Re: Evaluating which database to choose

From: DA Morgan <damorgan_at_x.washington.edu>
Date: Thu, 30 Dec 2004 15:52:09 -0800
Message-ID: <41d4938a$1_2@127.0.0.1>

Alan wrote:

> "DA Morgan" <damorgan_at_x.washington.edu> wrote in message
> news:41d44135$1_3_at_127.0.0.1...
> 

>>Kalle wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Hi all,
>>>
>>>I wonder is there a list of topics/excel sheet/questions to be answered
>>>or asked from vendor when you are choosing the correction database
>>>software among like oracle/teradata/db2 etc... And now we are talking
>>>about terabyte amount of data...
>>>
>>>All points to links would be nice and all other comments as well...
>>>
>>>Thank you in advance...
>>>
>>>Kalle
>>
>>There are lists created by vendors but, no surprise, all are
>>self-serving: As well they should be.
>>
>>Here's my list:
>>1. What skills exist inside the organization?
>>2. What skills exist in the local/regional marketplace?
>>3. What will support third-party applications and tools we want to use?
>>4. What books are available to support us?
>>5. What on-line resources are available to support us?
>>6. What are the chances the company/product will not exist in 10 years?
>>7. What programming languages does the product support?
>>8. What is required to secure the data?
>>9. What is required to recover from hardware failure?
>>
>>Generically you will find all three products you mention can easily
>>handle terabytes of data. But I challenge you to find a book on
>>Amazon.com about teradata or to find a pool of potential employee
>>candidates.
>>--
>>Daniel A. Morgan
>>University of Washington
>>damorgan_at_x.washington.edu
>>(replace 'x' with 'u' to respond)

> 
> 
> Your list is good from a general point of view, but, for example, #6- the
> question first needs to be asked- How far out to we require technical
> support?" For one project I am working on, we only care about the next 5
> years. #7 could be restated- "Does it support programming languages we now
> use or are willing to use?" Basically, you have put together a list of
> technical questions, but this needs to be preceeded by a list of business
> questions and requirements. The answers to those help determine how much
> weight each technical question gets, and and what the specific parameters of
> these questions need to be.

Good points all. The reason I stated #6 as I did is that anyone with TB to store and considering Teradata is likely planning on being around a very long time.

In Washington State, for example, the organizations with Teradata are Boeing, two telecoms, and one of the nation's largest retailers. Teradata is not for the faint of heart or for those with limiting budgets. Though I must say they can be fun to work with though far more limiting than either Oracle or DB2.

-- 
Daniel A. Morgan
University of Washington
damorgan_at_x.washington.edu
(replace 'x' with 'u' to respond)

Received on Thu Dec 30 2004 - 17:52:09 CST