Competitive Advantage: DataDirect’s ADO.NET Data Provider vs. Oracle’s

Advantages of DataDirect's Oracle Data Provider

Limitations of Oracle's Data Provider

100% managed code
Only DataDirect providers are 100% managed, making no call outside the .NET runtime environment.

This improves application performance, scalability, stability, and security by eliminating the application’s reliance on components that reside outside the managed environment.

ODP.NET is not a 100% managed solution. The provider contains a managed component, but all of the communication with Oracle is handled by client libraries (Oracle SQL*Net), which means it makes calls to unmanaged code in the provider libraries.

If you’re deploying many .NET applications, or if your applications need to handle large amounts of data, these numerous calls outside the CLR can seriously degrade performance and become a scalability nightmare.

No database client libraries required
Cost to develop, test, and deploy are significantly reduced because the database client isn’t needed. It also eliminates application issues related to client version conflicts.

Oracle providers require native database clients be installed.

Best ADO.NET provider performance and scalability
DataDirect providers outperform other providers in throughput capacity and memory and CPU utilization.

DataDirect providers are optimized for best possible performance in the most common application scenarios, especially those handling large amounts of data.

The provider is tunable for an infinite variety of application usage scenarios so your application will always run faster and support more users with the same hardware resources.

Requires Oracle SQL*Net client libraries, causing it to bridge into unmanaged code. Client libraries are not optimized for ADO.NET and create communication overhead on the network that degrades performance and impacts scalability.

Faster, more flexible application deployment
Because it doesn’t require database client libraries, the DataDirect provider supports “side-by-side” installation, allowing you to run multiple applications using different versions of the database on the same machine. This eliminates the need to re-qualify unrelated applications if an application is updated.

Requires different Oracle SQL*Net client libraries on each machine where the data provider is deployed.

If multiple applications are running on the same machine, they will all be forced to use the same underlying client libraries. This can be painful if there are several applications that need to be certified for a particular version of the client libraries.

Robust security features
100% managed code ensures no reliance on components outside the .NET managed environment, and allows your application to take full advantage of the security controls in .NET.

DataDirect providers include advanced security features such as SSL (Secure Socket Layer) data encryption and operating system authentication (aka Single Sign-On) via Kerberos.

ODP.NET calls unmanaged code in the Oracle client libraries, which bypasses the .NET CLR security. This opens a door to potential compromise via code that uses pointers or has direct access to memory or machine registers. Once that unmanaged code is executing, the CLR can no longer check it.

One provider supports multiple Oracle versions
Supports simultaneous connections to Oracle 8i, 9i, 10g, and 11g, which significantly reduces the costs of deploying and testing applications against multiple versions of Oracle and client libraries.

Four different providers are required to support Oracle 8i, 9i, 10g, and 11g. Different versions of the client libraries are also required, which can not be used simultaneously on the same machine.

DataDirect Bulk Load
Includes a high-performance bulk load capability for loading large amounts of data very quickly. This can boost application performance for parameter array insert operations without requiring code changes or additional bulk load tools.

Requires a proprietary tool from Oracle or your own homegrown tool.

Complete interoperability between databases
SQL up-leveling and other interoperability features make it easy and cost effective for an application to support multiple databases (Oracle, DB2, SQL Server, and Sybase).

This interoperability reduces the total cost of development, testing, and deployment for heterogeneous environments.

Interoperability is not provided between different databases and database versions. And Oracle does not support access to other databases such as DB2, Sybase and SQL Server.

Organizations that need to access more than Oracle will be forced to use providers from different vendors, requiring a learning curve for each one.

Reliability for demanding production environments
DataDirect providers are quality tested and certified using the DataDirect ADO.NET Verification Suite (ADOVS).

This comprehensive testing ensures that you can develop the most robust Oracle .NET application.

Oracle’s testing infrastructure for data access components is unknown.

Comprehensive Technical Support
Focused on database connectivity, our award-winning support includes 24x7 phone, web, email, forum, fax, and an extensive knowledgebase.

Fast, high-quality technical assistance from data connectivity experts is essential for critical systems.

Because Oracle is not focused on data connectivity, troubleshooting can be more difficult and may take longer.