it_user521667 - PeerSpot reviewer
Software Developer at a security firm with 501-1,000 employees
Vendor
The small things that it does compared to the free alternatives are valuable. Its optimization could be improved.

What is most valuable?

I can't think of any specific features that are the most valuable, but all the small things that Oracle does compared to the free alternatives, such as MySQL, are valuable. I do appreciate having that power to do it. Even though 90% percent of the time I don't use those features, it's nice to have them should I need them.

How has it helped my organization?

It actually kind of fractured our organization. Half of us use Oracle for some things and the other half use MySQL for the other. I really don't care; I use both. We use Oracle a lot for authentication. I can't think of anything specific that is all that great about it. I'm not bashing Oracle, I just can't think of anything. I can't think of anything that makes me think, “Oh, we have to have it.”

What needs improvement?

I can't think of any but I know my manager was unhappy with certain features that we use, but we had to pay for those features along with a bunch of other ones that we didn't use. He wanted an option to not bundle a lot of the features. Other than that, I don't know the specifics about what he was talking about.

It's got a lot of good features, but at the same time sometimes certain niche things aren't mentioned. Some things break and I don't know why. Then when I Google it, there are thousands of reasons why they break, so it takes me a while to really pinpoint why. Its optimization could be improved a little bit, but it's good for the most part.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's very stable, we've had no problems with that.

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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

For the most part, as long as you do your research and don't screw up your table structures, I don't have any scalability problems.

How are customer service and support?

I haven't used technical support; every issue I've run into I've been able to Google it and figure it out. I haven't had to call in or anything.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I believe we used MySQL for a while, it was free and that was the only reason we were using it. It wasn't the most stable, it was a little slow, and it doesn't scale as well, so we decided to go with a more professional solution.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I don't know why we chose Oracle, but I know we were debating between Oracle, MongoDB, and PostgreSQL. For whatever reason, I'm not sure why my manager went with Oracle, but we did.

What other advice do I have?

Take cost into consideration and pick whichever really suits your needs. Every single database has its strong and weak points. I wouldn't say it's an end-all, be-all solution, but it just happens to work for us.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user521589 - PeerSpot reviewer
DBA at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Consultant
PCI compliance, high availability, and high performance are the features I most appreciate.

Valuable Features

I think that Oracle today is the most powerful relational database, especially for PCI compliance, high availability, and high performance. Those are the Oracle database features I most appreciate.

Room for Improvement

I am waiting for Oracle to provide an interface between NoSQL and the Oracle database, so I don't have to go deeply into NoSQL. I just need to have an interface between them; to use SQL language to check that NoSQL or Hadoop is not down, and so-on.

Use of Solution

We have been using it for more than 15 years.

Stability Issues

The most important down time you can have for developers is when we upgrade from one version to another.

Otherwise, we have not had any stability issues, especially with 10g or 11g.

It's a very, very strong database.

Scalability Issues

It is scalable, especially with RAC. We can add more had more processors on the machine and through Oracle, I can use only part of the CPU on the server, so I don't have to pay too much.

Customer Service and Technical Support

Technical support is good, very good. It's a little bit expensive, but very efficient.

Initial Setup

Initial setup is not difficult. For me, it's very easy, because I have a lot of experience on it.

The important thing with Oracle is that everywhere you go on Google, you see a million people have experienced the same problem. You always have something when you have an issue.

Other Advice

You should buy this solution. That's what I'm saying, in my company, a very big company. Every time someone asks, that’s what I say, because I'm involved with Oracle a lot. That's normal.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Buyer's Guide
Oracle Database
April 2024
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PeerSpot user
Oracle Specialist at a tech company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
It's a database that's easy to recover if you need ways to restore and recover.

Valuable Features

It's very stable. It's a database that's easy to recover if you need ways to restore and recover, and I like the performance.

Room for Improvement

The feature that I would like is a way to grant select tables of one user to another without needing to specify each one separately, or creating a trigger to do this automatically. Being able to grant all privileges of some object or some schema to another schema would be good.

Also, I would like to have a better Export Data Hub. The old export allowed you to export remotely, and Data Hub is just locally using directories or a database link. I would like to have Export Data Hub using the SQL match instead of directories or another database. Just like the old export.

