[comp.databases] ORACLE REL 6, INGRES REL 6

nick@bilpin.UUCP (Nick Price) (05/08/89)

Does anyone have  any information about the proposed release
schedules for INGRES and ORACLE release 6 under Unix. Also any
porting issues, problems, comments on the new architectures,
performance issues would be appreciated, particularly relating
to the 'transaction processing' capability announced by ORACLE.

Here's another thought -- Many multi-processor Unix machines are
appearing on the market now, both loosley coupled (NCR Tower 8XX),
and tightly coupled (Sequent), to mention just two. In my experience
RDBMS performance can become an issue in such an environment, 
particularly where bottle-necks are introduced by a single server
architecture. Shared memory accesses between processors is another
cause for concern. Anybody else want to share their thoughts.


-- 
_______________________________________________________________________________
Nick Price          SRL Data        || Apple link : UK0001
1 Perren Street     London NW5 3ED  || UUCP	  : nick@bilpin.uucp
Phone:              +44 1 485 6665  || Path	  : mcvax!ukc!icdoc!bilpin!nick

markd@rtech.UUCP (Mark P. Diamond) (05/10/89)

From article <1588@bilpin.UUCP>, by nick@bilpin.UUCP (Nick Price):
> 
> Here's another thought -- Many multi-processor Unix machines are
> appearing on the market now, both loosley coupled (NCR Tower 8XX),
> and tightly coupled (Sequent), to mention just two. In my experience
> RDBMS performance can become an issue in such an environment, 
> particularly where bottle-necks are introduced by a single server
> architecture.... 

INGRES Version 6 will address multiple processor support in two ways:  

The first release of the product will allow you to start up
multiple servers; for an N processor Symmetry, just start up
N (or some number proportionaly to N) servers.

Better yet, at the recent INGRES Users Association meeting,
Sequent and RTI announced a joint development project, PDQ 
which stands for Parallel Database Queries.  The first
part of this project will be to create a single server which
will run across multiple processors.  Thus while you still
have the option to run multiple servers, you need only start
up one to get full utilization of your multiprocessor
Symmetry.  

The other parts of the PDQ project will enable INGRES to run a single
user's database query using all the processors concurrently. 
The idea is to take long and complex decision-support type queries which
run on one single processor and (transparently) decompose them 
into many smaller pieces which can be executed in parallel, using all 
available processing power.

Mark <>
Mark P. Diamond    {amdahl,mtxinu,sun,hoptoad}!rtech!markd markd@rtech.com 
No one ever said it was going to be easy...

tim@phobos.sybase.com (Tim Wood) (05/11/89)

In article <1588@bilpin.UUCP> mcvax!ukc!icdoc!bilpin!nick (Nick Price) writes:
>
>Here's another thought -- Many multi-processor Unix machines are
>appearing on the market now, both loosley coupled (NCR Tower 8XX),
>and tightly coupled (Sequent), to mention just two. In my experience
>RDBMS performance can become an issue in such an environment, 

It's an issue in any environment.  In MP, the potential for (in-)efficiency
is much greater, since there is more CPU bandwidth to be (properly) used.

>particularly where bottle-necks are introduced by a single server
>architecture. 

Can you give examples of these bottlenecks?  Is your point theoretical
or from experience with a particular system?  If theoretical, could there
be a server design that exploits SMP architecture?

>Shared memory accesses between processors is another
>cause for concern. 

Why?  What do you perceive the issues to be?

>_______________________________________________________________________________
>Nick Price          SRL Data        || Apple link : UK0001


Sybase, Inc. / 6475 Christie Ave. / Emeryville, CA / 94608	  415-596-3500
tim@sybase.com          {pacbell,pyramid,sun,{uunet,ucbvax}!mtxinu}!sybase!tim
Voluntary disclaimer: This message is solely my personal opinion.
		      It is not a representation of Sybase, Inc.  OK.

jon@altos86.UUCP (Jonathan Ma) (05/12/89)

In article <1588@bilpin.UUCP> nick@bilpin.UUCP (Nick Price) writes:
>Here's another thought -- Many multi-processor Unix machines are
>appearing on the market now, both loosley coupled (NCR Tower 8XX),
>and tightly coupled (Sequent), to mention just two. In my experience
>RDBMS performance can become an issue in such an environment, 
>particularly where bottle-necks are introduced by a single server
>architecture. Shared memory accesses between processors is another
>cause for concern. Anybody else want to share their thoughts.

I strongly agree that DBMS should not be a "porting" effort to some
hardware platform.  The DBMS product should be enhanced and tuned
for each specific platform.

In the last two years, many computer manufacturers announced joint
development agreement with various DBMS vendors.  I'm sure everyone
knows that's his best defense against the competitors.  I'm glad
that my employer is one of them, and I'm in it.  

I'm pretty sure that the future of DBMS is in object-oriented, 
X-window driven, valued-added DBMS.  I can't wait to see how this
revolution will turn the industry around.

-Jon-					Jonathan Ma, Altos Computer Systems

			UUCP: {sun,pyramid,amdahl}!altos86!jon
			Disclaimer: those views are mine, not my employers.

midkiff@Thalatta.COM (Michelle Midkiff) (05/16/89)

In article <1588@bilpin.UUCP> nick@bilpin.UUCP (Nick Price) writes:
>
>Does anyone have  any information about the proposed release
>schedules for INGRES and ORACLE release 6 under Unix. Also any
                 << text deleted for brevity >>


I asked an Oracle rep. (Belmont office) just last week and he
claimed that the following UNIX ports would be production by the
end of the month:
                      Sun
					  Sequent/Symmetry
					  AT&T
					  HP

-- 

In-Real-Life: Michelle Midkiff, Thalatta Corporation, (+1 206 455 9838)
Domain: midkiff@Thalatta.COM    Path: ...!sun!sunup!thebes!midkiff

cgd@pyrps5 (Greg Doherty) (05/17/89)

In article <319@athens.Thalatta.COM> midkiff@Thalatta.COM (Michelle Midkiff) writes:
>I asked an Oracle rep. (Belmont office) just last week and he
>claimed that the following UNIX ports would be production by the
>end of the month:
>                      Sun
>					  Sequent/Symmetry
>					  AT&T
>					  HP

Add to that list:
					  Pyramid


cgd