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Kingsley Uyi Idehen
Lexington, United States
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"Free" Databases: Express vs. Open-Source RDBMSs
Very detailed and insightful peek into the state of affairs re.
database engines (Open & Closed Source).
I added the missing piece regarding the "Virtuoso Conductor"
(the Web based Admin UI for Virtuoso) to the original post below. I
also added a link to our live SPARQL Demo so that anyone interested
can start playing around with SPARQL and SPARQL integrated into SQL
right away.
Another good thing about this post is the vast amount of
valuable links that it contains. To really appreciate this point
simply visit my Linkblog (excuse the current layout :-) - a Tab if
you come in via the front door of this Data Space (what
I used to call My Weblog Home
Page ).
"Free" Databases: Express vs. Open-Source RDBMSs : "Open-source relational database management
systems (RDBMSs) are gaining IT mindshare at a rapid pace. As an
example, BusinessWeek 's February 6, 2006 '
Taking On the Database
Giants ' article
asks 'Can open-source upstarts compete with Oracle, IBM, and
Microsoft?' and then provides the answer: 'It's an uphill battle,
but customers are starting to look at the
alternatives.'
There's no shortage of
open-source alternatives to look at. The BusinessWeek
article concentrates on MySQL ,
which BW says 'is trying to be the Ikea of the database
world: cheap, needs some assembly, but has a sleek, modern design
and does the job.' The article also discusses Postgre[SQL] and Ingres ,
as well as EnterpriseDB ,
an Oracle clone created from PostgreSQL code*. Sun includes
PostgreSQL
with Solaris 10 and, as of April 6, 2006, with Solaris
Express .**
*Frank Batten, Jr., the investor who originally
funded Red Hat, invested a reported $16 million into Great Bridge
with the hope of making a business
out of providing paid support to PostgreSQL users. Great Bridge stayed in business only 18
months , having
missed an opportunity to sell the business to Red
Hat and finding that
selling $50,000-per-year support packages
for an open-source database wasn't
easy. As Batten concluded, 'We could not get customers to pay us
big dollars for support contracts.' Perhaps EnterpriseDB will be
more successful with a choice of
$5,000, $3,000, or $1,000 annual support subscriptions
.
**Interestingly,
Oracle announced in November 2005 that Solaris 10 is 'its
preferred development and deployment platform for most x64
architectures, including x64 (x86, 64-bit) AMD Opteron and Intel
Xeon processor-based systems and Sun's UltraSPARC(R)-based
systems.'
There is a surfeit of reviews
of current MySQL, PostgreSQL and—to a lesser extent—Ingres
implementations. These three open-source RDBMSs come with their own
or third-party management tools. These systems compete against free
versions of commercial (proprietary) databases: SQL Server 2005
Express Edition (and its MSDE 2000 and 1.0 predecessors),
Oracle Database 10g Express Edition , IBM DB2 Express-C , and Sybase ASE
Express Edition for Linux where database size and processor
count limitations aren't important. Click
here for a summary of recent InfoWorld reviews of the
full versions of these four databases plus MySQL, which should be
valid for Express editions also. The FTPOnline Special
Report article, 'Microsoft SQL Server Turns 17,' that contains
the preceding table is here
(requires registration.)
SQL Server 2005
Express Edition SP-1 Advanced Features
SQL Server 2005 Express Edition with Advanced Features enhances
SQL Server 2005 Express Edition (SQL Express or SSX) dramatically,
so it deserves special treatment here. SQL Express gains full text
indexing and now supports SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) on
the local SSX instance. The SP-1 with Advanced Features setup
package, which Microsoft released on April 18, 2006, installs the
release version of SQL Server Management Studio Express (SSMSE) and
the full version of Business Intelligence Development Studio (BIDS)
for designing and editing SSRS reports. My 'Install
SP-1 for SQL Server 2005 and Express ' article for FTPOnline's
SQL Server
Special Report provides detailed, illustrated installation
instructions for and related information about the release version
of SP-1. SP-1 makes SSX the most capable of all currently available
Express editions of commercial RDBMSs for Windows.
OpenLink Software's
Virtuoso Open-Source Edition
OpenLink Software announced an
open-source
version of it's Virtuoso Universal Server
commercial DBMS on April 11, 2006. On the initial date of this
post, May 2, 2006, Virtuoso Open-Source Edition (VOS) was virtually
under the radar as an open-source product. According to this press
release , the new edition includes:
SPARQL
compliant RDF Triple Store
SQL-200n Object-Relational Database Engine (SQL, XML, and Free
Text)
Integrated BPEL Server and Enterprise Service Bus
WebDAV and Native File Server
Web Application Server that supports PHP, Perl, Python,
ASP.NET, JSP, etc.
Runtime Hosting for Microsoft .NET, Mono, and Java
VOS only lacks the virtual server and replication features that are
offered by the commercial edition. VOS includes a Web-based
administration tool called the "Virtuoso Conductor" According to
Kingsley Idehen's Weblog , 'The Virtuoso build scripts have been
successfully tested on Mac OS X (Universal Binary Target), Linux,
FreeBSD, and Solaris (AIX, HP-UX, and True64 UNIX will follow
soon). A Windows Visual Studio project file is also in the works
(ETA some time this week).'
