When it comes to selecting enterprise-level database systems, most businesses have issues understanding the differences in options available and comparing those differences with their specific needs. The reason is that many corporate users do not understand prerequisites and requirements. Additionally, users often confuse corporate necessities with their specific desires. These may or may not align with organizational demands.
Businesses that have five users and do not require concurrency have different conditions than those with 500 users and the need for all users to have access to the database at the same time. Organizations need to understand the support options available for the different licensing types such as open source and paid corporate licenses.
Open Source and Free Options
The marketplace provides several great relational Database Management Systems (DBMS) that are free. Additional to these free options, a user can also download and use open source alternatives. These systems are generally termed open source because the license stipulates that anyone can access the source code and make modifications to the program as needed. Interested parties may download, install, and use the resource at no cost. Open source options include MySQL Community Edition Server, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, and many others. Additionally, users can download free alternatives (not open source) like Microsoft Server. For the most part, these database systems are powerful enough to service both individual users and enterprise environments. Specifically, options such as MySQL Server Community Edition are built on high-end technology that can offer organizations of any size access to concepts such as replication, concurrency, security, and scalability.
Aspects to consider when looking at free and open source options include operating system, technical knowledge, and support requirements. If enterprise users require high-end systems but do not necessarily require a lot of assistance installing, configuring, and using the DBMS, then the open-source option is a great alternative. However, these options are available without any free technical support or assistance. Therefore, users should keep in mind that if support or assistance is needed, users will need to either pay for assistance or technical support. However, many resources and tutorials are readily available online. It is up to each user to determine the level of comfort with learning or applying the concepts needed to install and use the database systems.
Enterprise Options
Although some free and open-source options mirror the features and characteristics of enterprise-level database management systems, high-end DBMS offers organizations with the support needed to incorporate characteristics such as cloud-based backups and redundancy. Enterprise options include Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle, IBM DB2, SAP Sybase Server, Ingres, and Informix, among others. Most of these database systems have been available for decades and provide customers with reputation and stability. Enterprise users who require options backed up by technical support, integration assistance, and warranty generally look to these options to fill their corporate needs.
Selecting paid enterprise options differs from its open source counterparts. Mainly, businesses looking at the available options should consider budget, the operating system, and the technical experience of their support base. Among the top options are arguably Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server. Oracle is known for its ability to provide robustness and high availability that is difficult to replicate. Microsoft SQL Server is known for its integration with the Microsoft Operating System and subsequent programming language platforms such as Visual Studio. Organizations generally make purchasing decisions based on license pricing, specific features, and organizational budget.
Final Thoughts
When investing time, energy, and money in a database management system, businesses should consider budget, technical support needs, features-needs alignment, and scalability. In may be necessary to provide SQL server training to personnel not only to ensure that corporate users understand how to determine what organizational demands are but also to manage and maintain the systems that will be the underlying platform managing business data. Ultimately, businesses will produce better results if making informed decisions.
