How to Choose the Best Database for Your Business

Databases have become key in enabling businesses to efficiently manage their data

assets and to effectively use information to better understand their businesses. This

document considers the question of what is needed for small and medium-sized

businesses to successfully implement and maintain database applications,

considering limitations of budget, time, and expertise. It considers such issues as

ease of installation, ease of use, reliability, and manageability of relational database

management systems (RDBMS). It also explores how Oracle has delivered such

capabilities with Oracle Database 10g Standard Edition One.

In response to the needs of SMBs, Oracle has developed a configuration of Oracle

Database 10g  Standard Edition that is specifically intended to address the

requirements listed below.

·            Affordability

·            Easy to access data by nontechnical users

·            Self-management to the furthest extent possible

·            Good performance and availability, yet resource stingy

·            Easy to administer and adjust when necessary without special expertise

·            Delivery in a context that makes it a business solution, not just a piece of

                          technology

·           Straightforward yet comprehensive security

This is not a subset of the product’s RDBMS functionality,

or a "dumbed down" version of the product. Rather, it is a configuration that includes

all the features of the regular Standard Edition, including features designed

specifically to meet the needs of SMBs, but is limited to deployment in server

instances of up to two processors. It is called Oracle Database 10g Standard Edition

One (SE1). Oracle has designed this configuration to be ideal for SMBs or

departmental systems that run their applications on 1-2 processor servers. Oracle

Database 10g Standard Edition One is available on all Oracle’s supported operating

systems, including Windows, Linux, Unix, and Macintosh.

Oracle Database 10g Standard Edition One delivers on key requirements for small

and medium-sized businesses to successfully develop and deploy database

applications. These requirements are met as follows:

  Ease  of  use. Self-managing features remove the need for special expertise in

installing and managing the RDBMS. For those activities that do require human

effort, Oracle Enterprise Manager provides an easy to understand user interface

for simple, straightforward database administration.

  Efficiency. Oracle’s self-managing features, including those in support of

memory management and storage management (especially ASM), ensure that

SE1 will deliver optimal efficiency even without any manipulation of the database

by an expert DBA.

  Full  functionality. SE1 is a packaging of the product that is limited only by

number of processors. All the functionality of the regular Oracle Database 10g

Standard Edition is there and available for use. This not only means that users

have a full enterprise RDBMS to start out with, but that migration to the full

Standard Edition, should it be required, is not a migration at all; just a license

upgrade.

  Support  from  leading  applications. Oracle’s RDBMS is probably the most

widely supported one of all, with a wide range of applications available in

practically every category developed to run on Oracle. Should professional

services become available, an appropriate service organization with Oracle

expertise should not be hard to find.

SE1 represents an effective response on the part of Oracle to the needs of the small

and medium-sized business segment of the RDBMS market. It offers all the

capabilities of Oracle Database 10g Standard Edition at a price that enables users to

start out small without compromising on technology.