Vision

Standards

Performance Metrics

Query processing speed; storage capacity; ease of development; ease of migration and reuse; design and administration tools; technical support

Usage and Dependencies

Report on 2.3.2:

Industry Usage:This category includes general-purpose, high-capacity relational databases based on some version of SQL. Leading vendors are Oracle, DB2, Microsoft (SQL Server), Sybase, Informix, and Ingres. In addition to databases, these products also support OLAP (On-Line Analytical Protocol), data mart, data warehouse, data integration, data mining and other specialized applications. However, the focus of this category is on data management; the more sophisticated data processing applications are in Category 2.3.4, Management Information Systems.

SQL Server 7.0 is gaining market share over its competitors in the enterprise relational database category, such as Oracle, Sybase, and Informix. Its language is Transact-SQL, which contains Microsoft's supplementary features to SQL-92. It contains many significant improvements over version 6.5, including improvements in its bundled database development tools.

SQL Server 2000 will add new XML capabilities to the data engine, so that queries may be structured as HTTP URLs. The SELECT statement includes a 'FOR XML' clause that supports retrieval of data in native XML format. This will make SQL Server 2000 much easier to integrate with web applications and the .NET technologies.

SC Usage:Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 is the current relational database standard for SC. There is no immediate business need to migrate to the next version of SQL Server or other options. When the data architecture and Windows 2000 server-based infrastructure are sufficiently well established, migration to the XML-based standards in SQL Server 2000 and the .NET based products may be warranted.

SC Application Impacts: SQL Server 6.5 is currently used in the RIMS and FMIS systems. RIMS is scheduled for replacement this fiscal year. FMIS will be replaced with the corporate BMIS application for DOE financial management. Therefore there is no need for 6.5 to 7.0 upgrades this year. SC has already eliminated Oracle and other database products from its architecture.

References

SQL Server