EXPERT RESPONSE
Oracle databases have been around for quite a while
now. Oracle released their 9i (9.0.1) version about a
year ago. Many companies are still using the 8i
(8.1.x), 8 (8.0.x) and 7.x database versions. For the
most part, everything that is available in a lower
version will be available in a higher version as well.
There are a few minor exceptions, but the Oracle
databases tend to be backwards compatible. When Oracle
releases a new version, their documentation contains a
list of all the features new to that version. So it is
worthwhile for the DBA to read this documentation to
discover what is new in the database. To give you an
idea of what is "new" consider this...Oracle 8i
introduced many new features for the developer. With
8i, you could run Java in the database, you had
expanded tools to help with object-oriented
development and 8i introduced some enhancements to
support larger databases (Materialized Views,
additions to partitioning). Oracle 9i introduced many
new features to help the DBA such as the ability to
change database configuration "on the fly", enhanced
availability and enhanced managability.
The advantage of a higher version is that you have
more features and better capabilities. You also stay
current with the latest "supported" versions. The
disadvantage of these new systems is that you have to
convert your older databases to the newer versions.
This can sometimes cause application changes as well.
The advantage of staying at a lower version is that
you know it works and you don't have to change a
thing. The disadvantage is that you can't use any of
the latest and greatest features and that you may lose
support.
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