Oracle support their products on a ridiculously large number of operating system platforms. It’s a statement of fact, but in reality what does this mean. Over the last coupe of years I’ve come to believe that Oracle “port” to many platforms, but they can only effectively “support” a limited range of those platforms.
These are my thoughts on the relevance of several operating systems on a per-product basis…
Oracle 10g Database:
Linux – Works very fast and is extremely reliable, provided you are VERY careful about what OS packages you update.
Solaris – I like Solaris, but I question using expensive Sparc hardware when Linux on x86 runs faster. Never used Solaris on x86, but then why would I? That’s what Linux is for 😉
HP-UX – Works well, but it’s a dead platform. Ask anyone within HP and you will know that Tru64 and HP-UX are not long for this world. HP-UX on x86? Yeah, right!
Tru64 – Contact Oracle support for help on Tru64 and you will soon find out they don’t have access to Tru64 instances to test anything worth doing. It’s a great platform but it’s already been end-of-lifed by HP so don’t even go there!
Windows – Oracle works well on Windows, but it’s not as fast as running it on top of Linux, so why put money into Bill’s pocket for lower performance?
Oracle 10g Application Server:
It’s a Linux product. Running it on any other operating system is a waste of time and money.
Please don’t try and run it on Tru64. You’ll spend months fighting it and eventually get HP to replace your Alpha kit with x86 kit for free. It happened to me 😉
Oracle Collaboration Suite:
It’s a messy and overcomplicated product built on 9iAS components. In my opinion 9iAS was a total abortion, and I’m not too fond of OCS.
Anyway, it’s a Linux product. To paraphrase a conversation with Oracle consultants, “It’s supported on a number of platforms but it’s a Linux product.” Enough said.
Oracle E-Business Suite:
See AS10g and OCS.
From this post you might conclude one of two things:
- I’m a rabid Linux fan.
- I’ve used Oracle on many platforms and always found the best way to get support is to use the latest version of a product on the platform Oracle prefer and Oracle currently have a love affair with Linux.
I like to think it’s the latter, but I do find myself foaming at the mouth in the presence of penguins…
Cheers
Tim…
Oracle 10g Database:
Linux – Works very fast and is extremely reliable, provided you are VERY careful about what OS packages you update.
Solaris – I like Solaris, but I question using expensive Sparc hardware when Linux on x86 runs faster. Never used Solaris on x86, but then why would I? That’s what Linux is for 😉
My roots are in Solaris, so I may be a little biased. When you compare to similarly configured boxes, the costs are not much of an issue. Sure, DKB can get a Linux “Server” for $700 at CompUSA, but if you compare 4 CPU, equivelent ECC memory, Dual Fibre controllers, Dual GBit NICS, and redundant OS drives, the cost is very similar. The Linux box will probably be faster, but the price is similar.
Point taken.
I guess my experience over the last couple of years has made me doubt Oracle’s commitment to a number of the existing UNIX flavours.
Cheers
Tim…
We are wanting to upgrade from 8i to 10g. Have just found out the the box to be used is using Solaris 9 operating system, but has 3 x 8i db, 5 x 9i db and 2 x 10g db already on it. Are all of these compliant with Solaris 9 – how can I find out?
Hi.
Use the product certification matrix:
http://www.oracle.com/technology/support/metalink/index.html
Cheers
Tim…