Performance comparison
It is very difficult to make a performance comparison between
SQL Server 2000 and Oracle 9i Database. The performance of your
databases depend rather on the experience of the database
developers and database administrator, than on the database's
provider. You can use both of these RDBMS to build stable and
efficient systems. It is possible to define the
typical transactions, such as those used in inventory control systems,
airline reservation systems and banking systems. After defining
these typical transactions, it is possible to run them under
different database management systems working on the different
hardware and software platforms.
TPC tests
The Transaction Processing Performance Council (TPC.Org) is an 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 this article was written, SQL Server 2000 held the top
TPC-C by performance results with Distributed Partitioned Views-based
cluster systems.
See Top Ten TPC-C by Performance Version 5 Results
At the moment this article was written, SQL Server 2000 held the top
TPC-C by price/performance results.
See Top Ten TPC-C by Price/Performance Version 5 Results
Note. Because most organizations really do not run very large databases,
the key points on which SQL Server 2000 won the TPC-C benchmarks
do not really matter to the vast majority of companies.
Price comparison
One of the main Microsoft SQL Server 2000 advantages in comparison with
Oracle 9i Database is that SQL Server is cheaper. Another SQL Server
advantage is that Microsoft includes the Online analytical processing
(OLAP) and Data Mining as standard features in SQL Server 2000
Enterprise Edition. So, you can save up to four times with SQL Server
2000 Enterprise Edition if you use OLAP and Data Mining.
The price comparisons below were based on the
Oracle and SQL Server 2000 Price Comparison
article from Microsoft.
Compare pricing for SQL Server 2000 Standard Edition and Oracle9i
Standard Edition:
|
Number of CPUs
|
Oracle9i Standard Edition
|
SQL Server 2000 Standard Edition
|
|
1
|
$15,000
|
$4,999
|
|
2
|
$30,000
|
$9,998
|
|
4
|
$60,000
|
$19,996
|
|
8
|
$120,000
|
$39,992
|
|
16
|
$240,000
|
$79,984
|
|
32
|
$480,000
|
$159,968
|
Compare pricing for SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition (which include
OLAP and Data Mining) and Oracle9i Enterprise Edition with OLAP and/or
Data Mining:
|
Number of CPUs
|
Oracle9i Enterprise Edition
|
Oracle9i Enterprise Edition with OLAP or Data Mining
|
Oracle9i Enterprise Edition With OLAP and Data Mining
|
SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition
|
|
1
|
$40,000
|
$60,000
|
$80,000
|
$19,999
|
|
2
|
$80,000
|
$120,000
|
$160,000
|
$39,998
|
|
4
|
$160,000
|
$240,000
|
$320,000
|
$79,996
|
|
8
|
$320,000
|
$480,000
|
$640,000
|
$159,992
|
|
16
|
$640,000
|
$960,000
|
$1,280,000
|
$319,984
|
|
32
|
$1,280,000
|
$1,920,000
|
$2,560,000
|
$639,968
|
Note. This is not a full price comparison between SQL Server 2000 and
Oracle 9i Database. It is only a brief comparison. You can have
any discounts and the prices can be increased or decreased in the
future. See Microsoft and Oracle to get more information about
the price of their products.
Features comparison
Both SQL Server 2000 and Oracle 9i Database 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
a brief comparison of the Transact-SQL with PL/SQL and show some
SQL Server 2000 and Oracle 9i Database limits.
T-SQL vs PL/SQL
The dialect of SQL supported by Microsoft SQL Server 2000 is called
Transact-SQL (T-SQL). The dialect of SQL supported by Oracle 9i Database
is called PL/SQL. PL/SQL is a more powerful language than T-SQL.
This is the brief comparison of PL/SQL and T-SQL:
|
Feature
|
PL/SQL
|
T-SQL
|
|
Indexes
|
B-Tree indexes,
Bitmap indexes,
Partitioned indexes,
Function-based indexes,
Domain indexes
|
B-Tree indexes
|
|
Tables
|
Relational tables,
Object tables,
Temporary tables
|
Relational tables,
Temporary tables
|
|
Triggers
|
BEFORE triggers,
AFTER triggers,
INSTEAD OF triggers
|
AFTER triggers,
INSTEAD OF triggers
|
|
Procedures
|
PL/SQL statements,
Java methods,
third-generation language
(3GL) routines
|
T-SQL statements
|
|
Arrays
|
Supported
|
Not Supported
|
SQL Server 2000 and Oracle 9i limits
Here you can find some SQL Server 2000 and Oracle 9i Database limits:
|
Feature
|
SQL Server 2000
|
Oracle 9i Database
|
|
database name length
|
128
|
8
|
|
column name length
|
128
|
30
|
|
index name length
|
128
|
30
|
|
table name length
|
128
|
30
|
|
view name length
|
128
|
30
|
|
stored procedure name length
|
128
|
30
|
|
index length
|
900
|
749
|
|
max columns per index
|
16
|
32
|
|
max char() size
|
8000
|
2000
|
|
max varchar() size
|
8000
|
4000
|
|
max columns per table
|
1024
|
1000
|
|
max table row length
|
8036
|
255000
|
|
max query size
|
16777216
|
16777216
|
|
recursive subqueries
|
40
|
64
|
|
constant string size in SELECT
|
16777207
|
4000
|
|
constant string size in WHERE
|
8000
|
4000
|
Conclusion
It is not true that SQL Server 2000 is better than Oracle 9i 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
on the experience of the database developers and database administrator
than on the database's provider. But SQL Server 2000 has some advantages
in comparison with Oracle 9i and vice versa.
The SQL Server 2000 advantages:
- SQL Server 2000 is cheaper to buy than Oracle 9i Database.
- SQL Server 2000 holds the top TPC-C performance and price/performance results.
- SQL Server 2000 is generally accepted as easier to install, use and manage.
The Oracle 9i Database advantages:
- Oracle 9i Database supports all known platforms, not only the
Windows-based platforms.
- PL/SQL is more powerful language than T-SQL.
- More fine-tuning to the configuration can be done via start-up parameters.
Literature
- SQL Server 2000 Books Online
- Oracle documentation
- Oracle and SQL Server 2000 Price Comparison
- Why is SQL Server better/worse than Oracle?
- Top Ten TPC-C by Performance Version 5 Results
- Top Ten TPC-C by Price/Performance Version 5 Results
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