rana@bilby.cs.uwa.oz.au (Ranadeva Peries) (03/27/91)
Hi ! We are looking at purchasing a Database System for some projects in the Department. This however at a later stage may be also used for teaching purposes. The first of these projects is to build a Department information system which will hold everything from student enrollments, marks, staff information, account and asset information as well as the course details. This will centrally maintained. However various people will need to create their own 'views' of the data as well as update certain sections. The hardware on which we intend running the Database is a Sun4 with SunOS 4.1. The system should have front ends that will facilitate access from Apple Macs and NCD X Terminals. We may also need a front-end on the PCS for database access. A SQL Interface should be OK - but we also need access from C or C++ into the Database. Since we have standardized on X11R4, we would need the same interface for the Database. The Mac and the PC can use whatever is more appropriate. Our choices are fairly limited since we are in Perth, Australia. We have already had a good look at Oracle. The product seems to have everything that is required. However there seem to be so many pieces that you can put together and I wonder how many of these we really need. (Each piece has a price tag on it). I would like to hear from people who have been using and developing such applications. What database systems have you been using and what is your view of the products (cost/performance/support etc). Do you know of any other vendors that operate in this area and how can we get more information on these products. Any information on this matter will be much appreciated. Please mail me direct. rana@cs.uwa.oz.au Ranadeva Peries (Programmer) Department of Computer Science University of Western Australia Nedlands 6009. W. A. (Australia)..