Survey: Biggest Databases Approach 30 Terabytes - ' Windows Databases Make the ' (
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Winters latest database survey also reveals the rise of new platforms for running the worlds biggest databases. For the first time, a database running on Microsoft Windows reached the top 10 list for transaction processing databases, and Windows database grew the fastest in size.
Verizon Communications, which runs its transaction processing database on the Microsoft SQL Server database software on Windows, reached sixth place in size for all environments at 5.3 terabytes. It was the top transaction-processing database on the Windows platform.
"Windows is popular, but it has been seen as not very scalable," Winter said. "While its still not the architecture of choice for the most demanding of environments, its clearly become more scalable."
Database managers at Verizon said they have noticed scalability improvements in more recent version of Microsoft SQL Server. In fact, Verizon faced a doubling in the size of its top database in the past year as it began storing 13 months of data rather than 6 months, said Noah Gomez, lead development database administrator.
An upgrade to SQL Server 2000, from SQL Server 7.0, helped Verizon handle the big data jump. The company decided to partition the data into more manageable chunks, and the updated database software provided improved query optimization and query plans for data partitioning, said Jose Amando-Blanco, lead production database administrator.
Click here for information on Microsofts forthcoming version of SQL Server, code named Yukon. The company released a prerelease version late last month.
The winning database underlies a customer-care billing application for Verizon and is one of 11 databases, all on SQL Server, that comprise a system it calls Common Office Front End Engine, or COFEE. Three of those other database also reached Winters top 10 list for transaction processing databases on Windows.
As the databases have grown so has the need for the Verizon DBAs to closely monitor and manage them.
"You want to double your data, but you need to keep the same performance that the customer representatives are used to," Amando-Blanco said. "You need to be more proactive in finding out what the hot spots are on the database and which stored procedures are being called the most."
Next page: Who won Winters Top 10?
