To install DB2 Universal Database v8.1 under the Windows-based platforms, you should have the following hardware:
HardwareRequirements
| Processor | Pentium or Pentium compatible CPU |
| Memory | RAM: 256 MB minimum, additional memory may be required. |
| Hard disk space | Typical installation: 350 Mb minimum Compact installation: 100 Mb minimum Custom installation: 100 Mb minimum. Additional disk space may be required on FAT drives with large cluster size. |
To install DB2 Universal Database v8.1 under the UNIX Systems, such as AIX-based systems, HP-UX systems, Linux and Sun Solaris, you should have the following hardware:
HardwareRequirements
| Processor | For AIX: IBM RISC/6000 or eServer pSeries. For HP-UX: HP 9000 series 700 or 800 system. For Linux: Intel 32-bit, Intel 64-bit, S/390 9672 generation or higher, Multiprise 3000, eServer z-Series. For Solaris: Solaris UltraSPARC-based computer. |
| Memory | RAM: 256 MB minimum, additional memory may be required. |
| Hard disk space | Typical installation: 450 to 550 Mb minimum Compact installation: 350 to 400 Mb minimum Custom installation: 350 to 700 Mb minimum. |
Software requirements
Oracle 9i Database comes in three editions: Enterprise, Standard and Personal and requires the following software:PlatformOperating System VersionRequired Patches
| Windows-based | Windows NT 4.0 | Service Pack 5 |
| Windows-based | Windows 2000 | Service Pack 1 |
| Windows-based | Windows XP | Not Necessary |
| AIX-Based | AIX 4.3.3 | Maintenance Level 09 and IY24568, IY25282, IY27614, IY30151 |
| AIX-Based | AIX 5.1 | AIX 5L release 5.1 ML01+ (IY22854), IY26778, IY28766, IY28949, IY29965, IY30150 |
| Compaq Tru64 UNIX | Tru64 5.1 | 5.1 patchkit 4 |
| Compaq Tru64 UNIX | Tru64 5.1A | 5.1A patchkit 1 |
| HP-UX | HP-UX version 11.0 (64-bit) | Sept. 2001 Quality Pack, PHCO_23792, PHCO_24148, PHKL_24268, PHKL_24729, PHKL_ 25475, PHKL_25525, PHNE_24715, PHSS_23670, PHSS_24301, PHSS_24303, PHSS_24627, PHSS_22868 |
| Linux | SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 7 (or SLES-7) with kernel 2.4.7, and glibc 2.2.2 |
Not Necessary |
| Sun Solaris | Solaris 32-Bit 2.6 (5.6), 7 (5.7) or 8 (5.8) |
Not Necessary |
| Sun Solaris | Solaris 64-Bit 8 (5.8) | Update 5 |
DB2 Universal Database v8.1 comes in six editions:
and requires the following software:
PlatformOperating System VersionRequired Patches
| Windows-based | Windows NT 4.0 | Service Pack 6a or higher |
| Windows-based | Windows 2000 | Service Pack 2 is required for Windows Terminal Server |
| Windows-based | Windows XP | Not Necessary |
| AIX-Based | AIX 4.3.3 (32-bit) | Maintenance Level 9 or later, and APARs IY22308, Y32690, and IY33024 |
| AIX-Based | AIX 5L (32-bit) | Maintenance Level 2 or later |
| AIX-Based | AIX 5.1.0 (32-bit) | Maintenance Level 2 or later, and APARs IY31254, IY32217, IY32905, IY33023, and IY29345 |
| AIX-Based | AIX 5.1.0 (64-bit) | Maintenance Level 2 or later, and APARs IY31254, IY32217, IY32905, Y33023, and IY32466 |
| HP-UX | HP-UX 11i | December 2001 GOLDBASE11i, December 2001 GOLDAPPS11i bundles |
| Linux | For Intel 32-bit: For Intel 64-bit and z-Series: |
Not Necessary |
| Sun Solaris | Solaris 7 (32-bit) | patch 106327-10 |
| Sun Solaris | Solaris 7 (64-bit) | patch 106300-11 |
| Sun Solaris | Solaris 8 (32-bit) | patch 108434-03 and 108528-12 |
| Sun Solaris | Solaris 8 (64-bit) | patch 108435-03 and 108528-12 |
| Sun Solaris | Solaris 9 | Not Necessary |
Performance comparison
It is very difficult to make the performance comparison between Oracle 9i Database and DB2 Universal Database v8.1. The performance of your databases depends rather from the experience of the database developers and database administrator than from the database's provider. You can use both of these RDBMS to build stable and efficient system. However, it is possible to define the typical transactions, which used in inventory control systems, airline reservation systems and banking systems. After defining these typical transactions, it is possible to run them under the different database management systems working on the different hardware and software platforms.TPC tests
The Transaction Processing Performance Council (TPC.Org) is independent organization that specifies the typical transactions (transactions used in inventory control systems, airline reservation systems and banking systems) and some general rules these transactions should satisfy.The TPC produces benchmarks that measure transaction processing and database performance in terms of how many transactions a given system and database can perform per unit of time, e.g., transactions per second or transactions per minute.
