Open-source Database and Proprietary Database - Research Paper Example

Open-source Database and Proprietary Database There are an array of differences between the open-source database and the proprietary database. An open-source database as the name implies is an organized collection of data that have been structured in such a way that it can be easily manipulated or modified by users of the system, while the proprietary database cannot be modified or manipulated and remains in the same state after it has been licensed. While the manufacture of the open-source database systems gives the users the right to change the software to suit their purpose, the manufacturers of the proprietary database gives the users no right to change the software in any way. The open-source database can be improved by the users, while it is only the manufacturer of the proprietary database that has the sole right to improve the software (Johnson, 1997). Open source database are usually free or could be bought with very little price, while users of the proprietary database need to pay a substantial amount to be the rightful owners of the database software. The open-source database software can be redistributed without any limit or restrictions, while the proprietary database software cannot be redistributed as they are bound by copyright laws. The open-source database gives the business, firms and organization that use it the opportunity to effectively penetrate into the market and it also has a wider acceptance than the proprietary database considering the fact that it could be bought with little or no price. Manufacturers of the open-source database do less marketing or logistic services, while the manufacturers of the proprietary database have to do sufficient marketing services to promote their products. The technology behind the open-source database is more flexible than the proprietary database. There is no particular style of an open-source database as it could be customized by the user, while there is a specific style and standard that the proprietary database has to conform to (Johnson, 1997). The proprietary database usually performs better and is more efficient than the open-source database. The proprietary database usually has sufficient memory to store data and enough storage for backups, while the open-source has limited memory to store data. The open-source database is quite easy to use, while the proprietary database needs some expertise to handle its functionality. The open-source is not as professional as the proprietary database (Johnson, 1997). The advantages of the open-source database are that defects and flaws could be easily found with users that are knowledgeable in the database systems and this could be easily adjusted with little or no help from the manufacturer. While the source code of the open-source database could be viewed by anyone, it is not possible to view the source code of the proprietary database as the programmer of the database does not usually release these codes. The flexibility behind the open-source database makes it easy to use and more convenient for the manufacturer to produce. There are no license fees on the open-source database. The open standard of the open-source database enhances its integration with other systems. The disadvantages of the open-source database are that they are not usually perfected since the manufacturers actually make no reasonable profit from the open-source database software. Another disadvantage in the open-source database is that it is not secure and can be hacked by any malicious program or programmer. Users of the open-source could notice errors in the system as they are usually hurriedly done. Manufacturers of the open-source database provide little or no professional support and training for its users, while the updates of the open-source database are rather erratic. The advantages of the proprietary database are that the fact that they are bought for a substantial amount makes the proprietary database software to be manufactured to a particular standard that gives the users the satisfaction they require. Manufacturers of the proprietary database make it to be secure enough and reduce the risk of it been hacked by any malicious program or programmer. There is reduced risk of error in the proprietary database as they are reliable. The manufacturers of the proprietary database provide training and professional support for its users. The proprietary database could be easily updated and the updates are usually provided regularly by the manufacturers of the software. The proprietary databases are well packaged, comprehensive and they are produced in modular formats (Mullins, 2002). The disadvantages of the proprietary database are that while defects and flaws can be noticed in the system, the users cannot do anything about it as there are no interfaces for them to modify and change the noticed flaws. The fact that the proprietary database is not flexible makes it difficult to use and less convenient for the manufacturer to produce. The closed standard of the proprietary database is such that it hampers supplementary development. The proprietary database is rather expensive (Mullins, 2002). When choosing a database, the characteristics that a business, firm or organization must consider are whether the database is secure enough to prevent hackers from intruding and retrieving information that are confidential to the business, firm or organization. The business must also consider if the database is good enough to aid them in effectively penetrating into the market. Another thing that the business must also consider is whether the database would be user-friendly with little stress as this would enhance the speed at which work is done with the database. The business also needs to consider the compatibility of the database system with the application software that it would be used with. The business must also take into cognizance the operating systems that the database system is compatible with. The business must also take into consideration the durability of the database system, as a database that crashes in a short time would badly affect the business. The database that the business should use must be declarative enough as this ensures the speed at which data are processed. In choosing a database, the business must also consider the speed of the database server as databases that could process information at a very fast rate would enhance the productivity of the business. Since a business’s purpose of purchasing a database system is to maximize profit, the business management must ensure that the price of the database commensurate with its work output and it should be such that it would increase the profit of the business (Ramakrishan & Gehrke, 2003). The kind of use that the database would be subjected to must also be considered as the database systems have their specialties. A database that is useful for a bank might not necessarily have the same effect in a shopping mall. The business should also consider if the database they are choosing have an Internet Protocol Protection feature as this also improves the security of the information that is processed by the database (Mullins, 2002). Little businesses would ordinarily go for the open-source database, while larger businesses would go for the proprietary database systems. There are various examples of the open-source database and the proprietary database. Examples of the open-source database are: FireBird, MySQL, Cloudbase, Alfresco and PostgreSQL. Examples of the proprietary database are Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server and DB2. Top of Form References Johnson, J.L. (1997). Database: models, languages, design. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Mullins, C. (2002). Database administration: the complete guide to practices and procedures. Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley. Ramakrishnan, R., & Gehrke J. (2003). Database management systems. New York: McGraw- Hill. Read More