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From: tim@binky.sybase.com (Tim Wood)
Newsgroups: comp.databases
Subject: Performance Data (was Re: Client/Server processes and implementations)
Summary: durned if ya do...
Keywords: performance measurement RDBMS
Message-ID: <7169@sybase.sybase.com>
Date: 21 Nov 89 18:31:21 GMT
References: <2184@kodak.UUCP> <6895@sybase.sybase.com> <122@tacitus.tfic.bc.ca> <7037@sybase.sybase.com> <125@tacitus.tfic.bc.ca> <7134@sybase.sybase.com> <666@dgis.dtic.dla.mil> <126@tacitus.tfic.bc.ca>
Sender: news@sybase.sybase.com
Reply-To: tim@binky.UUCP (Tim Wood)
Organization: Sybase, Inc.
Lines: 40

In article <126@tacitus.tfic.bc.ca> clh@tacitus.UUCP (Chris Hermansen) writes:
>In article <666@dgis.dtic.dla.mil> jkrueger@dgis.dtic.dla.mil (Jon) writes:
>>dg@sisyphus.sybase.com (David Gould) writes:
>>
>>>'exactly how much measurable benefit ...'. This is of course proprietary
>>>information
>>
>>For you, perhaps.  Some of your competitors can substantiate their
>>performance claims with DATA.
>
>
>As I tried to emphasize by my `measurable benefit' question: design is one
>thing, performance is another.  [ ... analogy deleted ... ]
>I'm not trying to accuse Sybase of
>having an inferior product; I just don't like unsubstantiated performance
>claims.
>
>Chris Hermansen                         Timberline Forest Inventory Consultants

Your question puts us in something of a bind.  If we don't give data,
folks can say, "shucks, we want data."  If we give data, folks might say, 
"you're a vendor, we don't believe your data; besides, it doesn't measure my
application--TP1's are meaningless."  And so on.  

We have numbers we like from competitive benchmarks against other products, 
conducted by our customers & prospects.  However, publicizing those numbers is 
another issue.  IMO, the most beneficial thing would be for a publication
like _Digital Review_ to conduct a benchmark.  Their trials of hardware and
software seem to be very well conducted and documented.  Also note that
it's quite difficult to design a meaningful DBMS benchmark--about as hard
as designing a DBMS schema for a real application.  I'd like to see more
consensus on what a meaningful benchmark is, then someone could measure
our performance against it publicly.  But the only benchmarks that finally
matter are people's applications.
-TW

Sybase, Inc. / 6475 Christie Ave. / Emeryville, CA / 94608	  415-596-3500
tim@sybase.com          {pacbell,pyramid,sun,{uunet,ucbvax}!mtxinu}!sybase!tim
		This message is solely my personal opinion.
		It is not a representation of Sybase, Inc.  OK.