Oracle7 Server for Windows NT has been around for more than two years. In August, Oracle released version
7.3.2.2, and it includes improvements that make this popular OnLine Transaction
Processing (OLTP) database server a strong contender in the NT database market.
For NT managers and database administrators (DBAs), Release 7.3.2.2 offers
important new functions, such as built-in symmetric (update-anywhere)
replication and the Oracle Enterprise Manager 1.2 database administration tool.
As an OLTP server, Oracle7 Server for NT is made for systems that process a
high volume of entered transactions (in contrast to client/server, data
warehousing, and decision-support applications all of which focus on retrieving
data). Example OLTP applications include order processing, airline reservations,
stock exchange, and retail cash register and inventory systems that typically
run on mainframe or UNIX platforms.
Oracle7 Server for NT is available for both NT 3.51 and 4.0 in two
versions: Oracle7 Enterprise Server for NT, a full-featured database server, and
Oracle7 Workgroup Server for NT, a subset of Enterprise Server's features. Both
versions include Oracle Enterprise Manager for administering your databases, a
symmetrical replication manager that uses the flexible update-anywhere model to
distribute data, Oracle WebServer for hosting your Web site, and Oracle's
procedural-language version of SQL (PL/SQL) for creating everything from stored
procedures to custom applications. The main differences between the two
versions, as you see in Table 1, are that Enterprise Server includes upward
scaleability and more options than Workgroup Server. The other difference is
that Oracle doesn't publish prices for Enterprise Server, presumably because the
company bundles most high-end enterprise sales with several components such as
training and consulting services.
Click-and-Go Installation
I installed a late beta version of
Oracle7 Enterprise Server Release 7.3.2.2 under NT 3.51 (Oracle's Enterprise
Server for NT 4.0 wasn't ready at press time) on a 100MHz Intel Pentium with
16MB of memory, although Oracle recommends at least 32MB. Oracle also recommends
at least 200MB of disk space for a full install. (I had a previous version of
Oracle that I removed before installing the new version, although the
installation routine can upgrade an existing version.) I was curious to see
whether I could install Oracle7 on a 16MB system. Obviously, I was not
worried about performance--especially because I was running beta code. The
Enterprise Server CD-ROM contains more than 7000 files, including:
- Oracle7 Enterprise Server for Windows NT 7.3.2.2
- Oracle7 WebServer 1.0
- Oracle Enterprise Manager 1.2 and associated utilities
- PL/SQL 2.3 for procedural programming
- Oracle Call Interface (OCI) 7.3
- SQL*Module (C, ADA) 1.1
- SQL*Net 2.3, including SQL*Net clients for Windows 3.1, Windows NT, and
Windows 95
- 54MB of Oracle (Acrobat PDF format) documentation
- Oracle7 Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) driver (but not Java Database
Connectivity)
- Oracle Objects for Object Linking and Embedding (OLE--not ActiveX)
Despite the product's complexity, installing the software is basically
click and go. Oracle makes the necessary Registry entries that autostart Oracle
Server, so after Oracle finishes installing the files, you only have to reboot
NT to get Oracle Server up and running. Installation is easy, whether you're
installing Oracle for the first time or the tenth time. The installer asks you
which components to install. A typical installation takes between 5 minutes and
20 minutes, depending on factors such as the speed of your CD-ROM drive and how
many components you install.
After you install Oracle7 Server for NT (including Oracle Enterprise
Manager) and reboot NT, the program creates two program groups: Oracle for
Windows NT and Oracle Enterprise Manager. Screen 1 shows the Enterprise Manager,
which groups all Oracle database administration utilities under one umbrella.