Relational Database Management Software Standard

***Recommendation Team:***

Lynn Black, Cultural Resources

Glenda Jackson, Natural Resources

Bud McDonald, Denver APC

Jim Guglielmino, AOC

Lance Gridley, Denver APC

Kathy Gridley, Denver APC

Michael Franz, Mammoth Cave NP

Sue Hawkins, Denver APC

Liz Peterson, Denver APC , support

***Process:***

The recommendation team held a teleconference on November 17, 1997, to
layout the strategy and factors to consider when making a recommendation
to the IMCouncil and ultimately to the Associate Director for
Professional Services regarding the NPS Relational Database Management
System Standard. The factors used for this recommendation parallel the
factors used in the recommendation of the groupware standard (Project
X).

Evaluation forms with these factors were sent to both private and public
sector references for both Microsoft SQL and Oracle products.

The recommendation team met in Denver, Colorado, December 1-3, 1997.
Microsoft presented its current RDBMS product - SQL 6.5, and its future
version of SQL 7.0 on December 1. Oracle presented Oracle8 and
Enterprise Edition on December 2. Each vendor was allotted 2 hours for
presentation and 2 hours for technical talk/demos.

At the conclusion of each presentation, the vendors left the meeting
site and the NPS team discussed different scenarios made up of NPS
applications using that product, e.g., IDEAS, AFSII, Case Incident
system, and Museum Collections, etc***.*** The team also reviewed the
results of the references.

***Factors:***

-   Ease of end use (balanced with features, familiarity/intuitive
    operation, control rights, application development tools)

-   Ease of implementation (network integration, hardware installation,
    software installation, administrator training, implementation
    planning)

-   Ease of transition for users and administrators (existing
    applications)

-   Efficiency in administration (administration options, network
    integration (Novell and NT), access control, version control,
    replication/synchronization -- if necessary, backup/restore process)

-   Reliability (uptime, monitoring, logging, load sharing)

-   Security (encryption, administrator rights, user rights)

-   Flexibility/scalability

-   Cost of ownership (server licenses, client licenses, training) based
    on a 3 year life cycle.

+-------------------------+---------------------------+---------------+
|                         | **Microsoft SQL**         | **Oracle**    |
+=========================+===========================+===============+
| **ANSI SQL**            | yes                       | yes           |
+-------------------------+---------------------------+---------------+
| **Backup/Restore - on   | yes                       | yes           |
| line/off-peak**         |                           |               |
+-------------------------+---------------------------+---------------+
| **Central Management**  | yes                       | yes           |
|                         |                           |               |
| -   **scheduling**      |                           |               |
|                         |                           |               |
| -   **pagers**          |                           |               |
|                         |                           |               |
| -   **e:mail**          |                           |               |
+-------------------------+---------------------------+---------------+
| **Database growth**     | DB automatically grows in | 512pb -       |
|                         | SQL 7.0                   | developer     |
|                         |                           | defined space |
|                         |                           | or auto       |
|                         |                           | extend        |
|                         |                           | feature       |
+-------------------------+---------------------------+---------------+
| **Licensing**           | -   Either by server or   | -             |
|                         |     per seat              |    concurrent |
|                         |                           |     or named  |
|                         | -   Microsoft does offer  |               |
|                         |     unlimited access      | -   per       |
|                         |     license               |     cpu/per   |
|                         |                           |     app       |
|                         | -   Backoffice            |               |
|                         |     licensing - NT, SMS,  | -   network   |
|                         |     SQL bundled           |     license   |
|                         |                           |               |
|                         |                           | -   web based |
|                         |                           |     -32       |
|                         |                           |     license   |
+-------------------------+---------------------------+---------------+
| **Load leveling**       | yes                       | yes           |
+-------------------------+---------------------------+---------------+
| **Locking**             | Optimizer performs        | row-level     |
|                         | function -automatically   |               |
|                         | by table, page, or row in | uses          |
|                         | SQL 7.0                   | multi-lock    |
|                         |                           | cache         |
+-------------------------+---------------------------+---------------+
| **Memory management**   | Dynamic memory management | administrator |
|                         | available in SQL 7.0      | defined or    |
|                         |                           | use Oracle    |
|                         |                           | Expert        |
+-------------------------+---------------------------+---------------+
| **Microsoft Access      | yes                       | yes           |
| accessibility**         |                           |               |
+-------------------------+---------------------------+---------------+
| **Mobile product**      | yes -- avail in SQL 7.0   | yes - Oracle  |
|                         |                           | Lite          |
+-------------------------+---------------------------+---------------+
| **Multi NOS platform**  | yes-Netware and NT        | yes - UNIX,   |
|                         |                           | NT, Netware,  |
|                         |                           | mainframe     |
+-------------------------+---------------------------+---------------+
| **Plain English query** | yes in SQL 7.0            | No --         |
|                         |                           | Discovery is  |
|                         |                           | Oracle's ad   |
|                         |                           | hoc query     |
|                         |                           | tool.         |
+-------------------------+---------------------------+---------------+
| **Programming language  | yes                       | yes           |
| flexibility**           |                           |               |
+-------------------------+---------------------------+---------------+
| **Security**            | Can use same log-in as NT | yes - single  |
|                         | log-in or SQL have unique | log-in        |
|                         | log-in                    | capability or |
|                         |                           | app unique    |
+-------------------------+---------------------------+---------------+
| **Standalone product**  | yes - SQL workstation     | yes -         |
|                         |                           | Personal      |
|                         |                           | Oracle        |
+-------------------------+---------------------------+---------------+
| **Strategy**            | "Universal Access not     | "Managing     |
|                         | Universal Storage"        | large amounts |
|                         |                           | of data       |
|                         |                           | delivered     |
|                         |                           | across a      |
|                         |                           | network to a  |
|                         |                           | large number  |
|                         |                           | of users,     |
|                         |                           | reliably and  |
|                         |                           | securely"     |
+-------------------------+---------------------------+---------------+
| **Support package**     | Upgrade Advantage         | levels with   |
|                         |                           | varying       |
|                         |                           | degrees of    |
|                         |                           | support       |
+-------------------------+---------------------------+---------------+
| **Synchr                | yes -Access and other SQL | yes -         |
| onization/replication** | servers w/out gateway     | w/gateway     |
|                         | technology in SQL 7.0     | technology    |
+-------------------------+---------------------------+---------------+
| **Tier application      | 2 tier/3 tier             | 2 tier/3 tier |
| development**           |                           |               |
+-------------------------+---------------------------+---------------+
| **Transaction logging** | yes                       | yes           |
+-------------------------+---------------------------+---------------+
| **WEB assistance**      | yes                       | yes           |
+-------------------------+---------------------------+---------------+
| **XA technology**       | yes                       | yes           |
+-------------------------+---------------------------+---------------+

