Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Not to start a war here or anything

BUT, tomorrow is the beginning of the end for Windows Oracle Database servers in our company. The very LAST oracle database that runs on windows is in the pipe to be converted to HPUX, due date - June 4th, but this might get pushed back a couple of weeks due to factors I can't control. Testing is ongoing, but it looks good, users are impressed by the performance and the vendor is happy. 132 Databases in the company, 131 on a flavour of unix (HPUX,Linux many types, AIX and Solaris) and ONE windows. Free of windows at last... Now, if I could only convince management to allow me to run linux on my laptop. Now... to start the conversion process off of HPUX RISC onto something else... I am thinking AIX. :)

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

That sounds like a good reason for a celebration. Nobody really "wants to" run oracle on windows it is just that they "have to" sometimes.

We are hpux here also now on pa risc. We are thinking about new servers. Looks like it may be hpux on itanium ( new dual core montecito's coming out ).

I really like some of the hardware sun has rolled out recently ( the T2000 looks like an excellent mid sized database server ).

IBM does have plans for a new line of chips ( is it P6 ? ) that will have huge increases in processor speed.

Herod T said...

We had IBM come up and give us a presentation.

Their hardware looks good, especially with the virtualization on the hardware and the ability to have CPU's in the box you just pay for what you use.

So, a 12 CPU box that is only 12 CPU day 1-6 of month end, and is 4 CPU the rest of the time.

Huge savings in dollars. Oracle has some very strange methods of calculating those costs. But for now they seem beneficial.

We have some very anti-solaris people here in the tech group, so I keep getting shot down when I mention Sun.

As a note, that's it June 17th is its last day. 17 hour conversion to the new server and that's it for windows servers.

I am gladly coming into work on the weekend for that.

Peter K said...

If you are looking at HP-UX Itanium, there are other factors to consider especially with all the complexity of certification.

Over at my organization, we recently bought a whole bunch of HP Itanium servers because at the end of this calendar year, HP will no longer sell PA-RISC servers. Well, complexity comes in because the Oracle E-Biz suite is not certified for HP Itanium (on the application tier) so we are forced to run the application tier on HP-UX PA-RISC but the database tier will be on HP-UX Itanium but we can't go 10gR2 on that because E-Biz has not been certified for db 10gR2 on HP-UX Itanium., etc.

We only currently have one Oracle DB on Windows which is scheduled to be obsolete by Oct of this year assuming that the project goes well and on schedule.

I'm surprised that Oracle let you get away with a 4-CPU licence if you have a 12-CPU box. We were told that virtualization does not excuse us from paying for the CPU licence (based on physical CPU).

Herod T said...

Some bad wording on my part, I do apologize, when I said

ability to have CPU's in the box you just pay for what you use.


I was talking about IBM fee's for CPU's.

when I said

Huge savings in dollars. Oracle has some very strange methods of calculating those costs. But for now they seem beneficial.


Oracle is willing to give sell us licenses on those "standy by" cpu's at a discounted price. I am not privy to the actual dollars, but last I heard was a 3 to 1. So every 3 "standby" CPU's over the first 4 was 1 extra license. That was a full time price. Even if we didn't use the CPU's.

Prices changed radically if we went RAC.

Get a better oracles salese person, or a better negotiator on your side.

We make sure when oracle comes and visits all of the SQL Server books are on the shelves behind our side of the table. And when MS comes and visits the Oracle books are up.

It works well :)

Anonymous said...

Almost everything is up for negotiation if it is approached correctly.

What doesn't work well for organizations is not trying.

Robert said...

wow 132 DBs ! not all production I hope