Conference ulysse::rdb_vms_competition

     
    �1) Oracle has a guideline that gives you an idea of the number of MIPs
    �it will take to support a given number of users.  Do we provide
    �anything equivalent for RDB?

No, we don't, and Oracle's numbers don't mean a thing.  NUMBER OF USERS SUPPORT-
ED IS APPLICATION DEPENDENT.  Plain and simple.  That is, the only thing plain
and simple about computing the amount of CPU power required is that it's not 
"plain and simple."  There's no such formula as "N users require M mips."  
Okay?

Besides, there are other things that are important besides CPU, namely I/O band-
width, memory requirements - system throughput.

To *estimate* the amount of system resources (CPU, memory, disk space, disk
controllers) required, someone needs to perform some analysis.

To give people an idea, we provide numbers for the Transaction Processing 
Council's Benchmark "A," a.k.a. TPC-A.  This is the new industry standard.
Oracle uses a benchmark known as TP1, which is very flexible, loosely defined,
and from which they get unrealistic, though impressive numbers.  TPC-A is more
strictly defined than TP1.

  
    �2) With Oracle, you can use the PL ( programming language ??) to
    �combine several SQL statements into one call, can we do something
    �similar with RDB?
    
With Rdb, users can program in the SQL Module Language (ANSI standard).  Modules
thus written can be compiled separately, then be linked with and called by any
program that conforms to the VAX calling standard.

If the database is important in this sale, get in touch with your DCC if your 
need database sales support.

Don't let Oracle get the sale!

Bruce

�                      <<< Note 782.0 by AUNTB::FRYLAND >>>
�                             -< ORACLE Questions >-

�    2) With Oracle, you can use the PL ( programming language ??) to
�    combine several SQL statements into one call, can we do something
�    similar with RDB?

I think you're referring to Oracle's PL/SQL, an extension to Oracle's SQL.
Oracle's PL/SQL V1 manual states -

"Not only does PL/SQL allow you to insert, delete, update, and retrieve ORACLE
data, it lets you use procedural techniques such as looping and branching to
process the data... PL/SQL blocks can contain any number of SQL statements
combined with the following:

	. flow of control statements such as IF ... THEN ... ELSE, EXIT, and
	  GOTO
	. repetition statements such as FOR ... LOOP and WHILE ... LOOP
	. assignment statements such as X := Y + Z

"Unlike SQL, PL/SQL allows you to logically group a set of statements and send
them to the RDBMS as a single block".

An example of a PL/SQL block follows:

	DECLARE
		x NUMBER := 100;
	BEGIN
		FOR i IN 1..10 LOOP
		    IF MOD(i,2) = 0 THEN	-- i is even
			INSERT INTO temp VALUES (i, x, 'i is even');
		    ELSE
			INSERT INTO temp VALUES (i, x, 'i is odd');
		    END IF;
		    x := x + 10;
		END LOOP;
		COMMIT;
	END;

The main advantage for ORACLE users that I can see is in terms of network
performance, since the block is sent to database node where all the work is
done prior to returning. This would be far more efficient than processing a 
statement at a time and returning intermediate results.

As for comparison with Rdb, there  is no similar feature in Rdb. 

John.

BTW, PL/SQL is not supported under Ultrix with Oracle V6.0

John.

    .0,
    
    Just curious, but how many MIPS (VUPS) and memory does Oracle recommend
    for each user? Please if written down, can you mention the source of
    this information?
    
    Henny

>>    Just curious, but how many MIPS (VUPS) and memory does Oracle recommend
>>    for each user? Please if written down, can you mention the source of
>>    this information?
    
    And what end-user application was this measured against?.  And, if not
    specified, how can this figure stay constant regardless of application
    design and content?.  (If it isn't constant - and it can't be - then it's 
    not accurate, and if they are already supplying inaccurate information
    Mr Customer ...)
    
    Cheers, Martin 

    I've just run out of fingers and toes counting the number of times I've
    been placed in a defensive posture by the "user per mips" lip service
    from our friends at the big O.  
    
    However, if .0's customer is buying a package piece of software that is
    layered on top of Oracle, it IS common to quote users per mip as most
    of the resellers I support use similar techniques for initial sizing.
    
    Re: PL/SQL.  Rdb has no functional equivalent of PL/SQL ... but ...
    Rdb doesn't need what PL/SQL provides to Oracle.  What PL/SQL does for
    Oracle is to reduce SQL parsing time within the Oracle kernel.  The
    SQL parsing time MUST be a problem for Oracle as all of the tuning
    notes I've read list SQL parsing time as one of the areas to review
    to increase performance (even if you are using Oracle pre-compilers).
    Aside from Rdb's dynamic SQL interface, most all Rdb commands are
    in DSRI format and are extremely fast.
    
    Since Oracle does not have database level referential integrity or
    triggers, PL/SQL can be used to perform these type of functions.  As
    you are aware, Rdb has these type of features built-in.
    
    But, if you want to know the real story behind "stored procedures",
    read your Rdb PID.... you'll like the answer.
    
    -- gerry