InfoWorld 's Jon Udell has tracked Virtuoso's progress
since
2002 , with an additional
article in 2003 and a one-hour
podcast with Kingsley Idehen on April 26, 2006. A major talking
point for Virtuoso is its support for Atom 0.3 syndication and
publication, Atom 1.0 syndication and (forthcoming) publication,
and future support for Google's GData
protocol , as mentioned in
this Idehen post . Yahoo!'s Jeremy
Zawodny points out that the 'fingerprints' of
Adam Bosworth , Google's VP of Engineering and the primary force
behind the development of Microsoft Access, 'are all over GData.'
Click
here to display a list of all OakLeaf posts that mention Adam
Bosworth.
One application for the GData protocol is querying and updating the
Google Base database independently of the Google Web client, as
mentioned by Jeremy: 'It's not about building an easier onramp to
Google Base. ... Well, it is. But, again, that's the small stuff.'
Click
here for a list of posts about my experiences with Google Base.
Watch for a future OakLeaf post on the subject as the GData APIs
gain ground.
Open-Source and Free
Embedded Database Contenders
Open-source and free embedded
SQL databases are gaining importance as the number and types of
mobile devices and OSs proliferate. Embedded databases usually
consist of Java classes or Windows DLLs that are designed to
minimize file size and memory consumption. Embedded databases avoid
the installation hassles, heavy resource usage and maintenance cost
associated with client/server RDBMSs that run as an operating
system service.
Andrew Hudson's December 2005
'Open Source
databases rounded up and rodeoed ' review for The Enquirer
provides brief descriptions of one commercial and eight open source
database purveyors/products: Sleepycat, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Ingres,
InnoBase, Firebird, IBM Cloudscape (a.k.a, Derby), Genezzo, and
Oracle. Oracle Sleepycat *
isn't an SQL Database, Oracle InnoDB * is an OEM database
engine that's used by MySQL, and Genezzo is a multi-user, multi-server
distributed database engine written in Perl. These special-purpose
databases are beyond the scope of this post.
*
Oracle purchased Sleepycat
Software, Inc. in February 2006 and purchased Innobase OY in October 2005
. The press release states: 'Oracle
intends to continue developing the InnoDB technology and expand our
commitment to open source software.'
Derby
is an
open-source release by the Apache
Software Foundation of the Cloudscape
Java-based database that IBM acquired when it bought Informix
in 2001. IBM offers a commercial release of Derby as
IBM Cloudscape 10.1 . Derby is a Java class library that has a
relatively light footprint (2 MB), which make it suitable for
client/server synchronization with the IBM DB2 Everyplace Sync
Server in mobile
applications . The IBM DB2 Everyplace Express Edition isn't open
source or free*, so it doesn't qualify for this post. The same is
true for the corresponding Sybase SQL Anywhere
components.**
* IBM DB2
Everyplace Express Edition with synchronization costs $379 per
server (up to two processors) and $79 per user. DB2 Everyplace
Database Edition (without DB2 synchronization) is $49 per user.
(Prices are based on those when
IBM announced version 8 in November
2003.)
** Sybase's
iAnywhere subsidiary calls SQL Anywhere 'the industry's leading
mobile database.' A Sybase SQL Anywhere Personal DB seat license
with synchronization to SQL Anywhere Server is $119; the cost
without synchronization wasn't available from the Sybase Web site.
Sybase SQL Anywhere and IBM DB2 Everyplace perform similar
replication functions.
Sun's Java
DB , another commercial version of Derby, comes with
the Solaris
Enterprise Edition , which bundles Solaris 10, the Java
Enterprise System, developer tools, desktop infrastructure and N1
management software. A recent Between the Lines blog entry by
ZDNet's David Berlind waxes enthusiastic over the use of Java DB embedded in a
browser to provide offline persistence. RedMonk analyst
James
Governor and eWeek 's Lisa Vaas
wrote about the use of Java DB as a local data store when Tim Bray announced
Sun's Derby derivative and
Francois Orsini demonstrated Java DB embedded in the Firefox
browser at the ApacheCon 2005 conference.
Firebird
is
derived from Borland's InterBase 6.0 code, the first commercial
relational database management system (RDBMS) to be released as
open source. Firebird has excellent support for SQL-92 and comes in
three versions: Classic, SuperServer and Embedded for Windows,
Linux, Solaris, HP-UX, FreeBSD and MacOS X. The embedded version
has a 1.4-MB footprint. Release Candidate 1 for Firebird 2.0 became
available on March 30, 2006 and is a major improvement over earlier
versions. Borland
continues to promote InterBase , now at version 7.5, as a
small-footprint, embedded database with commercial Server and
Client licenses.
