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it_user1026435 - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Transactional data storage that can be traced and directed to an FTP server
Pros and Cons
  • "The feature that I worked with and that excited me the most is one that is not available in other databases, and it involves the use of Java Runtime."
  • "The integration with other vendor solutions needs improvement. It is difficult to connect to other hardware."

What is our primary use case?

The primary use case of this solution is in a financial institution to store our transactional data.

What is most valuable?

This product has a number of features. The feature that I worked with and that excited me the most is one that is not available in other databases, and it involves the use of Java Runtime.

There is also a feature that will trace the transaction and direct them to an FTP server. That was excellent. It is provisioned with very little additional cost.

What needs improvement?

The database has a lot and not everything is known to every user. The licensing is a bit complicated. 

I am trying to configure the GoldenGate and I find that you have to connect to the classic one in big data, I should use only one instead of two to stream the data to streaming platforms.

The integration with other vendor solutions needs improvement. It is difficult to connect to other hardware.

I would like to see more focus on the features that are supporting the new technology, rather than just focus on the hardware.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with Oracle Database for approximately seven years.

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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This solution is stable and we have not had any issues. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's a scalable solution.

How are customer service and support?

We have subscribed to the site, where we can ticket the problem. There is a library of issues that have been recorded worldwide. You can search the library resources to find your problem and follow that research to resolve it.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward. The challenge comes with performance tuning, where you need more experience.

What other advice do I have?

I do more than 70% of work on an Oracle database, which is why I would recommend it to others.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Director Of Services at Dinamika Berkah Abadi
Real User
Handles high transaction volume, good data protection features
Pros and Cons
  • "Oracle enables us to handle more than a million daily transactions."
  • "The price tag is very high and most cannot afford it."

What is our primary use case?

This is used as the main core for our financial service and is running on an Exadata server.

How has it helped my organization?

Oracle enables us to handle more than a million daily transactions.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features are the Oracle Data Guard and Transportable Tablespaces. These features are useful when you need data protection and in case you need to move data around quickly.

What needs improvement?

The price tag is very high and most cannot afford it.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Oracle for ten years.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Oracle Database
December 2024
Learn what your peers think about Oracle Database. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2024.
824,067 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer898881 - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Specialist at a energy/utilities company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Whenever we need to add new space it is easy to extend and increase our performance
Pros and Cons
  • "The feature I find most valuable about this solution is the reliability."
  • "The product is very expensive."

What is most valuable?

The feature I find most valuable about this solution is reliability. Whenever there was a problem, like hardware that failed, the data was still okay and not corrupted and that is very important for us. 

I am also really impressed by the scalability of this product. For example, whenever we need to add new space, Oracle makes it easy to extend and increase our performance. We don't have any corruption issues and we can add new space and without having to restart our database. 

What needs improvement?

I would like to see an improvement in the upgrade process. Sometimes it's very complicated to upgrade from one version to another. We are currently running the Oracle version 12 and we may need to upgrade in the future. These upgrades are not very simple and should be made more user-friendly.

If it could be more affordable, it would be a plus. Because the product is very expensive.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been using this solution since 1995.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability of Oracle is absolutely perfect. We've had no problems since we started using it in 1995. One time we had power problems and we had to restart the server. The data was automatically corrected and reconstructed, without any problem at all.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Oracle is very scalable. We have no issues with that, even though we have a large database. We currently have about a hundred users.

How are customer service and technical support?

Oracle has a support portal where you can get help and where they issue you a support ticket. It is, however, expensive.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We are using Oracle mostly for digital business data. But we are also running Microsoft SQL, mostly for simpler, small applications. Microsoft SQL is also a good database and our company's second alternative for SQL data storage. As a second option and for minor applications, we use open source, PostgreSQL or MySQL. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was really complicated and complex. We always use our partner for installation and then we prepare and analyze install scenarios. Then we go through the approval process and start with the installation. I believe the process is complex and complicated when you have a large database. For smaller users, it will be simple, but for most production data, this process is rather complicated. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Oracle is expensive, but very good. You get quality for the price you pay.

What other advice do I have?

The enterprise Oracle Manager is very good. It is an expensive solution, so I will rate this product a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user522009 - PeerSpot reviewer
Database Architect at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Vendor
A combination of stability, scalability and transportability.

