General advice on a suitable Database

Hi there, I am involved in looking at the development of a new business system for my company, and I am considering the type of database required. It’s been a little while since I developed anything professional, and although I know about databases, I wonder if anyone can recommend a database system that is a good all-rounder. It requires multi-user access, won’t be enormous, and will probably need to run on a Citrix server on a client/server basis (probably being accessed by a Java application). Price isn’t really an issue. Quite frankly, I’m also interested in developing the system in a way that will allow me to develop the most marketable skills, and hence my mention of Java. Many thanks.

pretty vague requirements... maybe you should think about more concrete requirements such as: availability, scalability, and security. You could run any system you want with these requirements!

Here are some of the bigger labels to research in no particular order, all have java connectivity:
Oracle, Sybase ASE, Sybase ASA, MS-SQL, MySQL, Postgres, DB2, HSQL.

Hi there, thanks for the swift reply. I'm not sure exactly in what context you mean the use of the three terms, but here's my go at answering them:

My requirement is the database should be *available* centrally over a client server network, with expected users initially of a dozen or so, rising to 50 or so in the short-term, with eventual user access of a few hundred. Users will access the database at real-time, and this could coincide with real-time database updates.

In terms of scalability, I don't foresee any major extensions to the database in the near future.

In terms of security, the system will run on a secure company Intranet, but the information is extremely valuable and therefore an option for additional security would be useful to explore. I'm not sure of the processing time overhead incurred for such security.

One other, perhaps overriding, requirement is that I require the skills I learn to be highly marketable. Selfish yes, but this is a realistic consideration for me. Thanks for sharing your expertise.

"Users will access the database at real-time, and this could coincide with real-time database updates."
Ok, to avoid any misunderstanding: I think that you mean that it will be updated, it won't be a datawarehouse...but if you really mean "real-time", then maybe Oracle in memory or even MySQL if losing information is not an issue (the type of tables that give fast access don't allow recovery if the database crashes!) or better look at really real-time databases as RTAP, for example.

Do you need cluster? If so, take into account that the DB2 clustering solution is more like a hot/standby.

Oracle and DB2 have lots of extra-features for advanced security.

There are many options... but if the money is not an issue and you don't have very restrictive requirements then the big ones (Oracle, DB2, etc) will give you everything (even what you don't need!)

Cheers,
Ana