Don't cross Sybase on Linux off your evaluation list just because it's not the world's number two database anymore, says Dr. Mich Talebzadeh, principal consultant for London-based Peridale Ltd., which creates heterogeneous database architectures for large global trading systems.
Thanks to last fall's sterling upgrade, Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise (ASE) 15, and its Linux-friendliness, the database is winning new and retaining long-term customers, says Talebzadeh. In this opinion piece, Talebzadeh poses 10 reasons why Sybase running on Linux is an excellent option and, in his opinion, a better choice than Oracle-on-Linux for today's enterprises. – Jan Stafford, editor
@24517Sybase products are generally perceived within the database administrator (DBA) community as very reliable and easy to maintain, particularly compared to Oracle. Any move from Sybase to another DBMS (database management system) has got to be justified in terms of the current level of dissatisfaction with Sybase and the level of desire to use the other. I cannot recall anywhere where this is valid.
About the author
Mich Talebzadeh is a database expert with large DBA and architecture experience with special interests in Sybase and Oracle. He specializes in creating database architectures for large global trading systems involving heterogeneous databases. Mich is based in London and serves as Chairman of the Sybase Future Forum. He is a frequent speaker at Sybase Techforum and other international database conferences. Dr. Talebzadeh holds a Ph.D in Particle Physics from Imperial College, University of London, and C.E.R.N., Geneva, Switzerland.
Do you agree or disagree with Mich's assessment of the two systems? If you have experience with both Sybase and Oracle, email us with your opinion!
Buck writes:
My DBA experience with Oracle began in the early 1980s and I've racked up three to four years of experience doing Oracle installs on Sun, IBM and HP servers at a lot of customer sites.vThen I got hired at a startup that went with Sybase because the cost was so much lower. I found Sybase to be way easier to install, easier to maintain and just as fast and reliable as any Oracle instance that I had worked on previously.
I'm a big fan of Linux, too. So I'd have to agree with Mich
Mike Y. writes:
This isn't a cost benefits analysis at all; it is simply FUD. A significant number of arguments are for not leaving Sybase and don't compare cost or features at all. You can make the same arguements for IMS. Having been both a Sybase DBA and an Oracle DBA (and an IMS DBA), I would rather work in Oracle -- as a developer or a DBA.
George Basham, Senior Principal Consultant, Oracle Consulting, ATS, writes:
Dave Hunt, a founder and co-principal of Dasages, LLC, a remote database administration company, writes:
Mich Talebzadeh and I have been friends and colleagues for several years now. He and I have enjoyably collaborated on projects from time to time. We have often had friendly discussions that address the Oracle/Sybase competition. I deeply respect Mich's professional insight into Sybase, its features and the benefits that Sybase provides to its users. Mich is a known Sybase proponent; I, on the other hand, am a known Oracle proponent.
So, given those disclaimers, here are my responses to Mich's assertions:
Rajeev S. writes:
First my background -- I started with Sybase 13 years ago and quickly learned enough to become a DBA in one year. I started with Oracle eight years ago.
Here are some things that I find interesting:
Anil Mahadev writes:
I have a statement that I wish to express in response to the person who said "Most people who say Oracle is tough to manage do not know enough Oracle."
Well, the reason for not knowing Oracle is that it takes the poor individual half his/her career lineage.
I mean, for some of the users out there, knowledge is not the only criteria; it's all about being able to deliver and maintain databases 24 x 7 x 365 in a year.
So in my humble opinion, yes training is necessary on a particular domain. But being able to be productive as quickly as possible is the key to the future of the DBA.
Mario C. writes:
I have been a production DBA in a European major bank for years and have worked with Oracle, DB2 and Sybase. I have to agree with Mr Talebzadeh's article in a number of points. Unlike the statement that Oracle is the most stable platform on Linux, I think Sybase is truly the one that deserves this merit. I have worked with Oracle, Oracle RAC and a number of other products from Oracle and I still think that Sybase has the best reliability and response. It is true that Oracle excels in DSS/data warehousing environments and in some areas it is the true leader. However, Sybase is the king when it comes to OLTP. On the DSS side, ASE 15 of Sybase has addressed most of these shortcomings. Additionally I disagree with the statement that for very large systems Oracle is the best. The Sybase IQ product which is column-based is the true warehousing giant and Oracle does not come even near compared to IQ.
