Discussion
· Nov 10, 2020

Why change?

I have already asked a question about migrating an Oracle database to Caché, and I was promptly answered. Now, I have one more question, however it is more conceptual. In general, any tool defends its benefits, and looking at Caché's, among many, there is a lot of talk about speed. The question is, if I already have a database, and at the moment, its performance is not a problem, I would like to know what else could influence the change of this database? Remembering that it is functional and without any apparent problem.

Discussion (2)1
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Besides the functionality and speed that you mentioned already,
there come other factors to my mind. Just a few from the hip:

  • Portability: Moving a Caché/IRIS DB from one system to the other is as easy as a file copy. And this goes across most actual operating platforms on local HW or in the cloud, from Win to *X and back
  • Flexibility: Splitting or extending your DB if you run out of disk space has no impact on the applications. Vertical or horizontally scaling is a standard feature
  • Connectivity: especially with IRIS you have a huge range of adapters and interfaces available that allow access not only by SQL but also by Objects without any need to separate the data accessed from each other.
  • Openness: You need a private SQL Function or SQL Procedure because Standards don't fit?   No problem: Just add your self modeled ClassMethod and you have it done for both SQL and Object access.  

As I mentioned already in a different place: The only limit is your own imagination.  

 

When I describe InterSystems IRIS, I always start with how it is a multimodel DBMS at its core.

In my opinion that is its main advantage (on the DBMS side). And the data is stored only once. You just choose the access API you want to use.

  • You want some sort of summary for your data? Use SQL!
  • Do you want to work extensively with one record? Use objects!
  • Want to access or set one value and you know the key? Use globals!

More about multi-model approach of InterSystems IRIS.

But InterSystems IRIS is not only a DBMS, there are a lot of features, including:

  • Application engine
  • Integration engine
  • BI and NLP analytics, reports
  • AI and ML