IBM DB2 Strikes Another Blow to Oracle Database
Those of you who follow DB2, are only too aware that IBM is doing everything in its power to provide the very best value in database software. IBM made a massive investment to develop pureXML—true native XML storage that is clearly superior to the confusing array of XML storage options in Oracle Database. IBM has superior data compression algorithms as well as compression options that Oracle does not offer. DB2 recently added native support for the most commonly used Oracle Database data types, SQL syntax, PL/SQL syntax, and more, making it easy for Oracle Database users to move to DB2. And last year, DB2 added support for a pureScale shared-disk clustering architecture that many argue is better than Oracle RAC. And now IBM strikes another competitive blow to Oracle Database with the exciting new Advanced Enterprise Edition for Linux, Unix, and Windows.
DB2 Advanced Enterprise Edition bundles DB2 Enterprise Server Edition together with:
- DB2 Storage Optimization feature
- DB2 Performance Optimization feature
- DB2 Advanced Access Control feature
- Optim Database Administrator
- Optim Development Studio
- Optim Performance Manager
It also includes limited-use versions of InfoSphere Replication Server and InfoSphere Federation Server.
The list price for the entire bundle is $450 per Processor Value Unit. That works out at a list price of $45,000 for a server with 100 Processor Value Units, compared to $47,500 for a bare bones Oracle Database Enterprise Edition server license. That’s correct. You get DB2 together with all those value-add features and all that additional software for less cost than a bare bones Oracle Database license. When IBM assembled this bundle, we really wanted to make a statement of intent… this is not a standard bundle discount… this is an aggressive move to significantly beat Oracle when it comes to providing value to customers. And don’t forget that the IBM price includes the first year’s support and maintanence. You need to add 22% to the Oracle price for the first year’s support and maintenance.
Here is a table that compares the list price of IBM DB2 Advanced Enterprise Server with the list price of the equivalent Oracle capabilities for a server with 100 processor value units. To be able to compare apples-to-apples, this table also includes the costs for first year support and maintenance.
| Functionality | DB2 Advanced Ent. Edition | Price | Equivalent Oracle Software | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core Database | DB2 Enterprise Server | Included | Oracle Enterprise Edition | $57,950 |
| Data Compression | Storage Optimization | Included | Advanced Compression | $14,030 |
| Disaster Recovery | HADR | Included | Active Data Guard | $14,030 |
| Advanced Security | Adv. Access Control | Included | Label Security | $14,030 |
| Data Partitioning | Table Partitioning | Included | Partitioning | $14,030 |
| Administration | Optim Database Admin. | Included | Oracle Enterprise Manager | No charge |
| Development | Optim Development Studio | Included | Internet Dev Suite | $7,076 |
| Performance Tuning | Optim Performance Manager | Included | Diagnostics Pack | $6,100 |
| Federation | Homogeneous Federation | Included | Oracle-to-Oracle Fed. | No charge |
| Active/Active Rep. | Q-Replication with DB2 | Included | Golden Gate | $21,350 |
| Total | $45,000 | $148,596 |
Hi. Excellent chart to compare DB2 to Oracle. Do you have a comparison between IBM’s vs Oracle’s Replication and CDC technologies?
Jim
Jim Smith
October 22, 2010 at 10:32 am
The price comparison depends on the server. To try to account for the different processing power of different types of CPUs, both IBM and Oracle use “processor multipliers” to determine the price. This means that the prices can vary, depending on the processor being used. I can take a couple of examples if you’d like. But please remember that the price difference might vary on other processors. The only way to know for sure is to use the IBM and Oracle pricing information, which is available online.
For an IBM Power Systems 770 with 4 CPU cores, where I include the first year of maintenance and support so it can be an apples-to-apples comparison:
IBM InfoSphere CDC: $75,840 (120 PVUs x $158/PVU x 4 cores)
Oracle Goldengate: $85,400 ((1.0 x $17.5K x 4 cores) * 1.22)
For a Sun UltraSPARC IV with 4 CPU cores, where I include the first year of maintenance and support:
IBM InfoSphere CDC: $63,200 (100 PVUs x $158/PVU x 4 cores)
Oracle Goldengate: $64,050 ((0.75 x $17.5K x 4 cores) * 1.22)
Conor O'Mahony
October 22, 2010 at 1:23 pm
Hi. you mentioned the pricing (which is fine) but I am looking for information that compares the technology features between Oracle Golden Gate and QReplication. You also mentioned that Oracle had Federation technology, but, does it compares to DB2 EII Federation technology?
Jim Smith
October 22, 2010 at 2:56 pm
Hi Jim,
I’ll have to get some help from some of my colleagues at IBM to answer competitive feature/function questions about those products. I’ll ask them to respond directly to this thread…
Regards,
Conor.
Conor O'Mahony
October 22, 2010 at 4:14 pm
Hi Jim,
QReplication is one of the underlying technologies of InfoSphere Replication Server – similar to Oracle GoldenGate, it’s designed for high throughput, low latency data replication. For a more detailed comparison, would suggest referring to each of the product’s website (InfoSphere Replication Server is at http://www-01.ibm.com/software/data/infosphere/replication-server/). I’m not very familiar with Oracle’s federation solution, but it’s important to keep in mind that DB2′s federation technology inherits the bulk of DB2 enterprise’s capabilities – this means that you get all the DB2 benefits of security, availability, parallel processing, auditing, monitoring, and caching with an IBM federation solution.
Wendy Tam
October 23, 2010 at 3:42 pm
Wendy,Conor,
Hi. Thanks for the update on Change Data Capture technology. I am currently using the DB2 Federation (Enterprise Information Integration) technology and very powerful when compared to solutions from companies like SAP/Business Objects (Product: Data Federator), Composite (Product: Composite Suite), Oracle (Product: Aqualogic – via BEA), Ipedo (Product: Ipedo).
Jim
Jim Smith
October 24, 2010 at 8:32 am