Oracle Database Reviews

For both versions:

• Oracle data miner: automation of created and tested several models
• Warehouse builder: the best data modeling implementation tools for multi-dimensional schema, spatial data, robust ETL implementation
• Fusion middleware: information systems integration and process management
• Data integrator: bulk movement; good connectivity to the other databases, even hierarchical databases; simplicity in ETL implementation
• WebLogic: JDeveloper bundling as a new feature
• BI publisher: showing the best images of data and resources with quality reports, managing the reports, robust report designer
• Application development framework: rapid training and development, excellent deployment, simplicity, map integration

The product has improved organizations by developing BI applications for banks such as a banking data warehouse, fraud detection, incident detection, ad-hoc BI reports shown on maps with drill-down features, data quality process and ETL.

We are hoping they make improvements in the following areas

• Data mining
• Big data analytics

Because we need to find economic models and buying behavior by improving the data mining process and integration with structured and unstructured data for accurate analysis and effective decision-making.

I regularly encounter stability issues.

I regularly encounter scalability issues.

I rate technical support 9/10.

Our first solution was Microsoft’s solution. We switched to Oracle because of data volume, switch to big data in the future, security and other features.

Initial setup was complex. There was a limitation regarding access to the product, because of sanctions on Iran.

We also evaluated Pentaho, Talend, and Microsoft’s solution.

Make your best estimate regarding project size and data volume. Fully understand all of the products available.

The most valuable feature is the high concurrency in terms of transactions. The second most valuable feature is that from a diagnostic performance standpoint, I can tell exactly what is going on. It is really good at helping to solve problems.

The organizational improvements go back to the high concurrency. There are a lot of database products out there, but it is difficult to have a lot of simultaneous actions from a business perspective in the database. They have to happen very fast, and Oracle just shines at that.

I would like Oracle to instrument the CPU consumption of Oracle sessions. Right now I can tell how much CPU Oracle consumes, but I have no idea what it's doing when it's consuming the CPU. I can infer that, but I don't have the authority that I would like to when I speak about it.

We have been using the product since 1989.

It’s a software product, so there are some bugs. When I have issues, they tend to be from an unusual or intense workload that is stressing the system.

It rocks. You can tweak Oracle so it will use up all available computing resources. That's powerful. That way, you can use your investment and your capacity.

You always have to be careful about stability when applying patches. A patch could fix one thing but hurt something else, so you really have to be conscientious and do your homework first.

You need to get a good overall understanding before you drill down. There is too much to learn, so get a basic fundamental understanding and then let the problems guide you in learning more.

The main, most important feature is the integration of the database, security, and performance. Those are the three main features. They have evolved it very well since version 6. It used to be rule-based, now it's cost-based, which is great because there are so many routes to bring in the data. It's a really complex architecture, and the way Oracle has done it is really good.

I work with a couple of other databases too, but with Oracle, it allows you to drill down to a very small level inside the database and return a result that you want. That's another pretty good feature.

Also, Database has low-level security through a virtual private database. Within the same database, we can show two businesses simultaneously without having a different architecture. This really helps us.

A lot of things like a low level security. One of the features that we use virtual private database, which is a low level security. Within the same data base we can show two businesses at the same time, without having a different architecture. It actually helps us.

It's beneficial for our organization because we have a lot of financial data where it has to make sure that something came before on the master data layer. You have to have a node created before you insert the data that leads it to the node.

When there is the high insertion of data and bursts of insertions, Database has to manage the integration, but the way it tries to maintain all the integrations is not necessary. There's a way to de-normalize all this, but not if an application is already downloaded. Database has a lot of limitations, especially when you have a huge data insertion that you're trying to query. That really becomes a limiting factor with Database.

I've been using Oracle products for 22 years.

We have no real issues with deployment.

It's one of the most stable database that I work with. They have been improving with every version. As far as stability goes, I give a very high marks to Oracle.

There are ways you can scale it, but one of the limiting factor is the way Oracle licensing works. The moment you try to out scale it vertically or horizontally, you multiply the Oracle licenses, and a lot of customers are looking into that. How do we optimize those with the performance that you need?

The problem is the way the technical support works. A lot of people try to pass the ball around, and that's a lot of challenge with management of all that. Most of the time, if you really want to work on something you have to raise it to Level 1. You've got to escalate, otherwise things doesn't get worked on. If it's a critical thing, there's no other option.

The initial setup was straightforward, but maybe I'm so experienced that I don't have many issues with it. A new DBA may have a different view of the setup. I would suggest, however, that Oracle should develop a feature in Database that lets you know which products you have a license for and which ones you don't during the setup.

We implemented it with our in-house team.

It's a good, stable system. When it comes to Oracle, you need to understand what to use, how to use it, and look into the cost of it, which is very important.

It's enterprise-wide and can handle big databases. Also, it performs automatic backup recovery and database management and monitoring, both of which are extremely useful.

We've reduced our time monitoring the database and, instead, spent more time researching and improving our system.

The portal site needs to be improved, as sometimes it's very slow. They also need to improve their critical problem resolution, especially error ORA-60000. I hoped that they'd be able to reduce those types of errors by now.

We've had no issues with deployment.

We very seldom have stability issues. It's been really stable so far.

It's a scalable solution that comes at a cost.

