Mat Stephen's SQL Server WebLog : Oracle

Transfering Data Oracle Data To And From SQL Server

Mat_Stephen — Mon, 23 May 2005 01:07:00 GMT

This post is for two purposes: firstly to point to a comprehensive blog post covering the transfer of data between Oracle and SQL Server using SQL Server 2005 Integration Services - which answers a recuring question from customers and partners with insight, accuracy and the most cherished of properties - honesty.

Secondly I want to sign post Donald Farmer's Blog. Donald is the Group Program Manager for SQL Server 2005 Integration Services (SSIS), thus making him an authrority on SSIS which alone would qualify his blog worthy of comment or linkage. However the catalyst that has motivated this blog, apart from the subject mastter, is the fact that Donald's blog is so well written - it deserves attention full stop. His blog is wonderfully humerous whilst remaining erstwhile. Life is too short to read dry scripts - so read Donalds blogs instead

http://sqljunkies.com/WebLog/donald%20farmer/archive/2005/03/13/8819.aspx

Its Sunbelieveable: Sun’s First Windows - Microsoft SQL Server SAP Benchmark and Certification

Mat_Stephen — Sat, 12 Feb 2005 03:03:00 GMT

Actually, I reckon it must be Sun’s first Windows - SQL Server benchmark ever, unless you know otherwise?

It’s great to see Sun embracing the new Opeteron chip from AMD and coming up with a great 32 bit SAP SD 2 tier 2 proc benchmark

http://www50.sap.com/benchmark/pdf/cert0205.pdf

Can’t wait till we get Windows Server 2003 sp1 – then perhaps we’ll see them do a 64 bit benchmark and hopefully show Windows and SQL as the fastest kids on the block. Surely we’ll be able to do better (can't say 'beat' obviously) than the Oracle 64 bit benchmark

It’s great to have Sun join the team.

Migrate your legacy Oracle databases to SQL Server - Tools you need to do the conversion

Mat_Stephen — Thu, 10 Feb 2005 01:46:00 GMT

Its a question that comes up more and more as people realise they can take advantage of SQL Server's lower TCO. "Does Microsoft have any tools for converting PSQL to TSQL". No, but the link below will take you to a company that has tools to do this and more.

http://www.dbbest.com/

If you have any feedback on using these tools or others out there, please feel free to post it here.

Oracle RAC, Grid, IBM, and Microsoft: A Corporate Altercation or Religious Divergence

Mat_Stephen — Mon, 10 Jan 2005 15:50:00 GMT

People often ask me, “When Microsoft is going to get into the type of clustering as defined by Oracle’s RAC (Real Application Clusters)?” Generally, I find these are people who believe the technical concepts behind RAC are the way of the future, so naturally conclude that Microsoft will want to follow.

I have a simple answer to the question, “Microsoft doesn’t intend to implement such a technology”. Naturally this is followed by a pause that demands I say why, so I oblige with the simplest explanation I can muster. “Microsoft believes RAC’s promise of scalability is flawed, flawed by bottle necks in the interconnects between cluster nodes.”

Beyond this I don’t go any further, because I don’t think I need to and because I fear I might step wide of the DOJ’s antitrust consent decree that Microsoft had to sign up to.

Taking the later point; compliance with the DOJ’s antitrust consent decree requires Microsoft does not abuse its monopoly position. This means, as a Microsoft employee, I am not allowed to say anything about our competitors that might be deemed combative or demeaning. For instance, I learn I can no longer refer to a company that runs Oracle as an ‘Oracle shop’. So, knowing that I can demonstrate a combative steak, I feel very reluctant about commenting on our competitors products, for fear of contravening the decree.

Taking the former point, I don’t need to tell you what I think about RAC because there’s so much out there that’s already been said. All I need to do is point to it. In the first instance, I’m going to point you to a document from IBM that describes what IBM thinks about RAC. Notice how ‘gloves off’ this document is; solid combative stuff from a company, I can only imagine, is not inhibited by court rulings – lucky them!

IBM’s document: A Technical Discussion of High Availability and Crash Recovery:
http://www-306.ibm.com/software/data/highlights/rac.pdf

In the second instance, I’m going to point you to a document from Microsoft that describes what Microsoft cautiously thinks about RAC.

Microsoft’s document: The Reality behind Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) Marketing Messages:
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/evaluation/compare/oracle-rac.asp

Spot the difference in style – amusing isn’t it?

First and foremost I’m a technologist, I am keen to see a balanced discussion and consequently I am all too happy to provide links to Oracle’s rebuttal to both these articles.

Oracle’s rebuttal to IBM’s paper:

http://www.oracle.com/technology/deploy/availability/pdf/DB2_HaCrash_Response.pdf

Oracle’s rebuttal to Microsoft’s paper:

http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/database/clustering/pdf/MSSQL_Rebuttal.pdf

Again in the interests of fair play, I should point out that Microsoft’s paper has been updated since Oracle wrote their rebuttal.

Go read and form your own opinion.

PS - Thanks to Chris's comment we have some more debate, in his words:

"I thought you might like to know that there has been another paper published on this subject around RAC, availability and suchlike .. very detailed and definitely a (and fair) read:" This white paper from SQL Server Architect James Hamilton discusses the problems that Oracle Real Application Cluster (RAC) is designed to solve, and presents alternative technologies and trends that often increase application availability and scalability in a more effective way.
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/evaluation/compare/oracle_rac2.asp"

TechNet Webcast: Migrating Oracle and UNIX Systems to SQL and Windows - Level: 200

Mat_Stephen — Mon, 20 Dec 2004 21:18:00 GMT

Thursday, January 20, 2005 - 11:30 - 1:00 PM Pacific Time

Peter Larsen, Software Development Engineer, Microsoft Corporation

Does your organization have plans for a process-driven migration of an Oracle database on UNIX to Microsoft SQL Server on Windows? In this session, we will outline different migration strategies, highlight key technical considerations and demonstrate what is involved in performing the migration. The discussion will cover both application and database migration issues including a number of Web application server scenarios.

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=39963