At the end of the day what matters is what is suitable for the application. In today's information-driven age, the costs to generate, keep available, recover and communicate data are staggering. In addition, in a business world that is growing increasingly distributed and with the increased use of heterogeneous systems and proprietary databases across different levels of business, partly historical and partly due to acquisitions and mergers like ours, there is a need for these disparate systems to exchange data or simply talk to each other. In short the ability to deploy specific tools to automate these types of operations is becoming increasingly business-critical. We for our needs use sophisticated bi-directional replication technology from Sybase to keep our databases in different locations in sync. Without Sybase Replication Server we could not have achieved this. I do appreciate the third-party products like Golden Gate, etc. for Oracle and Sybase. However, none of them is as good or reliable as Sybase Replication Server. Even Oracle's IOUG in its briefing on July 5, 2006 // Volume 2, Issue 13 announced the availability of Sybase's new Oracle-oriented version of Replication Server. This shows how good Sybase products are.
Arvind R. writes:
Sure, all the 10 points are valid, but beyond that there is also the need to simplify operations.
Having just a single enterprise database can help simplify operations.
Oracle is also very popular so getting temp resources may not be an issue. Hiring an Oracle DBA to do remote DBA activity is a lot easier than a remote Sybase DBA.
Of course all this really depends on the cost of exiting Sybase and entering Oracle. If there is no cost benefit then I would agree with the author that there is no benefit unless the intangibles are more valued.
Godzilla83 writes:
I agree with the premise that most people that say that Oracle is too confusing and Sybase/MS SQL Server are easier to manage simply lack training and experience with Oracle. Obviously a DB platform that has limited functionality will be easier to learn since there are fewer items to cover. If that DB platform suits your app or your project then good for you; however that doesn't mean it will fit your needs in the future. One example is table partitioning -- Oracle has had this feature since at least 8i and every release since has increased the functionality to where today it is a robust and mature option that many companies find indispensible. Sybase on the other hand only offers a very limited version of table partitioning in v12.5.x(although v15 is supposed to offer a more complete version of it). So again if you don't have to learn how to use table partitioning then Sybase would be considered easier to use, but you're losing out on the functionality side of things. There are many other features that Oracle has that don't exist in Sybase/MS SQL Server that I could list, but you see my point.
Randall J. writes:
I have been reading Mr. Talebzedah's article and I would agree with many of his statements. Having installed and used both over the years, I would pick Sybase. Why more companies don't use Sybase more has always been a mystery to me. Sybase is cheaper to install and operate both in hardware resource usage and manpower utilization. As an example, which can be repeated ad infinitum, one of the companies required 20 DBAs to support a single Oracle Financials system in version 7 Oracle. And they were terrified to upgrade to Oracle 8 as Oracle does not supply a migration path. Sybase in this same company was used extensively in 24/7 environments, and only had 18 DBAs supporting more than 800 Sybase databases, with more than 15,000 logins. In Mr. Talebzedah's article he mentions 2.5 Oracle DBAs to one Sybase DBA, and since you and I know that 0.5 DBAs don't really exist (see mythical man month) I would put that, rounding factors aside, to 3+ Oracle DBAs to one Sybase DBA.
Oracle supporters always mention the "sophistication" and maturity of Oracle features, and in the same breath include the requirements for learning more, and of its complexity. This complexity extends to its high requirements in installation and operating Oracle databases. Ask an Oracle DBA why they have to maintain backup configuration files three or more times to feel safe? As an example of this heavy requirement for installation, Oracle makes more money consulting on how to install it than selling the actual RDBMS product. As another cost Oracle DBAs are higher paid than Sybase DBAs; you do have to pay for all this sophisticated knowledge. That's not a fault of the DBA, but it is still a business expense, and adds to the TCO.
As for the maturity and sophistication, Oracle may win here, but I am not comparing ASE 15 as I have not used this, but in almost every environment I've ever worked in, this sophistication is never utilized. This is not a lack of programming skills in the staff. It has to do with not being locked into any particular RDBMS feature. Many companies are completely heterogeneous with regards to databases, probably due to corporate merger mania. And database transportability is prized much more than any particular database feature. In some cases junior programmers utilize databases more as file systems than RDBMS systems and hence, gain nothing from the mature, sophisticated features Oracle might provide.
Ultimately Oracle grants nothing in the benefits column when the costs are taken into perspective. Oracle is more expensive, fragile and harder to develop applications for. Sybase is cheaper, faster, more stable and requires less hardware and manpower to operate.
14 Aug 2006