Oracle vs. MS sql

[jsteinbach]

We are working on our Windchill 10 upgrade plan. We will be moving to
virtual servers and that has forced me to review my oracle licensing.
Which has then brought up the question of moving to MS sql server 2008.



Did anyone migrate away from Oracle to MS sql? If so why? Was the move
cost effective? How does Windchill perform on MS sql vs Oracle?



Has anyone tried the move to MS sql and went back to Oracle? Why?



Please let me know any experiences you may have in this area.



Thanks,

John







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[mmeadows]

John,

There is a mass migration from Oracle to MS SQL in the Windchill community today and much of it is caused by Oracle's unrealistic licensing requirements for virtual servers. Out of 10 recent (SMB)Windchill 10.0 migrations/new deployments, only one chose to stay with Oracle.

Not all of these deployments are complete but the ones that are don't have any issues running SQL Server. PTC did a lot of work with Microsoft and Windchill 10.0 reportedly runs faster on MS SQL than on Oracle. Also, SQL Server is easier to manage and maintain than Oracle. They are equivalent with respect to hardware resources (Windows servers).

PTC is really slow to release the Oracle to MS SQL Server migration tool for Windchill 10.0 (Oracle 11g R2 to SQL Server 2008 R2). It wastentatively planned for releasein June, then August, now October and we still haven't seen the tool. So if you have an older Windchill system (e.g. 9.1) today, you should plan to move from Oracle to MS SQL before you upgrade to 10.0. Switching databases during the upgrade process is not supported. If you have a Pro/INTRALINK 3.x system you have to move to Windchill with Oracle and then switch databases after the migration.

Moving from SQL Server to Oracle is not supported by PTC. Oracle has a database conversion tool similar to Microsoft but PTC has not attempted the database conversion in that direction. If you are interested in moving from SQL Server to Oracle let PTC know. They won't look into this process until there issignificant interest from the customer base.

Kind Regards,

Matt Meadows

Solutions Architect
VIRSO Inc
O: 618 937 8115
C: 314 749 8377
E: mmeadows@virsoinc.com