Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition For PC

Microsoft can make your life simpler

Pros: Easiest enterprise database to administer, low cost
Cons: No support by MS, security can be scary

Recommended: Yes
Has Owned Product: 4 Year(s)

Comments:
In the database space, there are many choices with varying costs.
As an I.T. Manager I have found that the cost of a database extends beyond the license.
With most large-scale databases you will find you have a lot of maintenance and planning to do. These activities are on-going, and are a normal part of being a database administrator.

Microsoft SQL Server 2000 is clearly the easiest database to administer, and at less than 10,000 for a single-processor license, it is the most scalable DB you can probably get for that money.
But, the real strengths in the SQL Server are in its ROI for your DBA activities.

The database is simple to administer. There is a tool or wizard for every imaginable function, and the tools are well-documented and work perfectly.
Even complex functions like clustering and replication are handled well enough that a novice can manage to get a well-performing system setup without having to read a book the size of the Tora.

While there are databases that can probably scale a bit higher, the cost of those systems is more than 2X that of SQL Server, and they do not have the simplistic administration features you find in SQL Server 2000. So, you pay for more scalability, but you also have to work harder to get things done.

We have also found that SQL Server is rock-solid. As long as you do not have a poorly writted database driver/connector (ODBC, JDBC, etc.), the system goes up, stays up, and can handle an amazing amount of load.

Put SQL Server 2000 on a dedicated Win2000 Server. Add a ton of RAM. Set the SQL Server service to run at the highest priority in Windows.
You now have a very fast, very scalable system, and it took you about 45 minutes to set it up.

Need help with indexing? (the black-art of the DBA) The SQL Server tools and profilers make testing indexes very easy, and you can even capture the SQL plan for your live, production systems over a number of days, and SQL Server will recommend the best indexes for you.

We have used MySQL, Oracle, Sybase, and numerous other 'open source' databases, but found that none of them are as easy to setup and maintain than SQL Server.