Conference ulysse::rdb_vms_competition

Notes 82 and 91 have to be what you are looking for - not aimed too
technically, dispassionate & accurate. Hopefully Hal will update them as Rdb
and the competition evolve. I don't know whether he has a Sybase� comparison 
in the pipeline.


� Spell checking offers "Scabies" as a correction

I've also done SYBASE and DB2, but haven't had a chance to modify them
to be comparisons with V2.3.  I may not get the chance either, so you'll
probably have to wait for the V3.0 versions.

Unfortunately, my notes are just that - technical notes I wrote as
reading product documentation.  They contain information which can be
used in a competitive situation, but they are not written to really
answer the "why Rdb/VMS over <foo>" question.  For V3.0, other people
are using my notes in preparing a more sales-oriented competitive
article.  I'll also post my notes in this conference (at the appropriate
time) so that the full details are available to anyone really
interested.

Hal

    ...beacuse Rdb/VMS allocates space automatically as the database
    grows.
    
    ...because Rdb/VMS has a published interface that lets the user
    pick an appropriate 4GL tool.
    
    ...because Rdb/VMS is designed to function effectively in VAXcluster
    systems.
    
    ...because Rdb/VMS can utilize the DECnet network.
    
    ...because Rdb/VMS precompilers come with the product and will allow
    code optimization.
    
    ...because SQL precompilers will allow code optimization.
    
    ...because Rdb/VMS can be used without being forced to do without
    the VAXset tools.
    
    ...because Rdb/VMS can use the current and future VAX CDDs.
    
    ...because Rdb/VMS implementations like VIDA can get to data on
    other systems.
    
    ...because Rdb/VMS can be accessed from PCs and Macintoshes.
    
    ...because Digital can support a customer's efforts if that customer
    is using Rdb/VMS.
    
    ...because it's common sense to use the database optimized for the
    hardware vendor's hardware/OS.
    
    ...because Rdb/VMS has the best maintenance and analysis tools in
    RMU (often overlooked).
    
    ...because it's there ( I ran out of reasons)

    Thanks for your responses, I thought I'd add a few myself...
    in the good old "Features, Functions, Benefits" form..
    
		-<  Rdb is the best because...  >-

Feature:  Developed by Digital	

Function: Single Vendor for HW/OS/DBMS

Benefit:  The DBMS has many inherent interdependencies with the operating system 
and the HW. By developing the DBMS is conjunction with the HW/OS we are able 
construct the DBMS is a way that truly compliments the HW/OS and more 
importantly we are able to evolve all 3 areas to support each other in the most 
effective way.  This provides a higher degree of performance potential and 
better integration that any non-Digital product offering can hope to attain.

Benefit:  Changes in the OS/HW to support other, non-DBMS, projects can be made 
without impacting the availability and support of the DBMS. This allows you to
take advantage of new features offered by Digital without having to wait for
third party developers to "catch-up".

Benefit: Digital's strengths are Digital's DBMS strengths.  Our strengths in
networking, support, customer satisfaction, and quality, to name a few, 
compliment our strengths in data management. Support is one of the key benefits 
in this area. We are over 110,000 strong and have the resources necessary to
support your data management projects as well as your processing needs.

Feature: Open Architecture

Function: Allows DBMS to function as a platform independent of application 
development styles and tools.

Benefit:  Flexibility. No single tool or language meets the needs of the diverse 
group of users within a business.  Digital's open architecture allows the 
customer to mix and match the appropriate tools with users based on their needs 
and experience levels.

Benefit:  Investment Protection. This is true for both the intellectual 
investments as well as the hard dollar investments.  Staff experienced in one 
style of development, for example traditional 3rd Generation language 
programming such as COBOL, can apply their skills while end-users with expertise 
in spreadsheet and graphics can continue to be productive. Novice DP 
professionals and end users can quickly learn a 4th generation language and 
begin building applications.  Existing applications written in 3rd generation 
languages, even those which include the industry standard SQL language, can be 
easily migrated to Digital's Data management environment. Skills and 
applications relating to various non-Digital 4GLs are also valuable in the 
Digital environment. Our open architecture has attracted many industry leaders 
who have layered their products upon our Data Management products.