The TPC organization made the specification for many tests. There are TPC-C, TPC-H, TPC-R, TPC-W and some old tests, such as TPC-A, TPC-B and TPC-D. The most popular test is the TPC-C test (OLTP test).
At the moment the article was wrote, Oracle held the top TPC-C by performance results. See Top Ten TPC-C by Performance Version 5 Results
Note. Because most organizations really do not run very large databases, so the key points on which Oracle 9i Database won the TPC-C benchmarks do not really matter to the vast majority of companies.
Price comparison
Compare pricing for Oracle9i Standard Edition and IBM DB2 v8.1 Workgroup Edition:Number of CPUsOracle9i Standard EditionIBM DB2 v8.1 Workgroup Edition
| 1 | $15,000 | $7,500 |
| 2 | $30,000 | $15,000 |
| 4 | $60,000 | $30,000 |
| 8 | $120,000 | $60,000 |
| 16 | $240,000 | $120,000 |
| 32 | $480,000 | $240,000 |
Compare pricing for Oracle9i Enterprise Edition and IBM DB2 v8.1 Enterprise Edition:
Number of CPUsOracle9i Enterprise EditionIBM DB2 v8.1 Enterprise Edition
| 1 | $40,000 | $25,000 |
| 2 | $80,000 | $50,000 |
| 4 | $160,000 | $100,000 |
| 8 | $320,000 | $200,000 |
| 16 | $640,000 | $400,000 |
| 32 | $1,280,000 | $800,000 |
Note. This is not a full price comparison between Oracle 9i Database and DB2 Universal Database v8.1. It is only a brief comparison. You can have any discounts and the prices can be increased or decreased in the future. See Oracle and IBM to get more information about the price of their products.
Features comparison
Both Oracle 9i Database and IBM DB2 Universal Database v8.1 support the ANSI SQL-92 entry level and do not support the ANSI SQL-92 intermediate level. In the Features comparison section of this article I want to make the brief comparison of the PL/SQL with DB2 SQL dialect and show some Oracle 9i Database and DB2 Universal Database v8.1 limits.PL/SQL vs DB2 SQL dialect
The dialect of SQL supported by Oracle 9i Database is called PL/SQL. The dialect of SQL supported by IBM DB2 v8.1 is called DB2 SQL dialect. This is the brief comparison of PL/SQL and DB2 SQL dialect:FeaturePL/SQLDB2 SQL dialect
| Indexes | B-Tree indexes, Bitmap indexes, Partitioned indexes, Function-based indexes, Domain indexes |
B-Tree indexes, Bitmap indexes, Partitioned indexes, block indexes, dimension block indexes |
| Tables | Relational tables, Object tables, Temporary tables |
Relational tables, Object tables, Temporary tables |
| Triggers | BEFORE triggers, AFTER triggers, INSTEAD OF triggers |
BEFORE triggers, AFTER triggers, INSTEAD OF triggers |
| Procedures | PL/SQL statements, Java methods, third-generation language (3GL) routines |
DB2 SQL dialect statements, Java methods, third-generation language (3GL) routines |
| Multiple Triggers | Supported | Supported |
| Arrays | Supported | Supported |
Oracle 9i and DB2 v8.1 limits
Here you can find some Oracle 9i Database and DB2 version 8.1 limits:FeatureOracle 9i DatabaseIBM DB2 v8.1
| database name length | 8 | 8 |
| column name length | 30 | 128 |
| index name length | 30 | 128 |
| table name length | 30 | 128 |
| view name length | 30 | 128 |
| stored procedure name length | 30 | 128 |
| most columns per table | 1000 | 1012 |
| most columns in an index key | 32 | 16 |
| max number of columns in GROUP BY | 255 | 1012 |
| max number of columns in ORDER BY | 255 | 1012 |
| longest index key | 3155 | 1024 |
| max varchar() size | 4000 | 32672 |
| max char() size | 2000 | 254 |
| max table row length | 255000 | 32677 |
| longest SQL statement | 16777216 | 65535 |
| recursive subqueries | 64 | 28 |
| constant string size in SELECT | 4000 | 32672 |
Conclusion
It is not true that Oracle 9i Database is better than DB2 Universal Database v8.1 or vice versa. Both products can be used to build stable and efficient system and the stability and effectiveness of your applications and databases depend rather from the experience of the database developers and database administrator than from the database's provider.Literature
1. Oracle documentation2. DB2 Technical Support
3. DB2 Universal Database v8.1 system requirements
4. Top Ten TPC-C by Performance Version 5 Results
5. SQL Server 2000 vs Oracle 9i
6. SQL Server 2000 vs DB2 v8.1