Over the last few weeks, we have been getting many queries on Oracle Migration and Oracle Replacement. Some of those queries were specific about migrating the Oracle database to a more cost effective option- Postgres Plus Advanced Server and some other queries were about strategic initiatives of replacing Oracle in their Data centres. We have always been getting inquiries from customers who want to significantly reduce cost of Oracle and SQL Server database in their Data Centres, but this sudden surge was a little surprising and delighting for us. We discovered that this sudden shift in customer’s strategy is because of speculations about changes in Oracle Licensing terms. Another driving reason we saw was most of the customers were planning in advance for approaching ‘End-of-Life’ dates for their Oracle Licensing. 

We have lots of resources in the form of blogs, videos and whitepapers that are helpful in answering these queries.  I thought of putting them together for an easy reference for those who are planning to contain cost and diversify RDBMS portfolio in their data centres.

PostgreSQL in itself is quite a capable true relational database with a lot of developer friendly features . EnterpriseDB adds a layer of Oracle compatibility on top of the core PostgreSQL and other additional features like Dyna Tune, SQL Protect, Cache Pre-warming etc for better performance and security.

From the perspective of a DBA, understanding and managing PostgreSQL is quite the same as any other database. This is mainly because of the fact that it is based on the same relational fundamentals which other databases are based on. Read what comes from one of our recruits from Oracle DBA brigade “Journey of a DBA from Oracle to Postgres”.

If you are wondering about the features and scalability Postgres Plus Advanced Server, can take a look at How InMobi, the largest independent mobile ad company has been able to deliver billions of ad impressions per month with EnterpriseDB.

Those of you who are looking for migrating from Oracle and are worried about High Availability and reliability, make a note that PostgreSQL has a very robust reliability mechanism which is pretty similar to other databases. You can in fact do multiplexing of WAL files on same server or a remote server. It has an in built replication mechanism which has been ever evolving since its introduction  in v9.0. Streaming Replication is quite easy to setup and can be used to setup redundancy and achieve high availability. To know more about various High Availability and DR options with Postgres, refer to our slide share presentation.

Talking about HA and scalability, Oracle users are often bogged down by RAC which is a very peculiar way of implementing High Availability. Read our blog to evaluate if you really need a RAC-kind-of solution to achieve HA. With Postgres and EnterpriseDB tools it is possible to build a scale-able and highly available database cluster.

For those of you who have already realized that you need to migrate out of your existing SQL Server or Oracle setup, we have some good reference point to start with. See our blogs “How to give up Oracle and welcome Postgres”  and “Easing the pain of migration from SQL Server to PostgreSQL“.

About PostgreSQL and EnterpriseDB

PostgreSQL is the ‘Most Advanced Open Source Database’ with full relational capabilities, ACID compliance, SQL query support and native replication. EnterpriseDB is the sole worldwide provider of PostgreSQL based solutions and services. They offer a product called Postgres Plus Advanced Server which is built on top of PostgreSQL core and offers many more features and compatibility with other databases. It provides you with 24×7 support for your Postgres deployments at a much competitive pricing.
 How can Ashnik help you?

We work very closely with our customers and our team helps them plan a phase-wise rollout plan to replace Oracle with Postgres Plus Advanced Server. If you need further consultation and services for Oracle Migration or SQL Server Migration, we at Ashnik will be happy to help. Oh and do check out our Migration Services.