What is most valuable?

It's stable, scalable, transportable – all of that combined together; it's a reliable platform; more knowledge base; and more pertinent support.

What needs improvement?

I think Oracle could provide some more user-friendly, front-end toolsets. Even though it's for techies, that would be nice. I know they have some, but those are all licensed products.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Oracle Database for 20 years; a long time; since college.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Knock on wood, there hasn’t been any downtime to the point that is noticeable, but we do plan downtime to do stuff; it has seldom choked up on us.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I think it will meet our company’s needs going forward; so far, looking good. 12c has more promise and cloud is the next frontier. Being in healthcare, just being cautious, but I think there are signs they are getting ready to move to the cloud; gradually, not 100%.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support is good. It should be more direct, but now, it's a little indirect. I still rate them high. When I need them, I can demand and they'll respond. Sometimes, the challenge is the time zone. You have to be careful when you're opening a case; how to make sure you have the right people in the right time zone.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

This product came in before I joined my current company. I think it was influenced by their ERP system which they brought over in 1998. Lawson recommended running on Oracle.

How was the initial setup?

Setup is straightforward, but it requires some knowledge. Otherwise, it will turn out to be complex. It's not like anyone can do it. You have to know what you're doing. That involves training and knowledge transfer.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Everything is good but pricing-wise, it's still struggling with that. It's very difficult to justify their costs sometimes in the board room.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We also use SQL Server, MySQL, and a little bit of MongoDB.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend the products I have experience with. I don't just say yes or no, or give just one or two options; I give you a bit more. I recommend the product I have, Oracle RDBMS Suite. I think they're still trustworthy, if not more.

When I select working with a vendor like Oracle, I look for the sum of their accomplishments. I don't really go for companies because they have been in business for 50 years. I also look for agility; what they bring; transparency; the offering, of course; what they're bringing in and the ideas behind it. Is it going to be sustainable for five years or more? Is it going to diversify itself across the industry? I rate thsee factors high.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user521862 - PeerSpot reviewer
Oracle DBA at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Consultant
We're operating an Oracle RAC system, so we can scale when required.

What is most valuable?

It's the only database you can operate at a very high professional level and that offers what the customers need from the product, ACID.

How has it helped my organization?

It's a crucial and critical part of our everyday business. That's what it does.

What needs improvement?

Real zero-downtime patching, that's what I want.

When you have a fallback system with RAC and Data Guard, the autonomous help framework could support it, but collecting the logs and reading the logs is still a nightmare. Improving this would be very good. The way Oracle does it today is OK, with in-memory options, with NoSQL database integrated and so on, but it could be a really good feature for the future.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have scaled it, but not to a very high extent.

I think as we start to get into the IT business more and more, we will see how we need it. We are now operating an Oracle RAC system, so we can scale when required.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support is kind of different because at some point, you reach the point where you can't proceed any further with stand-up processes. You need to have context and background information about the company. We're lucky that we can get in touch directly with the development team. We get help there.

Normally we have very complex problems when we have them. When we communicate with them using the standard channels, it does not fit. But, as I’ve mentioned, we have the direct line of communication with the development.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

It's like, how do you decide that you need electricity at home? It’s a given requirement from the business. We've been working with Oracle for many, many years and using the product for many, many versions.

How was the initial setup?

We did the initial setup ourselves. We have a huge framework in which we did the complete setup. We installed the clusters. It was not straightforward. For such as huge company like ours, it’s not straightforward. There are too many management processes around and too many specialties in the company.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We do not have any other vendors on a shortlist at this time.

We have three flavors of relational databases: MS SQL, Oracle, and MySQL. MySQL should fit the open-source aspect, and then we have two huge relational databases. Therefore, MS SQL is more for the smaller deployment and Oracle is for the huge deployments. SAP release 3 runs on Oracle, too. It was in the company. We didn't decide to use Oracle or not. It was there.

We just offer it to our customers and they choose. The mission-critical stuff runs on Oracle.

What other advice do I have?

It's very professional and there are good structures implemented there. When you are willing to pay, you can get everything. Basically, what you pay for with Oracle is the maturity of the product, and that is something you can rely on.

