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Oracle Database In-Memory vs SQL Server comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Oracle Database In-Memory
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
8th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
8.3
Number of Reviews
30
Ranking in other categories
Embedded Database (3rd)
SQL Server
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
267
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of Oracle Database In-Memory is 1.4%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SQL Server is 20.1%, down from 23.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Relational Databases Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Md Al-Amin - PeerSpot reviewer
Ensures that users experience a good return on investment
Firstly, a user should prepare the operating system for installation, and then we have to copy the software to install the product. When dealing with scenarios related to Oracle Real Application Clusters, users need to add nodes and storage. The setup process is a little bit complex compared to DB2. The setup process of Oracle Database In-Memory takes around five to six hours to install Oracle Real Application Clusters, if everything is okay, apart from which the other processes will take a day. The solution is deployed on an on-premises model. The cloud-based solution is available for testing and development, and it need not be installed in your environment. A user just needs to do a few clicks and select the database, after which it automatically gets installed in the cloud. Only in the on-premises version of the product, there is a need to do some work in the tool.
Azizul Haque - PeerSpot reviewer
It has eliminated all kinds of inconsistencies, and it is reliable, secure, and fast
I don't know whether SQL Server can support large organizations where the database size is more than 100 GB. It might be because of SQL Server, or it might be because of the programming of the software vendor, but a lot of people think that it is a problem with SQL Server. It can't handle a large amount of data or large data size. In terms of its usage, about 90% of our applications are running on the SQL Server database. We have around 1,600 users for our software, and all the applications are connected to the SQL Server database.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"We can integrate it with any data sources as well."
"We find the dashboard and the speed of data processing very valuable in Oracle Database In-Memory."
"The on-premise version is stable. We have different teams and resources for the server side, for admin, and for development. We can easily take care of all the services and applications."
"The solution's most valuable feature is its performance optimization within our hardware environment."
"The scalability is very good."
"The most valuable feature is that Database-In-Memory is more consistent and faster than traditional databases as it requires fewer CPUs to process instructions."
"The scalability of the solution is very good. It's able to support large amounts of data."
"The product offers high scalability."
"The license fee is very low."
"As a data warehouse and storage solution, it's quite good."
"The product can scale if a company needs it to."
"I haven't really experienced any issues that required the assistance of technical support."
"The columnstore index feature is useful for us, and we also use the integration services. It is also very stable."
"SQL Server stands out due to its robust parallel processing capabilities."
"The pricing of the solution is okay. It's less expensive than Oracle, for example."
"I've been using SQL Server for 20 years, and there is nothing that it can't do. It is awesome."
 

Cons

"The solution is quite expensive."
"It would be good if Oracle could reduce downtime when transferring from non-In-Memory to In-Memory."
"Technical support is below our expectations currently. It could be improved."
"The product could be more economical."
"The platform’s pricing needs improvement."
"Oracle should include column store or advanced query optimization so a database can be optimized by enabling analytic queries to run faster."
"We use some partitions in In-Memory. We have a very large table and a low dose. It is very expensive in data to load all of them into In-Memory. It takes up more memory slots in the server, as well as a lot of RAM. We use last partitions on the table. We always need to create a script and make a schedule that can load a last partition in In-Memory. Oracle doesn't have features to do this automatically. I would like them to allow us to load last partitions, as well as other table partitions, in In-Memory. I think a good feature would do that automatically, letting you see a table, load a large partition, and monitor loading memory. It's quite a good feature."
"They should lower the price. My customers think that it's too expensive."
"The treatment of database storage could be improved."
"With so much data, things can get slow, which is why I would like to be able to understand how to better optimize queries."
"For a big amount of data, when we are speaking about IoT Segments, and Big Data projects, there are performance issues."
"Although I am satisfied with the solution, some clients have asked us to resolve technical issues, such as those involving silver solution and replication."
"In my experience, I've found that scalability can be improved."
"There are a few use cases where we do need the Active-Active options instead of Active-Passive, yet those kinds of options are not available for Microsoft."
"Right now we don't get much technical support from Microsoft"
"The pricing and quality of the product could be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The platform's licensing cost needs improvement."
"The product is expensive."
"There is a need to make a yearly payment towards the licensing costs, after which there is any to pay towards the support cost attached to the solution."
"The pricing is pretty good so I rate it an eight out of ten."
"Oracle Database In-Memory is expensive."
"The solution's pricing is high."
"Database In-Memory is priced a bit higher than its competitors like Microsoft."
"It's quite costly and it comes with a fixed price."
"Licensing fees increase depending on size and performance. If you want higher performance, you should go for a different course."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a seven out of ten."
"There is a license required for this solution."
"SQL Server is an expensive solution."
"This is a very cheap product."
"It is something we have been using for a lot of years. If we're paying, it should be reasonable."
"The licenses are really expensive. Their licensing model should be more simplistic."
"For medium-sized customers who don't need some enterprise features, the tool would be available for 200 USD per month. For the enterprise segment, the tool's cost can go up to 6,000 USD."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
19%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
9%
Educational Organization
52%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
6%
Manufacturing Company
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Oracle Database In-Memory?
We can integrate it with any data sources as well.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Oracle Database In-Memory?
Oracle Database In-Memory is very expensive. Additionally, there are extra costs for some features.
What needs improvement with Oracle Database In-Memory?
Oracle Database In-Memory is more expensive than Azure, and the support from the Oracle team is not very good, especially since they do not have a support team in our region.
Would you say the price of SQL Server is high compared to that of similar products?
SQL Server is fairly priced because it has various editions, depending on the number of users, servers, or core packs you are using. If you compare the product to others in this category, the price...
Has using SQL Server helped your organization in any way?
SQL Server has helped my organization through partitioning to distribute the workload, as it splits them up into smaller pieces so the machines can easily deal with it. However, this comes with a h...
Which authentication mode is best for SQL Server?
My company connects through SQL Server authentication. We have company Windows accounts, but we do not want to connect the two, out of security concerns and to keep things separated for our own pur...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Microsoft SQL Server, MSSQL, MS SQL
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Shanghai Customs
Microsoft SQL Server is used by businesses in every industry, including Great Western Bank, Aviva, the Volvo Car Corporation, BMW, Samsung, Principality Building Society, Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, and the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario.
Find out what your peers are saying about Oracle Database In-Memory vs. SQL Server and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
837,501 professionals have used our research since 2012.