The comparison of SQL Server 2000 with Oracle 9i - Page 2

March 26, 2003

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

» See All Articles by Columnist Alexander Chigrik

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