A few years ago, I remember hearing the phrase “set it, and forget it” in relation to Informix. That catch-phrase has stuck with me ever since. Initially, I was intrigued when I heard the phrase simply because I would not have associated the implied level of reliability unless the database was running on a mainframe. But when I talked with Informix users, they were quite passionate in their agreement with this catch-phrase.

Informix has had an interesting history. At one time, it was going toe-to-toe with Oracle Database for database supremacy in distributed environments like Unix. Some would argue that, at the time, Informix was in a good position to win that war. Then the Informix train derailed. But curiously, it wasn’t technology reasons that took Informix off track. It was a series of corporate governance catastrophes combined with a series of poorly chosen and poorly executed acquisitions that stalled the Informix momentum. The Informix technology was never called into question. However, its corporate governance certainly was.

Informix eventually found a home at IBM. And IBM, with its technology-friendly approach to product development, is a good home for a product like Informix. At IBM, Informix is assured of continued investment in its product features. (IBM’s focus on corporate-level advertising, rather than product-level advertising, has left some Informix advocates unhappy with the levels of awareness for Informix, but that is another matter that has been dealt with at length elsewhere in the blogosphere.) One thing that cannot be questioned, however, is the continued investment in the Informix product features. In fact, in the time since the last major release of Oracle Database in 2007, IBM Informix has had two releases (code named Cheetah2 and Panther). In these releases, IBM Informix has added major new features like Flexible Grid, the Warehouse Accelerator, Storage Provisioning, Selective Row-Level Audit, Trusted Context, and more. It has also integrated the Genero feature into the product (for 4GL development). It is a strong testament to Informix that these features have been added during a time when we have seen few new features in Oracle Database.

Through all of its storied history, the Informix technology continues to be alive and well. And users continue to love Informix for its technology, performance, ease-of-use, and reliability. As I’ve said in the past, Informix doesn’t have users, it has fans. And now, the catalyst for this blog post… I recently encountered very tangible evidence of this “set it, and forget it” mantra for Informix in the following Facebook exchange where users share their availability “war stories”. It makes for fascinating reading for DataBase Administrators (DBAs) who work on troublesome systems.