Re: Casino switches to AIX

From: Lukas Beeler
Okay, and what is the advantage of [IBM i] over using a
Windows based database?

I think a question like that could take off in a lot of tangents, but let me respond with a few generalizations about multi-tier vs. centralized architecture.

I see a number of applications using Microsoft technologies where SQL result sets are bufferred in client-side data objects, which in turn are bound to grids and other types of UI widgets. And at the same time, the same result sets may be additionally bufferred in application servers, and even additionally bufferred in database servers.

And developers get tricky by setting up data entry & maintenance forms that behave like Excel spreadsheets where users navigate from row to row, adding and changing records, followed by a <save> button click. That seems to work okay in single user applications, though you generally experience the latency of synchronizing the various data buffers over the various tiers.

But more serious problems and usability issues occur in multi-user databases with concurrent access and changing data values where one user's work overwrites another's, or the values on one user's screen don't match those of another. And handling data validation errors over distributed result sets is more problematic.

So I see some advantages to centralized architectures and record level access for database maintenance and transaction processing workloads.

Nathan.