Use of Solution

I've been using it for around 10 years.

Stability Issues

It's stable.

Scalability Issues

It's scalable. When I need to deploy other databases or other schemas, it's very easy to do. Now with the multitenant model, it's even easier.

Customer Service and Technical Support

They have this thing that you can only create a P1 for something that is harming your production. Sometimes I would like to create a P1 for other problems, but I can't, because it's something that is putting my company at risk. They are good in supporting us, but I don't like the policy of P1, P2, P3, or P4.

Initial Setup

It's very easy to set up, not for someone who has never worked with it, but if you had a junior or someone a little more experienced than a junior, they are good enough to deploy.

Pricing, Setup Cost and Licensing

I think it's very expensive when compared to the others. Depending on the size of the company, smaller ones will not choose Oracle because they can get fixed solutions or less expensive solutions. If I were Oracle, I would create a solution that would serve these small companies for a better price, maybe with a lot less options, but not as expensive as some other options.

Other Advice

I think security is a concern in the database, so you need to take care before granting some privileges to a DBA and it can become very easy to break. I would say to be very careful before granting permissions or configuring the database.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user
it_user446727 - PeerSpot reviewer
Owner/VP of Operations at KnightWorks Consulting, Inc
Consultant
It allows you to put 253 databases into one instance of Oracle.

Valuable Features:

  1. Adaptive Query Optimization - enable the optimizer to make run-time adjustments to execution plans and discover additional information that can lead to better statistics. This new approach is extremely helpful when existing statistics are not sufficient to generate an optimal plan.
  2. Pluggable databases - allows you to put 253 databases into one instance of Oracle.
  3. Redaction Policy - The Oracle Database 12c provides runtime protection of sensitive data. The stored data remains unchanged, while the data to be displayed to the end user is transformed on-the-fly before leaving the database.

Improvements to My Organization:

I have worked on an Oracle databases that processes over 100 billion rows daily as well as provide reporting in a timely manner to end users. Oracle's years of maturity and continuous improvement allows the database to perform exceptionally well especially on Oracle's Exadata hardware.

Room for Improvement:

I would like to see Oracle Business Intelligence and maintenance tools incorporate virtual reality interfaces so DBAs and end users could interact with the database.

Use of Solution:

I have used Oracle over 15 years and the database is very scalable, reliable, and well supported.

Deployment Issues:

There were no issues with the deployment.

Stability Issues:

We have had no issues with the stability.

Scalability Issues:

We haven't needed to scale it.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Orhan Eripek - PeerSpot reviewer
Orhan EripekDatabase Team Lead at Fibabanka, Oracle ACE Associate with 1,001-5,000 employees
User

Oracle database has a much more flexible engineering and architecture than other RDBMSs.

PeerSpot user
Advisory Software engineer at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Consultant
Its cross-platform compatibility provides flexibility for different platforms like Windows, Linux, Solaris, HP-UX, and AIX.

What is most valuable?

The best thing about Oracle Database is that it performs well when measured on any scale. As a Database developer, I think it offers the best development tools of any database solution.

How has it helped my organization?

Its cross-platform compatibility provides flexibility for different platforms like Windows, Linux, Solaris, HP-UX, and AIX. Oracle offers high-performance handling of XML data.

What needs improvement?

We are currently using Oracle 11g, where as Oracle 12c now has all the major features for easy development. However, as the database industry is growing, there is room to enhance object reusability by introducing some development framework or out-of-the-box concepts.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used it for 12 years.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

There were no issues with the deployment.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We had no issues with the stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is scalable. Indeed, you don’t have to worry about scalability as this is Database's strength -- it grows with your business and is an all-in-one solution.

How are customer service and technical support?

I have had some discussions with a few DBAs. Oracle technical support is not very good compared to Microsoft technical support, the latter of which is more proactive and reachable. Secondly, Oracle technical support is more costly than its competitors.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I also have worked as a developer on Microsoft Dynamics AX with SQL server. The main reason we changed was because of the AX Dynamics cost - initial cost, customization, and maintenance. It is much lower than Oracle Database.

As with any vendor resource, availability is also a major issue for Oracle. As there is a lot of development flavors for Microsoft, resources are easily available and it's more flexible to work with on different technology. In comparison, Oracle resources are scarce and are mostly away from new market trends.

