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Question and Answer

Chris Saxon

Thanks for the question, Anwar.

Asked: June 24, 2000 - 2:50 am UTC

Last updated: November 20, 2017 - 1:32 am UTC

Version: 7.3.2

Viewed 1000+ times

You Asked

Hi Tom!

Is Oracle Distributed Option required for accessing remote databases? Also, if there is some restriction on database version i.e. the version shuld be same on all nodes?

and Tom said...

Distributed option was required to perform distributed transactions in v7.x. If you just query across a database link, that was OK, if you update over a database link -- that was the distributed option.

The versions may be hetergenous (eg: 7.3 to 7.1 works ok).

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Comments

OK

Srinivas, March 24, 2004 - 8:02 am UTC

Hi Tom,
What is a distributed database?I think two terminologies
exist.
1)A database server houses multiple databases with in it and each database may reside in a different physical location and we consider each database to be a distributed one.We use a database link to refer each database.
Is the above defintion correct?
2)Database servers may reside in different physical locations which have databases with in them.we consider each server to be a distributed one.We use server-to-server
RPCs and OCI calls to connect to the desired server.
Is this definition correct?
I don't know which one is correct?Do I have misconception of any type here?Could you please clarify?
Bye!



Tom Kyte
March 24, 2004 - 9:32 am UTC

those are both the same.

doesn't matter if the database instances are on the same server or 5,000 miles apart. they are both "distributed" if you have more than one database...

Design of Distributed Databases

Bryan, April 21, 2004 - 11:10 pm UTC

Objective:

I want to design and implimentation using oracle the following:

*** Design of Distributed Databases ***

And after that

*** Query Decomposition ***
*** Data Localization and Optimization of Distributed Queries ***

Scenario:
I am oracle Developer and a little bit knowledge of DBA

So .. .. For "Design of Distributed Databases"

What type of hardware specifications are required.
From where I am going to start.
I am currently using Oracle 9i on windows xp and 2000professional.

In Short I just want to impliment this in lesser time, lesser cost, highest achievements.(I am Student)

Healthy links are helpful for me but if you explain yourself, It' s great effort for me

===> I know Orale well but very much new to DDBMS(Practical approach)

Thanks ...

Tom Kyte
April 22, 2004 - 7:25 am UTC

I've never seen a distributed database designed on purpose :)

I see them evolve as people try to integrate data over time.

I would never set out to purposely *design* a distributed database, if the data is related -- sounds like a single database to me. adding distributed would make the database:

o less reliable
o harder to manage
o less flexible (lots of dependencies between non-connect things. forget about point in time recovery and other stuff)
o slower

if you want

o less time
o least cost
o hight achievements

you would rule distributed out. If you say "i cannot" that means you must already be distrubted and hence "designed" as it is and you live with what you have.

sorry, probably not what you were looking for but....

What is distributed database

Bryan, April 22, 2004 - 8:45 am UTC

I am a graduate student so I just wnat how I practically impliment DDBMS

Thanks for your time

Distributed option on 8i

Michael, August 02, 2006 - 10:15 am UTC

Tom,

I have to configure replication between Oracle 8.1.7 (OpenVMS) and Oracle10g 10.2.0 (Solaris).
Do I need distributed option to be installed on Oracle8i database, or it is required only for 7.x databases?

Thanks,


Tom Kyte
August 02, 2006 - 12:05 pm UTC

distributed is not an option beyond 7, it is always there.

but geez, you are going to do new development using unsupported software - I wish you well, but ...

Database Design (Distributed or loca?l)

Arvind Mishra, November 19, 2017 - 7:09 am UTC

I need to design a new database where a designer will design a new product and assign it to another user located in different geography. The other user will make changes according to their geographic requirement and write/read the data. I need to keep track of both designs and both users can see old design and new designs. I have two options:

1. Keep every thing in one table with create_date and update_date columns in one database

2. Create new copy of the table in another database which will be located in different country and use distributed database.

Please suggest which one will be better approach and why?

I would like to go with first approach but worried about performance when user will access database from another country.

Will opting for Oracle cloud database will help in improving performance?

Thanks,

Arvind Mishra
Connor McDonald
November 20, 2017 - 1:32 am UTC

There is a famous quote

"My First Law of Distributed Object Design: Don't distribute your objects" - Martin Fowler

This doesnt seem to be a database issue but a latency issue. If you have a good network, then the location of the database should not matter.

(A good example of this - I'm answering this question from Perth, Australia ... but the AskTOM application/database lives in the United States).

But the only way you can know is to do some testing. But my policy is keep things simple...and only add complexity to a solution if you need to.

Arvind Mishra, November 24, 2017 - 3:59 am UTC

Thanks