Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Oracle vs. MySQL

As MySQL continues to explode in the marketplace, there are more Oracle and SQL Server DBAs learning MySQL. For Oracle DBAs, its important to understand that MySQL is a different type of database server.
  • Oracle is the aircraft carrier of database servers. Oracle has by far more features than any other database server. Oracle supports a number of database server solutions such as Real Application Clusters (RAC), Data Guard (standby database) and Oracle Streams (replication).
  • MySQL is the speed boat of database servers. MySQL is a very light weight database server that excels in web applications. MySQL is designed to be fast, easy to use and simple to install.
I'm always asked about porting Oracle applications to MySQL or MySQL applications to Oracle. Well if someone buys an aircraft carrier they probably bought it for specific reasons and the same for a speed boat. Its very unlikely that someone is going to switch from one to the other and be happy. However, each database server has areas where it excels.

1 comment:

kk said...

Hi George, I am a database developer and my company is planning to switch from mysql to Oracle. Could you tell me some of the advantages over mysql. Our primary use of database is for hosting web solutions for clients.