Sybase databases
 

Hi.

I am currently evaluating a number of Recruitment database solutions for the company I work for and there is one in particular I like.

It runs on Sybase as opposed to SQL Server on pretty much all the others and I was wondering if anyone could give me any advice as to the pros and cons.

We run XP SP2 with Office 2003.

The outlay will be around £5k so I need to make the right decision here.

Thanks very much.

Re: Sybase databases
 

Here's a little secret... Microsoft didn't write SQL Server from scratch, it was pretty much bought from Sybase ;)

Re: Sybase databases
 

Oh My God!? Microsoft not doing something original... never! :D

Sybase is pretty damned good as Databases go, don't think you'll go far wrong.

Re: Sybase databases
 

I know... hard to believe, ain't it? :D

One thing I do know about Sybase... they pay really badly. I went for an interview at their UK office in Maidenhead a few years ago. The job seemed really interesting, and the guys doing the interview were great (even the director-type bloke I met), but the pay really, really sucked - even more so considering Maidenhead is a stupidly expensive place to live. I would have taken the job if they'd paid a decent salary.

Sorry, didn't mean to drag the thread off topic ;)

Re: Sybase databases
 

I realise that SQL Server was developed by Sybase and Microsoft, I was just concerned about investing in a non-industry standard technology.


Thanks for the replies so far.

Re: Sybase databases
 

What is industry standard these days anyway?

Re: Sybase databases
 

The problem with standards is that there's so many of them.

Re: Sybase databases
 

My thought exactly AntiSilence :) It's a well targeted DB Suite McGraw, I can't see you going wrong with it.

Re: Sybase databases
 

My two-pennorth worth, for what little it's worth, is to ask a couple of questions.

How many users/records do you have at present?
What growth in users/records do your forecast?
How much support will you need?

I don't know how much Sybase will scale, but when we were looking at CRM systems, the choices came down to Oracle, SQL Server on WinTel, and IBM DB2 running on pSeries - SQL Server can really scale up now to compete with Oracle.

There's probably a lot more SQL Server bods out there than Sybase.

Hope this helps.

Re: Sybase databases
 

It's really not about the database backend though, it's what's available as the frontend that you need to look at, as long as its not using a Microsoft Access (I LOL) Database then you're alright.

I've also seen some pretty huge databases on MySQL (Open Source) before.

Re: Sybase databases
 

Well, from what I remember about what I was told during the interviews I had with Sybase, it scales extermely well. They had some very impressive customers doing some very impressive stuff with Sybase, so I'd not be worried about the back-end side of things.

Foreverwar is probably right... SQL Server DBAs are two-a-penny these days.