Moving Beyond MySQL - High End Database Solutions

Sybase Adaptive Server

According to the Sybase Website:

If you had to describe Sybase in one sentence, that's a good one to use. Their products are the best for accomplishing those tasks for a small to medium business (of 1000-5000 users). Sybase ASE is the database on which I learned SQL, and I still think it's a good solution. The newest production release is version 12.0 of the Database server, and its accompanying application suite has new features that better integrate it into the eBusiness world. A new version 12.5 is also in Beta testing right now.

Transact SQL

The core of Sybase's programming offering is a procedural language called Transact SQL. This is a full programming language with almost as many options as PHP or Java. It allows the developer to create entire database driven applications without ever leaving the SQL environment.

Within this language you can manipulate the data of a query before the program ever returns the results to your script -- which translates into faster processing and easier formatting. Imagine being able to apply a template at the database level. Imagine determining the honorific (i.e. Mr., Mrs., or Dr.) for a name and automatically adding it to the name even if the honorific isn't stored in the database. Imagine comparing words for a search engine without concern for spelling.

You can do all of this in Transact SQL before the results are ever turned over to the script, and as they're compiled code, it's executed much faster, and without any latency.

Other Features

Sybase provides a full range of features that include stored procedures and triggers, C++ and Java integration, Identity fields (similar to MySQL's auto increment), Atomic Updates and Foreign Keys. Sybase runs on Windows NT, Linux and Unix. You can download several versions for free use on Redhat Linux, which is a benefit to the Internet development community. The new beta of Sybase includes some exciting features for the world of Internet development. Three of the most interesting of these are:

• XML Queries - Sybase introduced XML storage classes in ASE with version 12. Continuing this integration in ASE 12.5 provides programmers with the tools and capability to create SQL-like queries using XQL, a language extension to SQL. This allows the database to handle data directly in XML form. Content can be published on the Web, is more easily changed over time, and can be customized for a specific user or device, making this a good tool for the ebusinesses arsenal. The data can be stored in XML format and ASE can access it directly for quick publication.
• SQLJ (including Java Stored Procedures) - Java has been at the forefront lately in the provision of access to server based applications. Sybase has been capitalizing on this, and working towards the standardization of Java-Relational Database technology. This has resulted in SQLJ, which combines the power and rapid development capabilities of Java with the data management capabilities of a database manage server such as Sybase ASE.
• Support for External File Systems - Most published content is not relational, and is stored outside the database itself. Most large files like images are stored in the Operating Systems File System directly. This leads to problems in the control and management of files, as anyone who looks in the typical Windows directory will agree. Sybase ASE 12.5 allows developers to control this data and still store it in the file system. They can create proxy tables that map the file locations and other information, which allows them to maniputlate these files using normal SQL commands to access, create, delete and write files.

Overall, Sybase is a good system with a lot of features. It will support a large user base and has the technologies to allow your site to grow as large as you need it to. For more information on Sybase, visit their Website and read the different case studies, or download the documentation in PDF format. Just be warned -- the documentation on Transact SQL alone is over 1500 pages printed.

Website
http://www.sybase.com/