Feature: DSRI 

Benefit:  The cornerstone of our open architecture is DSRI. The Digital Standard 
Relational Interface allows third party developers as well as users to interface 
their tools and applications to our relational products in a standard way. DSRI 
provides a layer of isolation between the tool/application and the data 
management system to allow each to evolve independently of the other without 
requiring modifications. This again translates to investment protection.
Some of the current products available which use DSRI are listed here:
	
	PowerHouse by Cognos
	SMARTSTAR by Signal Technologies
	FOCUS by Information Builders
	GEMBASE by UserWare
	TODAY by Today Technologies
	InTouch by Touch Technologies
	Corvision/Application Factory by Cortex
	Data Talker (thru VAX/SQL)
 
	Digital Products:
		Teamdata
		Rally
		Datatrieve

Feature: Full Function Relational Data Base Management System

Function: Support Data Management Needs of Diverse User Population

Benefits:  The following elements are generally factors in the decision process 
for choosing a data management tool:
	
	Performance:  Vendors of data management software (and also HW vendors)
		are usually the only group which concurs with the belief that
		relational data bases are not fast enough to support
		data intensive applications.  It is increasingly difficult to
		convince a customer that if they want flexibility they buy 
		relational but if they want performance they buy CODASYL. 
		Customers want both. Fortunately Digital is up to this
		challenge.  The next release of Rdb offers significantly
		higher performance and is suitable for many customers high
		performance application requirements.

	Flexibility:  The key to relational's success has been flexibility.
		The ability to change the data structure dynamically 
		contributes greatly to the customers ability to maintain
		applications and respond to changes in their business without
		disrupting the entire application base.

	Standards:  The proliferation of tools and the high demand for 
		qualified DP professionals (and again investment protection)
		have placed adherence to standards high on the list of 
		requirements for data management tools.  SQL meets this
		requirement.  

	Productivity:  The Flexibility, Standards and inherent relational
		functions provide for enhanced productivity for both the
		DP professional and the End-user community.

	Ease of Use:  Another key to relational's success is its conceptual
		simplicity and non-procedural approach to data access and
		manipulation.  This allows the burden of application 
		development to be shared between MIS and the End-users thus
		helping to reduces the application backlog present in most
		large organizations. Digital's comprehensive set of tools
		coupled with Rdb's capabilities support the full range of
		users.

	Features: Digital's products present the full range of capabilities
		required to effectively manage information in support of
		both production and information center types of environments.

		These include:
			Full Relational Capabilities
			Data Dictionary Support
			Broad Range of Tools
			Maintenance Facilities
			Application Development Life Cycle tools
				including CASE and project management tools.

*******************************   More to come in future *********************

Hopefully someone can add some more detailed/specific Rdb strengths to this.

<><><><>  Sandy

 

    The previous note omitted a very slick Digital product that also
    uses the DSRI:  VAX Data Distributor was announced in early 1987.
    It automates the extraction and replication of relational databases
    across nodes in a network (or on the same node).    

    Just to add some minor details to this discussion.  In talking with
    a client about RDB vs Oracle, I pointed out the machine architectural
    advantages and how RDB uses them.  Two points that seemed to "jar"
    the customers thinking:
    
    RDB runs in EXEC mode. So what? So, the chances of someone or some
    program corrupting the database through interrupting the program
    are significantly reduced.  This does take into account servers,
    which will running detached, still must interact with the user process
    to send and receive data.
    
    RDB uses ACL's giving a consistent security access mechanism across
    the entire system.  Some of our customers make use of the callable
    system services ($CHECK_PRO, etc.) to provide "function" based security
    access based on ACL's.  This allows a program to check whether a
    particular user is allowed to perform a specific function (ie, Add,
    change, delete inquire) and gives them a polite message if no access
    is permitted.  The consistent use of ACL's across our products makes
    it very easy for the system manager to pass out unique application/job
    function identifiers to control overall access to the system at
    all levels.  Contrast this with Oracle which requires that a users
    account must be managed separately from that person's Oracle 'account'.
    
    I think overall that when reviewing the internal structure of our
    databases, the quality and attention to data integrity are superior
    to some of the other products that I have seen.  This might be hard
    to relate to an unsophisticated user, but you should try to give
    them some sense of the quality and engineering differences.
    
    								Neil

    A few of my favorite technical advantages:
    
    Constraints:

         These partially implement referential integrity, a very practical
    component of the relational model.  I say "partially" because constraints
    alert you to data out of integrity, but Rdb doesn't handle all
    automatic corrections of this condition (e.g., cascading deletes).
    I'm not aware of anything like this in the (few) competing products
    I've worked with.  (Tandem's Nonstop SQL has constraints, but these
    are restricted to single table references.)

         Constraints may be too performance-degrading to use in production. But
    even if this is the case, they can be used to prototype and then
    converted over to 3GL code which implements the constraint. 
    

    Global Fields:
    
         These allow for definition of domains, another important component
    of the relational model.  The alternative, in another DBMS like
    DB2, is a lot of messy field definitions and their maintenance.
    
    
    Segmented Strings:
    
         Truly a unique data type!  The imagination boggles at the
    possibilities for applying this type. 
    
    
    Do not think that because referential integrity and domains are
    components of the relational model, that they are therefore theoretical
    and of little practical use.  Far from it!  I used DB2 and, as data
    administrator, had to find implementations for these real problems. It
    was all the more painful for having previously used Rdb and
    consequently knowing how easy it could be!