Informix第一个25年的故事

　　 
　　本文原载在<DB2 Magazine> 2005 QUARTER 2 VOLUME 10 NUMBER 2，网址http://www.db2mag.com/story/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=XU3TRCSPKQWY2QSNDBCSKH0CJUMEKJVN?articleID=161601910
我翻译了原文，其中有何不妥或差错之处，欢迎指正。

从文章可以看出作者对Informix是充满感情的，文笔幽默(大家最好可以看看英文原文)。文章的观点可以看作一家之言，仅供参考。

10-10-25   －  Informix第一个25年的故事 by Stuart Litel

这些年来，我注意到所有的Informix用户实际上都会同意以下看法：
－市场上没有其他数据库产品比Informix更容易管理，更可靠。
－没有人是因为广告而购买Informix的。
－如果Informix买寿司，会把它叫做"raw dead fish."
－在过去的日子里，一个Informix DBA的首要任务是学习如何读报纸；现在则是上Inte.net。

几年前，我到一个老朋友那去。他在一家公司里做一份Informix的全职维护工作，而我曾经给这家公司做过顾问咨询。当我最初在那家公司做顾问时，它大概有1千万美元的业务。所有的后台帐务系统使用自己的一套Informix 4GL解决方案实现。当这家公司雇用一个全职Informix维护人员时，它的业务增长到了1亿美元。现在这家公司的名称家喻户晓，它的业务也到达了10亿美元。

当我上一次看到这个朋友时，他告诉我他管理了6名职员：1个Informix DBA和5个Oracle DBA. 我问公司是否正在转到使用Oracle，而实际整个公司的除了一个销售系统是运行在Oracle上，其他系统的全部运行在Informix上。而这个销售系统在数据库方面需要如此多的关注，以至于要5个人来保障它运行。

对于听了这个故事都会心微笑的人来说，这里有一些我们热爱Informix的理由：
－Infomix数据库能够总是处于联机状态，即使在备份时。
－当你新增、修改或删除表时不必关闭数据库。
－要实现双向的复制，不必使用触发器或特殊的SQL－数据库本身就能够简单的实现
－Informix的应用范围可以从单用户的便利店系统到每天处理上百万笔交易的系统。（我最近主持了一个视频，来介绍大型的Informix应用，你可以到http://www.watchit.com/informix访问）

最近我遇到一些使用不同数据库产品的用户。一个客户的公司原来是基于Informix的解决方案，现在想用其他数据库产品来替换。这个客户是一个很著名的IT部门主管，他告诉我说：“我们不喜欢Informix，因为没有什么可以做的，它是为业余爱好者的提供的。”
我当时没有说什么，但是我现在要谈谈我的看法。我曾经听说一个Informix系统连续运行超过1,561天。有谁见过有什么"业余"系统可以不做重启，连接运行超过1,500天（或者哪怕150天）来处理联机事务？

Informix（即使在成为IBM的产品后）都从未获得过最大的市场份额(the cold, dead fish approach)，但是它在越变越好。在过去的9个月里从IBM传来一些好消息。现在是我们公开表态的时候了。我们拥有一些特殊的东西。

我最近在研究下面的问题：
1）有没有那家公司放弃Informix是因为技术层面的原因。
2）有没有那个人或公司不相信Informix会继续生存又一个25年。我原因为此打赌，我想我会在Informix 50周年时赢钱。
3）在同等的条件下，如何让人信服Informix能够在处理速度，可靠性，可用性，性价比等方面击败其他数据库。

你可能会想知道我为什么给这篇文章起名"10-10-25": 今年是个特殊的年份：IBM发布了Informix Dynamic Server 10, 今年也是国际Informix用户组(International Informix Users Group - IIUG)成立10周年，同时也是Informix 发布25周年。

本文作者Stuart Litel是Kazer有限公司的CTO，和IIUG的负责人。

------------------原文-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10-10-25

Tales from Informix's first 25 years.

by Stuart Litel

Over the years, I've noticed that virtually all Informix users will agree with the following statements:

No database on the market is easier to administer or more reliable than Informix.
No one ever bought Informix software for the advertising.
If Informix had sold sushi, it would've called it "raw dead fish."
In the old days, the number one job of an Informix DBA was to learn how to read the newspaper; today, it's to surf the Web.
A few years back I ran into an old friend who took over a full-time Informix position at a company where I'd done the original consulting. When I started consulting there, the company was doing about million of business, with all the back-office aclearcase/" target="_blank" >ccounting on a homegrown Informix 4GL solution. When it hired a full-time employee, it had grown to a 0 million; today, it's a household name and a billion company.

When I last saw this friend, he told me he managed six employees: one Informix DBA and five Oracle DBAs. I asked whether the company was changing to Oracle. It turns out the entire company runs on Informix except for one purchased solution that runs on Oracle; that system needs so much database attention that it takes five people to keep it going.

For everyone who smiled at that story, here are more thoughts about why we all love Informix:

The database can always be online, even when doing a backup.
You don't have to turn the database off to add, alter, or drop a table.
If offers two-way bi-directional replication, without triggers or special SQL — the database simply does the replication for you.
Informix can scale from a single-user mom-and-pop shop implementation to handle millions of transactions daily. (I recently hosted a video presentation about a large Informix implementation, which you can see at www.watchit.com/informix.)

Recently, I met with some users of a different database software. One customer had an Informix-based solution the company wanted to replace with that "O"ther database. The user, an IT director in a world-famous city, told me, "We don't like to use Informix because there's nothing to do, it's for amateurs."

I held my tongue, but I'm letting it go now. I've heard of an Informix system that's been up for more than 1,561 days. How many systems "for amateurs" do you see that have been doing online transaction processing for more than 1,500 days (or even 150 days) without a restart?

Informix (even under IBM) has never had great marketing (the cold, dead fish approach), but it's getting better. The last nine months have been a breath of fresh air from IBM. Now it's time for us to stand up and be counted. We have something special.

I'm currently searching for the following:

1) Any company that gave up its Informix database for technical reasons.

2) Any person or company that doesn't believe Informix will be here for another 25 years. I'm taking bets, and my money is on a 50th anniversary.

3) Ideas about how to convince everyone that Informix can beat any database on equal terms, in speed, reliability, availability, and cost of ownership.

Are you wondering why I called this column "10-10-25"? It's a good year: IBM announced Informix Dynamic Server 10, it's the 10th anniversary of the International Informix Users Group (IIUG), and the 25th anniversary of Informix.

Stuart Litel is is CTO of Kazer Inc. and president of the International Informix User Group.

原文转自：http://www.ltesting.net