Choosing between UNIX and SQL platform

You are comparing apples and oranges. UNIX is a network operating system which I assume you're looking for, while SQL is a type of database (and there are different vendors for SQL). Can you clarify?

It looks quite a big project.
Without knowing anything more I could suggest three different options:

A) - Keeping the investment low: Linux + MySQL

B) - Power : AIX + DB2

C) - Easy administration and control: NetWare + MySQL

The three options will provide huge escalability, speed, stability and openess (J2EE, etc.). Option "C" will simplify remote topology and will lower the maintenance and support costs drastically.

I am assuming that when you say 'SQL' you mean Microsoft SQL. Therefore, you are comparing MS to Unix, correct? I don't think anyone but yourself should answer this because it will be base on your experience and comfort level. Both perform quite well.

Hi,

Let me answer what I think is the intent of your question: Whether to use MS SQL DB or Oracle DB on Unix platform (AIX, HP-UX, Solaris, Linux flavors)?

Your input only give a sense of how large the DB is. To make informed assessment, you need to specify the expected usage, which translated to numbers of concurrent connections and expected numbers of transactions per unit of time, such as per minute or per hours (transaction processing rate). You also need to specify the expected user response time. Also what is the expected network latency?

I sounds like you'd be better of using Oracle running on a Unix platform such as Sun Solaris, IBM AIX, or HPQ HP-UX. Oracle is superior to MS SQL for large DB and high transaction rate. My experience with MS SQL shows that it's good in small environment, small transaction rate, and low latency. The CON is that Oracle and UNIX hardware costs more.

You can also run Oracle DB on Intel-based servers, but it's far inferior to Oracle on UNIX platforms.

For more info, check out www.oracle.com website.

Good luck.