Issues are registered through their portal where we login our tickets. Sometimes, it's a bit slow and their response is a bit average unless it's Severity One, in which case the response time is really quick, about 1 or 2 hours. Otherwise, if it's Severity Three or below, it can probably take up to one day. Sometimes the development team needs to look into the issues.

Database was already set up when I joined, but I haven't heard that it was particularly complex.

Oracle needs to reduce the licensing cost as it's getting more expensive.

You have to really know the Oracle version type that you're working on, especially with the new Oracle chassis which is running on multi-tenant architecture. That is very important if you are, just like our company, on MTA, multi-tenant architecture. We have to really know the inside out how it works before we can actually support and maintain it. So be well prepared for it.

The most valuable feature for us is certainly the scalability of the DB as we need capabilities for multiple terabytes of data.

I don't know much about other organizations, and I've used SQL in the past at other companies, but because most of our customers are different federal government agencies, it's provided us scale to support many terabytes of data.

Recently with the 12.102 version, Oracle decreased the number of hardware you can use. I would like them to revert that back to where it was. We use the standard edition, so obviously that's going to hurt our customers as Oracle is reducing the hardware we can use.

We've been using DB since the beginning, so 33 years now. I haven't used it personally since then, but the company has.

We've had no issues with deployment.

It's definitely stable. We've had no issues with instability.

It's very scalable, which is the primary reason we use it.

Oracle's technical support is better than most, but it's not perfect. Obviously, when we open a ticket for support, it needs to get escalated a couple of times before we actually get an engineer who can really get down and help us. That's typical of the industry, so it's better than most, but not perfect.

The complexity of the initial setup depends. The patch releases have been simple: you download, you install, and it works fine. There have been no issues that we've run into there. The major upgrades, however, I think with the new 12.102, they've made some changes in it, so we're still trying to figure that one out.

It's a great product, no doubt about it. Oracle did a good job on it and that's why they have a big market share. I think if you're starting from scratch, look for other alternatives. Investigate the alternatives to see if they can meet your needs.

Technically, it's almost flawless, I would say. There are bugs in it of course, but they are bugs that doesn't impact us as a company.

Oracle Database is a management system, it has many applications. Most of my customers are financial, telecom, and utility organizations.

The most valuable features of Oracle Database are the Data Guard because it does replication and the integration layer, such as GoldenGate.

There is a lot that can improve in Oracle Database. For example, it could be more user-friendly and should be easier to integrate into the cloud.

I have been using Oracle Database for approximately 20 years.

Oracle Database is highly scalable. It supports the cluster configuration with the hundreds of nodes, the performance is good. The data volume Oracle Database consumes is quite scalable.

I haven't seen huge installations with petabytes of data but I know the solution has good capabilities. If the solution did not have good capabilities the major institutions would not use it.

For my region, all the Oracle support technical support is from India. I have some experience with interacting with them. There have been very few times I have created service requests. Most of the information I am able to find from their knowledge base is available on their website and other resources.

I have previously used Postgres, MariaDB, and Informix.

Oracle corporation invests a lot into its core technology. For example, if you compare it with Postgres, it is capable to handle heavy workloads. Additionally, with Oracle Database you can make very complex database architecture. In freeware solutions, you have to employ 10 times more database administrators than for those who use Oracle. It requires a lot of people for freeware databases.

The initial setup is simple. However, in order to install it correctly, you have to have some experience. You must know where the data must be put. It is better to have assistance when installing the solution. 

The length of time of the installation depends on the installation environment.

Oracle Database requires a lot of maintenance and the amount depends on the scale and the initial requirements. Each project can be very different.

The price of Oracle Database is quite high compared to other solutions. It has a lot of options, such as security for partitioning and real application clusters. These options are not for free. Once you want to use it, you have to pay extra.

I would recommend this solution to others.

I rate Oracle Database an eight out of ten.

I use Oracle Database for the server from Microsoft.

Big companies and millions of smaller businesses need Oracle Database because it's secure. The implementation of services is good for data security in Oracle. Implementing higher availability is also good. Whenever one side goes down, the other side will be up. I like using Oracle Database in Oracle x86 Servers. It's more comfortable to use Oracle Database in this situation.

It would be better if they had a license management service.

Oracle Database is very stable.

The initial setup is easy.

I would tell potential users that they need to use Oracle Database if they need security. It's great and the best. You can also use various software in our database.

On a scale from one to ten, I would give Oracle Database a ten.

We are using a BI solution and Oracle Transaction Server for transaction data. So, transactional data is being stored in the Oracle Database.

I like the query part and the optimization of the query to get the data. I also like its speedy recovery and stability. In the security part, the loss of data is minimal for any crashes that could happen. First of all, it might not occur, but if it happens, the recovery of the data is smoother than others.

It would be better if the administrator part could be simplified. At the moment, we need specialized skills for managing or administering Oracle Database. If that is simplified, my juniors or basic database engineers could use it. Right now, we need specific administrative skills to manage the Oracle Server.

I have been dealing with Oracle Database for more than a decade.

Oracle Database is a stable solution.

Oracle Database is definitely scalable. For the project we are working on, the team size is around 500 to 600 engineers. But not everyone is working on Oracle. Even if we go with the 10% or 5% count, you still end up with 20 to 50 people who are dealing with the SQL queries, day in, day out.

I would recommend this database solution to potential users, but it depends on their specific business needs.

On a scale from one to ten, I would give Oracle Database an eight.