RE: Interesting Article on Viper and SAP

-----Original Message-----
From: Ryan Hunt [mailto:ryan.hunt@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2006 10:53 AM
To: midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Interesting Article on Viper and SAP


>http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9000398

>So, were's the cheerleading page for iSeries DB2?  I checked the Viper page
>and it looks as if Viper refers to DB2 for Linux, Unix, Windows, and z/OS
>only.

this is interesting. sql is a real battlefield now, with 3 contenders, IBM, 
Oracle and MSFT.

from 
http://www-306.ibm.com/software/data/db2/udb/viper/?S_TACT=105AGX11&S_CMP=VIPER

"...Viper is the code name for the upcoming release of DB2. DB2 Viper is a 
leading edge hybrid data server capable of supporting both relational and pure 
XML storage and provides all the necessary services to support both data 
structures. It also has tons of new features that increase performance and 
scalability for both XML and relational data. ..."

DB2 on the i5 is based on physical files?  Where SQL inserts and RPG writes 
both end up in the same physical database file.  What with Viper storing some 
of its tables in XML documents? an RPG write would have to do the same. 

Check out the latest from MSFT on the SQL front:
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/editions/sqlmobile/default.mspx

sql mobile is being rebranded as sql everywhere. sql/e will be built into all 
windwos desktops:
http://blogs.msdn.com/stevelasker/archive/2006/04/10/SqlEverywhereInfo.aspx

Q: Which database should I use for my desktop apps?
A: This is a longer discussion than what I'm trying to cover in this Q&A, but 
both SQL/x and SQL/e will be available for the general desktop scenario.  
However, SQL/e is targeted specifically for general desktop usage.  It runs 
in-proc, doesn't offer data as a service, has a lightweight model for 
applications that need to share the resources of the users machine with other 
applications besides the database engine.  SQL/x is a free version of the 
server product.  It runs as a service, and while SQL/x has been tuned to be 
more efficient about resource usage, it is a server based product.  General 
guidance is to start with SQL/e.  SQL/x is well suited when you want exact 
functionality of the server platform, but are willing to deploy a server based 
product that will require significantly more resources than SQL/e.  When 
considering local data stores, consider the bigger picture of the problem.  A 
users machine is a different operating environment than a server.  

Q: Will SQL/e have the same licensing constraints as SQL Mobile?
A: No.  SQL/e will be enabled on all Win32 desktop platforms.  



-Steve