Comparing performance on server databases is a black art and is an issue that vendors discourage the press from examining too closely. To bring some light to the subject, eWeek Labs, along with PC Magazines PC Labs, is doing a large-scale server database test. Whats most important about this benchmark is that the database systems are tested on identical hardware. This is the most basic measure of a benchmark and the measure most often avoided when vendors publish performance comparisons. We are testing all the major server databases as well as MySQL ABs MySQL.
The lab team from eWeek and PC Magazine and our testing partners—application server vendor BEA Systems and load testing software vendor Empirix—are testing in PC Magazines New York labs, and tests should be completed by the time you read this. Look for the results in a future issue.
Testing enterprise databases are Chris Nolan, Empirix; Timothy Dyck, eWeek Labs; Matt Sarrel, PC Labs; Jeff McDaniel, BEA Systems; Michael Muchmore, PC Labs; Rich Dragan, PC Magazine contributing editor; and Sahil Gambhir, PC Labs.