Comparing Open Source vs. Commercial Database Systems
When it comes to different types of database software, companies usually have two core options to choose from: commercial database software and open source database software. But what are the differences between each? And how does a business know which one to choose?
Let’s start with the definitions:
Open Source Database: An open source database is available at no cost, and it means the code can be easily viewed, shared or modified by the community.
Commercial Database: A commercial database is one created for commercial purposes only and it’s available at a price. Unlike open source databases, commercial databases can only be viewed or modified by authorized users.
What’s the Difference Between Open Source and Commercial Databases?
Open source database management systems provide IT consumers with the benefit of lower, to virtually zero, upfront licensing costs. The database software is distributed under an open source licensing model that often varies in restrictions according to product and vendor.
When compared to their commercial product competitors, open source offerings were historically characterized as niche offerings with limited features, functionality and vendor support. As a result, organizations often shied away from open source offerings that were not commercially supported. There was no stable, mature organization that they could rely upon for product support, patches and upgrades. They felt uncomfortable implementing critical or mission-critical applications that were “crowd supported.”
The global, collaborative development process used to build open source products was often derided by the larger, commercial product competitors. In 2001, Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer described Linux as “a cancer.” But over time, Microsoft’s stance on open source changed when it announced that it would release SQL Server for the Linux operating system. Oracle’s purchase of MySQL also reinforces the impact open source products are having on the DBMS market.
Who Wins: Open Source or Commercial Database Products?
Open source offerings have rapidly grown in features, administrative tools and the availability of trained DBAs. As a result, they are now being considered viable alternatives to commercial products.
It is important to note that open source does not always mean the product is totally free from up-front licensing and/or ongoing maintenance costs. Many open source DBMS vendors provide base functionality in their free, open source offerings and a higher level of features in versions that have up-front purchase costs or require subscription-based support contracts.
The key differentiator is that the up-front licensing and ongoing maintenance costs are significantly lower than their commercial competitors.
A new class of service providers has stepped in over the last few years to provide 24×7 support for a growing number of open source database products that include, but are not limited to, PostgreSQL, MySQL (and its derivatives MariaDB and Percona), MongoDB and Cassandra.
EnterpriseDB, as an example, markets its Postgres Plus Advanced Server product as a cost-effective alternative to Oracle. The vendor states that its product provides a deep level of compatibility with Oracle’s features that include the PL/SQL procedural language, Oracle SQL extensions, functions, packages and replication. The product also provides Oracle-like tools which include EDB*Plus, EDB*Loader and EDB*Wrap.
The growth in open source features, administrative tools and available DBA skill sets combined with the traditionally high cost of commercial database product source code, complex and restrictive licensing agreements and commerical vendors’ overly aggressive (sometimes described as “predatory”) auditing practices are all combining to make open source products increasingly attractive alternatives to their commercial counterparts.
The DB-Engines.com website ranks the popularity of open source and commercial database management systems. The criteria used to rank the databases includes measuring the number of references for the product on industry websites, Google searches and job postings as well as the number of mentions on professional and social networks, The chart from DB-Engines.com below provides a historical trend for commercial and open source database products. The lines should be converging sometime in 2017.
Today, the top commercial databases in web popularity were: Oracle (1), Microsoft SQL Server (3), DB2 (6) and Microsoft Access (7). The top open source products included MySQL (2), PostgreSQL(4), MongoDB(5), Cassandra(7), Redis (9) and SQL Lite (10).
According to a 2020 State of Enterprise Open Source Report, open source databases are becoming more and more important, compared to when IT leaders were asked the same question in 2019. Looking forward, 77 percent plan to ramp up their use over the next 12 months. The survey report also states that “the relative usage of enterprise open source and proprietary software is expected to more or less flip over the next two years, as enterprise open source grows from today’s 36 percent to 44 percent.” In other words, that’s a significant leap in such a short timeframe.
As a database consumer, open source products offer a cost-attractive alternative to their commercial counterparts. Not all of the database-driven applications we are required to support require the extensive feature sets provided by the commercial products. In those cases, open source products should be considered viable solutions. As these lower cost, open source vendors close the feature/functionality gap with their commercial product counterparts, their market share will continue to grow as it would with any group of technology offerings possessing these traits.
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