SQLite
is a
featherweight C library for an embedded database that implements
most SQL-92 entry- and transitional-level requirements (some
through the JDBC driver) and supports transactions within a tiny
250-KB code footprint. Wrappers
support a multitude of languages and operating systems, including
Windows CE, SmartPhone, Windows Mobile, and Win32. SQLite's primary
SQL-92 limitations
are lack of nested transactions, inability to alter a table design
once committed (other than with RENAME TABLE and ADD COLUMN
operations), and foreign-key constraints. SQLite provides read-only
views, triggers, and 256-bit encryption of database files. A
downside is the the entire database file is locked
when while a transaction is in progress . SQLite uses file
access permissions in lieu of GRANT and REVOKE commands. Using
SQLite involves no license; its code is entirely in the public
domain.
The Mozilla
Foundation's Unified Storage
wiki says this about SQLite: 'SQLite will be the back end for
the unified store [for Firefox]. Because it implements a SQL
engine, we get querying 'for free', without having to invent our
own query language or query execution system. Its code-size
footprint is moderate (250k), but it will hopefully simplify much
existing code so that the net code-size change should be smaller.
It has exceptional performance, and supports concurrent access to
the database. Finally, it is released into the public domain,
meaning that we will have no licensing issues.'
Vieka Technology, Inc.'s
eSQL 2.11
is a port of SQLite to Windows Mobile (Pocket PC and Smartphone)
and Win32, and includes development tools for Windows devices and
PCs, as well as a .NET native data provider. A conventional ODBC
driver also is available. eSQL for Windows (Win32) is free for
personal and commercial use; eSQL for Windows Mobile requires a
license for commercial (for-profit or business) use.
HSQLDB
isn't on most
reviewers' radar, which is surprising because it's the default
database for OpenOffice.org (OOo) 2.0's
Base
suite member. HSQLDB 1.8.0.1 is an open-source (BSD license) Java
dembedded database engine based on Thomas Mueller's original
Hypersonic SQL Project. Using OOo's Base feature requires
installing the Java 2.0 Runtime Engine (which is not open-source)
or the presence of an alternative open-source engine, such as
Kaffe. My prior posts about OOo Base and HSQLDB are
here ,
here and
here .
The HSQLDB 1.8.0
documentation on SourceForge states the following regarding
SQL-92 and later conformance:
HSQLDB 1.8.0 supports the dialect of SQL
defined by SQL standards 92, 99 and 2003. This means where a
feature of the standard is supported, e.g. left outer join, the
syntax is that specified by the standard text. Many features of
SQL92 and 99 up to Advanced Level are supported and here is support
for most of SQL 2003 Foundation and several optional features of
this standard. However, certain features of the Standards are not
supported so no claim is made for full support of any level of the
standards.
Other less well-known embedded databases designed
for or suited to mobile deployment are Mimer SQL Mobile and VistaDB
2.1 . Neither product is
open-source and require paid licensing; VistaDB requires a small
up-front payment by developers but offers royalty-free
distribution.
Java DB, Firebird embedded,
SQLite and eSQL 2.11 are contenders for lightweight PC and mobile
device database projects that aren't Windows-only.
SQL Server 2005
Everywhere
If you're a Windows developer,
SQL Server Mobile is the logical embedded database choice for
mobile applications for Pocket PCs and Smartphones. Microsoft's
April 19, 2006 press release delivered the news that SQL Server
2005 Mobile Editon (SQL Mobile or SSM) would gain a big brother—SQL
Server 2005 Everywhere Edition.
Currently, the SSM client is
licensed (at no charge) to run in production on devices with
Windows CE 5.0, Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC or Windows Mobile
5.0, or on PCs with Windows XP Tablet Edition only. SSM also is
licensed for development purposes on PCs running Visual Studio
2005. Smart Device
replication with SQL Server 2000 SP3 and later databases has been
the most common application so far for SSM.
By the end of
2006, Microsoft will license SSE for use on all PCs
running any Win32 version or the preceding device OSs. A version of
SQL Server Management Studio Express (SSMSE)—updated to support
SSE—is expected to release by the end of the year. These features
will qualify SSE as the universal embedded database for
Windows client and smart-device applications.
For more details on SSE, read
John
Galloway's April 11, 2006 blog post and my 'SQL
Server 2005 Mobile Goes Everywhere ' article for the FTPOnline Special
Report on SQL Server . "
(Via OakLeaf
Systems .)
About this entry:
Author: Kingsley Uyi Idehen
Published: 05/05/2006 16:02 GMT-0500
Modified: 07/21/2006 07:21 GMT-0500
Tags: gdata , atom , rdf , xml , sql_server , db2 , informix , ingres , jdbc , sql , mysql , odbc , oracle , postgres , sybase , semanticweb , sparql , linux , unix , windows , dynamic_languages , python , openlink , virtuoso , DataSpace , unified_storage , .net , dataspace , databases , postgresql , enterprisedb , great bridge , redhat , derby , cloudscape , java db , firebird , esql , hsqldb , sql server 2005 , sql server , sqlserver , mssql , sql server 2005 everywhere edition ,
sql server everywhere , sql server 2005 mobile edition , sql server mobile , sql server 2005 service pack 1 , sql server express , sql express
Categories: Demos , Virtual Database , Data Access , Industry News , SQL , Semantic Web , Programming , Web Services (Web 2.0) , Content Syndication , XML , Database Technology
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