May 2002 — Industry Perspective
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Institution's Complexity, Resources and Future Needs Influence Database Selection
The Microsoft SQL Server implements the "shared-nothing" architecture in its scale-out approach where data from a single database is divided into multiple segments, with each segment residing on its own server and storage unit. These servers and storage units are not related, and the configuration and operation of each unit is independent of the others within the same cluster. Data is presented and accessed in a unified format with the use of Distributed Partitioned Views (DPV) that manage the access, retrieval and insertion of data at the back-end, regardless of which server it physically resides in.Independent, third-party evaluations of both Oracle's and Microsoft's performance in the areas of online transaction processing, data warehousing and Web transactions are available on the Transaction Processing Performance Council's Web site at www.tpc.org.
Security
Students entrust institutions with their most vital information, and careful steps must be taken to keep this information secure. With the Oracle database, security is engineered into the data server and cannot be bypassed. This means, for example, that encryption of credit card numbers resides on the database, not on the application. Also, with a single, centralized database, enterprise-level security is implemented just once. With the Microsoft Windows platform, security can be enabled and managed by the Windows operating system or the Microsoft SQL Server. Authentication managed by Windows allows one login for all applications running on Microsoft SQL Server and automatically allows the SQL Server to take advantage of all the security features available in the operating system. In addition, security can be built into the applications, allowing it to control access to forms, Web pages and content within the application.
Cost of Ownership
Overlaying the issues of reliability, scalability and security is total cost of ownership (TCO) - what it costs an institution to acquire, implement and support a database application over a five-year period. Most institutions want to minimize the administrative cost-per-student ratio, and wise investments in information technology are a good way to achieve that goal. TCO increases almost exponentially as availability requirements increase beyond certain thresholds. As such, even if vendors discount the initial purchase cost, the institution might end up spending more due to higher costs in maintaining the system or because additional components for functions not already integrated with the database must be purchased.
Another consideration is the cost of upgrades. For the Oracle database, those costs are included in the initial licensing fees, while Microsoft provides customers with a licensing option for access to the latest upgrades for a fee. In addition, a future cost consideration is whether your institution will need to change its operating environment. Oracle provides support for all industry standards across all the major operating system and hardware architectures available today. Thus, an institution can leverage its existing Oracle database to lower initial deployment costs and remain flexible enough to meet future needs. The Microsoft SQL Server runs under any Windows operating system starting with NT, Windows 2000 and Windows XP. It also runs on Windows CE for mobile applications in a 1-MB footprint on handheld devices.
