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Migrating Oracle applications to open source database

EXPERT RESPONSE FROM: Maria Anderson

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QUESTION POSED ON: 09 October 2006
We are evaluating a project to utilize open source database SW in place of Oracle. We have isolated the application(s) that we want to move to the OSS database, but are concerned about the level of effort (i.e., data/code migration, tuning) to make this seamless for the users in terms of performance, availability, etc.
We have been told by the company representatives that their open source DB is "Oracle-compatible," requiring little or no effort to move "most applications written for Oracle" to open source "unchanged."
I've downloaded their "Developer Studio" (their tool kit to perform the migration) and it seems to have the funtionality to view multiple databases simultaneously, do SQL profiling and DB performance monitoring, etc. But I sense I am missing something.

Can you provide some insight into the claim that you can migrate most Oracle-based applications unchanged? This sounds too easy.

EXPERT RESPONSE
I, too, would be wary of claims that applications and data can be migrated to other product(s) "unchanged." The only way you will know for certain if this claim is accurate is to try it, but I would expect issues with the migration. In my experience, even upgrading or patching databases can cause performance problems, let alone a migration to another product or platform.

Your concerns about the effort and time involved to migrate your applications and databases are well-founded. You can expect to spend considerable time to plan, test and perform the actual migration. And it will not only be your IT department involved in the testing, but also your business users and application support folks.

Another consideration is support for the open source products. Oracle provides very good customer support, but will this open source company provide the same level of support when your production database is down and unavailable? These are all questions to consider. While the open source products may appear to save your company money, there may be other ways that you will lose.

If you do decide to go the route of an open source database, prepare your migration plan with plenty of time for application testing. Time spent testing is never wasted … I can't emphasize that enough!

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