Know how Oracle works. They say it's always been like that: you first sell, then you fulfill. You have to know that and that it's okay. You have to know that the new features will not work immediately.

When we're looking at a vendor like Oracle, we look at two areas. One is the technical part and the other is that it's a huge company. When we have problems, there is a huge organization behind it that can support it. We have a lot of ways to escalate issues. We look for a really huge company with a lot of people with whom we can get in contact. When we go to open-source projects or to smaller projects and we have problems, it's not as easy. Communicating with Oracle is easier to manage.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user522024 - PeerSpot reviewer
Programmer at Royal Oman Police
Vendor
The search and security features are valuable.

Valuable Features

The most valuable feature is the searching; it takes less time to search.

The security is also valuable.

Improvements to My Organization

Many organizations in my country use Oracle, so it's for us to communicate between our systems and other systems. We don't need, for example, some behind-the-scenes or in-between integration, or some other integration program.

Room for Improvement

I have a problem with Windows. It doesn't work so well; it's difficult. It's not as easy as SQL Server. For example, if I want to publish, or if I want my clients to work with Oracle database, I need to install Oracle clients. It's annoying. It's for security.

Sometimes I have difficulty with its Arabic support. It doesn't work so well in Arabic, in all of the versions we use. We need to go to the Analyze link to choose Arabic.

Stability Issues

It goes down sometimes; sometimes it is not as stable. It is 90% stable, 10% unstable.

Scalability Issues

It is scalable; it is better.

Customer Service and Technical Support

We have not used technical support.

Sometimes when we run into difficulties, I have found some answers by searching on the web.

Initial Setup

Other teams perform the initial setup. It goes smoothly but we do have problems, as I’ve mentioned; sometimes we have difficulty with Windows. We need to install it many times. Sometimes, we need to reformat the PCs, and reinstall Windows.

Other Advice

Determine how the Oracle database will be used in your organization. For example, if you want to build a new system, and you want your system to connect with another system, to another organization, you must use Oracle, because the other organization uses Oracle, and it is easy to communicate with it.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user435990 - PeerSpot reviewer
DBA Architect at a aerospace/defense firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
11g has helped increase the performance of our database. We're also able to maintain it easier.

Valuable Features:

From a storage and memory perspective, 11g is great. We also tried to install 12c on our machines, but we weren't happy about it because there were two version of it and we weren't ready to use the required plugins. We'll go to 12c next year, but I'd like to know whether we can go straight to 13c, which is already out.

Improvements to My Organization:

11g has helped increase the performance of our database. We're also able to maintain it easier and better.

Room for Improvement:

It's really not very user-friendly. Once installed and set up, there are still a lot of other steps we've had to take to get it functioning the way we want and need it to.

Deployment Issues:

Deploying it required a lot of customization steps.

Stability Issues:

The stability is better than with 10g, in our experience with it.

Scalability Issues:

The scalability is OK, but now that we're pushing 30GB of data per hour, there are problems with applications at the OIS level not handling the data correctly.

Initial Setup:

I performed the full setup myself but winged the rest. I had problems with the patches even though the upgrade installation went well. I spoke with DBA's in other companies and they had no problems with the patches. I still haven't come up with a solution.

Other Advice:

It's a good product, better than older versions.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1728396 - PeerSpot reviewer
Group Lead at a security firm with 1-10 employees
MSP
Effective real application clusters and responsive technical support
Pros and Cons
  • "The technical support from Oracle is good and responsive. I used them for security updates and patches."

    What is most valuable?

    The most valuable feature is the Oracle RAC.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have used Oracle Database within the last 12 months.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    I have not had any bugs or glitches, the solution is stable.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    Oracle Database is easy to scale.

    We have approximately 200 people using this solution in my organization.

    How are customer service and support?

    The technical support from Oracle is good and responsive. I used them for security updates and patches.

    How was the initial setup?

    The setup is fine, but it depends on many factors.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    The price of Oracle Database is too expensive and especially for individual environments. The pricing model is not clear, if I want to run it on a virtual environment, I still need to license the whole physical box.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    I have evaluated MySQL.

    What other advice do I have?

    My advice is to others wanting to implement Oracle Database is to first look at the open-source products, such as MySQL, because sometimes they can do as good of a job as Oracle Database.

    I rate Oracle Database an eight out of ten.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
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