Recommendation for the Relational Database Management System (RDBMS)
Standard.

STANDARD: The NPS standard for Departmentwide/servicewide client-server
applications is Oracle Enterprise edition. The licensing for this
standard is NPS network-wide.

Oracle8 and Microsoft SQL 6.5 (future 7.0) are acceptable for local
RDBMS applications that are not Servicewide (park, cluster, region).
Licensing for the local RDBMS product is the responsibility of the local
organization. If the local organization chooses the Oracle Enterprise
edition, client licensing for this product may be covered under the NPS
network-wide license.

The team further recommends that when a local application with
client-server requirements expands to a centrally supported Servicewide
application, the applicable database will be upsized to an Oracle
Enterprise edition formatted database and the application be
re-engineered accordingly.

SCOPE: This standard applies to all newly developed and newly procured
applications and to the redesign of existing applications requiring
client-server technology.

Relational Database Management applies to the database engine (backbone)
of applications.

-   It should be transparent to the user.

-   Not all parks or regions need an RDBMS server; however, they may
    need access to an application and to a database which reside on an
    RDBMS server in a different geographic location on the NPS wide area
    network.

RELEASE DATE: January 1998

EFFECTIVE DATE: All newly developed and newly procured applications, or
redesign of existing applications for client-server technology shall
reflect the new standard after standard release.

COMPLIANCE: Adherence to these standards is the responsibility of the
application owners and Information Management/Technology managers who
oversee the development, distribution, use and purchase, and/or funding
of computer systems in the NPS.

DISCUSSION: The objective of setting an RDBMS standard for the NPS is to
recognize the importance of client-server technology in providing an
environment for efficient data processing, powerful database management
tools, data integration with multiple systems, data accessibility, and a
path to data warehousing technology.

It is acknowledged that the disadvantage of naming two product lines as
a standard may encourage duplication of client licenses, different
server and application platforms, and technical experience and
knowledge. However, a dual standard also promotes functionality and
flexibility in an open systems environment and allows sites with
expertise in Microsoft SQL to continue using those talents. In support
of setting a dual standard in a diverse technology environment, the
application manager and developer can select the appropriate choice of
RDBMS software for their needs. The portability of SQL technology, with
ANSI SQL 92 standard, the dual standard of Oracle and Microsoft products
should not be a disadvantage.