How was the initial setup?

The complexity of the initial setup depends, as it is a self-manageable database for small databases, whereas for mid and enterprise levels, it needs serious attention.

What was our ROI?

The cost of Oracle Database is a little higher than competitor products, but it gives good ROI in the longer run.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

For long term investment, it is the best option. Initially, its cost is higher, but its running cost is less than other competitors.

What other advice do I have?

This is the best database product on the market.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user420012 - PeerSpot reviewer
Banner Developer at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
Vendor
There's a large set of commands in PL/SQL so you can read things in and read things out much more easily than you can do in SQL.

Valuable Features

There's a large set of commands in PL/SQL so you can read things in and read things out much more easily than you can do in SQL.

Improvements to My Organization

Oracle Database, particularly PL/SQL, is a staple product for getting information out and putting information in. You can take those tools and put them in another environment. It's easy to use and makes the decision to move to another version a no-brainer.

Room for Improvement

There were issues that arose from a recent upgrade. These issues, however, were quickly resolved before we moved onto a subsequent upgrade.

Use of Solution

I've been using the PL/SQL extension for Oracle Database since the early 90's.

Deployment Issues

We had those issues from the upgrades, but, again, they were resolved before we moved to the next upgrade.

Stability Issues

There are some enhancements that have been made to the database, especially PL/SQL. It changes as the product changes. It's not that difficult to find out what those changes are and keep up in order to maintain stability.

Scalability Issues

There are commands that you can include in your SQL to make sure you've got enough workspace to do what you need to do.

Customer Service and Technical Support

I've used it for so long that I haven't needed to contact them. I haven't run into an issues where I haven't been able to get data out from or put data into the database. I am, however, still learning some feature of PL/SQL, for which I'm using Oracle's Ask Tom a lot. I've found that this Oracle support site is very helpful for reviewing documentation to figure out what I'm missing from my own knowledge.

Initial Setup

The initial setup wasn't too complex, although there were the modifications with upgrades that caused some issues. Again, these issues were resolved prior to our next upgrade.

Other Advice

The system does what you tell it to do; it doesn't necessarily do what you want it to do. You have to really ground yourself in education before you are safe working with the tools. The tools are very powerful, but at the same time, there are rules behind what it does and you have to know what they are.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Arquitecto Delivery at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
Makes building storage capacities and queries easy but scalability is a weak point
Pros and Cons
  • "A really large and very useful language to process data."
  • "An area for improvement would be query performance - in some cases, it's really, really hard to make it run faster."

What is our primary use case?

I use this solution for transaction processing and analytical queries from the data gathered from other systems.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features are the easy ways to build storage capacities and queries. It's a really large and very useful language to process data.

What needs improvement?

An area for improvement would be query performance - in some cases, it's really, really hard to make it run faster. In the next release, I would like to see some analytical queries and machine-learning integrations built directly into the database.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using this solution for about ten years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This is a very stable and robust database.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability is a weak point of Oracle databases because even if we use Real Application Clusters, they do not work as if they were a cluster. They work like units, and they divide the connection but don't process the data in all the clusters.

How was the initial setup?

Now, the setup is straightforward, but in the beginning, it was very painful because it needs a lot of operating system configurations to work properly. The last time I deployed Oracle Database, it took me around thirty to forty minutes.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I understand that Oracle is very expensive compared to other databases.

What other advice do I have?

Oracle databases don't always comply with all necessities and use cases, so make sure to look at and understand those before choosing Oracle. I would rate this solution as five out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Real User
Good performance and interface
Pros and Cons
  • "I like the performance power and the interface of the solution."
  • "Problems can arise if there are too many requirements or a lot of details which must be applied to connect the software to the database."

What is most valuable?

I like the performance power and the interface of the solution. 

What needs improvement?

I encountered problems when developing solutions or when the developers needed to know or check many things to connect to the database. Problems can arise if there are too many requirements or a lot of details which must be applied to connect the software to the database. There may be a need to have the client in the host machine and have other files registered. Once the connection is made with the database the problem is resolved. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Oracle Database for six years.

What other advice do I have?

The solution is privately deployed and solely with on-premises products. 

I develop solutions. 

I rate Oracle Database as a nine out of ten. 

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
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