Conference ulysse::rdb_vms_competition

1230.0. "SQL Server to Rdb Conversion" by MBALDY::LANGSTON (The secret is strong ears.) Thu Feb 18 1993 01:45

I am working on an opportunity to replace a SQL Server with a VAX/Rdb
solution.  The current situation is a bunch of Compaq 486sx-25mHz clients
running Visual Basic applications on a NetWare Token Ring network.  The SQL
Server is running on a PS/2 X95 which is a 486-33, I believe, and OS/2.

The client applications talk to a DB2/CICS server across an SNA gateway (not
DECnet) and as well as the SQL Server.  The users are fund reps whose
customers are GM autoworkers, who call in to check on their money and adjust
their positions in the fund.

All of the "real" transactions in the system are across the SNA gateway to
the IBM host.  All of those transactions are, however, "logged" in the local
SQL Server database.  Some general plan information is kept in the SQL
Server database, as well.

The customer has a long-term plan to upgrade the whole system and wants to
start by converting the SQL Server database to a VAX-based solution.  We're
evaluating the practicality of converting it to Rdb vs. Sybase.  Of course I
would like to see it be Rdb and have identified the following issues:

Initially we could replace the SQL Server database engine on the PS/2 with
the SQL Server Gateway for Rdb.  This is a very nice solution, because they
don't have to change the VB clients at all, except to re-code any
transactions that are implemented with Stored Procedures.  We haven't yet
determined the extent to which the application employs Stored Procedures.

Having the SQL Server Gateway for Rdb is an interim-only solution, because
it might be a bottleneck.  The next logical step would be to replace the
DB-LIB calls in the application with ODBC calls, thus removing the SQL
Server Gateway for Rdb from the picture.

This step is dependent, however, on the availability of the ODBC driver for
Rdb *and* a capability to talk to Token Ring NetWare clients with a
VMS-based Rdb server (i.e., NetWare VMS, due in PATHWORKS 5.0?). Except for
the differences in the dialects of SQL, which could be considerable, is
assuming that replacing the DB-LIB calls with ODBC SQL would be doable a
practical solution?

Can Sybase on VAX/VMS talk to Token Ring NetWare clients with some
proprietary something-or-other, thus making Sybase a more practical
solution?

One of the things we would recommend is migrating some portion of the DB2
database application to the VAX and/or using Data Distributor to
periodically extract some portion of the DB2 database to Rdb to improve
performance by having the data locally.  Does Sybase have a capability to
extract from DB2 in a similar fashion?

What effort, generally, is required to convert a SQL Server database to
Sybase for VAX/VMS?  Would that make Sybase a more practical solution?

Thanks,

Bruce

I'll post this in the IM Partners, Rdb_Competition and Sybase Notes files.