While it is highly recommended to use Oracle software through and through, to take advantage of discounts when you are just buying, or to ensure that everything works and uses the same technology stack, sometimes using Oracle on legacy systems is unavoidable. It could be that you are already using that Windows, Solaris, AIX or HP/UX and other platforms that you may have.
There are quite a number of companies and businesses that use Oracle on Windows or Linux. Others use Oracle on much older environments, such as AIX and Solaris.
According to a 2006 survey, Oracle is being used in heterogeneous environments. Among the OSes that are used with Oracle include Solaris, Linux, Windows, HP-UX and AIX. The survey showed that close to half use Solaris with Linux, while around 40% use Linux, Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003. Around three out of ten uses HP-UX with Oracle and around two out of ten uses AIX and Windows NT as operating systems for Oracle. Take note that most of the respondents used two or more operating systems.
Oracle and Windows
Oracle works well with Windows Server, Microsoft .NET and Microsoft Office. Oracle has made Database 12c not only easier to deploy on .NET and Windows but also made it less costly and a whole lot faster too. Oracle Database is also supported on Windows Server Hype-V and Windows Azure. This way your investments do not go to waste. All those years and money going to training your developers for Microsoft technologies will still be usable and they will be able to continue developing for Microsoft .NET, Microsoft Office and Microsoft Visual Studio .NET among other, while also gaining a highly reliable and available database in Oracle Database 12c. The tight integration between Oracle and Microsoft also means that you are able to enjoy Windows’ top-notch security and Active Directory. So in short, you get the best of both worlds: the lowest cost for a highly-functional and multi-featured database.
IBM AIX
Using Oracle on IBM AIX may not be as straightforward as that in Windows, but it is possible to tune AIX for Oracle Database. As an operating system, AIX gives you a robust environment that you can take advantage of when running processes with varied execution characteristics.
The thing with having a heterogeneous environment is that it often takes more work for you to get it right and make sure that you have the most optimized system. You would need to ensure that you tune your operating system to work optimally with Oracle. These performance tunings is necessary to ensure that you get the best out of your Oracle software. In short, only when you tune AIX, Windows and other operating systems would you be sure that you get the high availability, reliability and scalability that you have come to expect from Oracle.
If you have a heterogeneous environment or if you are thinking of expanding and adding Oracle to your IT systems, talk to Four Cornerstone. We have a team of Oracle experts who can help you with using Oracle on different operating systems. We are just a phone call away or you can visit our contact page to set up a meeting.
Screenshot courtesy of Microsoft.
