Proprietary Database Comparison
MariaDB vs. Oracle, Microsoft and IBM
MariaDB Enterprise Server, with features previously only available in proprietary databases (e.g., temporal tables and queries), is the first enterprise open source database capable of challenging proprietary databases.
Enterprise database comparison guide
This enterprise database comparison between Oracle Database Enterprise Edition 18c, Microsoft SQL Server 2017 Enterprise and IBM Db2 Advanced Enterprise Server Edition 11.1 for Linux, Unix and Windows (LUW) and MariaDB Enterprise Server is based on 50+ features defined across six categories of modern enterprise requirements.
Read the guideHigh availability
MariaDB supports both primary/secondary replication with automatic failover and multi-primary clustering, within a single data center or across multiple data centers, to maintain high availability in the event of a database, server or data center failure. In addition, disaster recovery is supported via delayed replication, point-in-time rollback and backup/restore.
High performance, scalability and efficiency
MariaDB supports both local and distributed partitions (i.e., sharding) to improve query performance; table, row or column compression to reduce disk I/O; and query result caching to reduce the load on the database. In addition, MariaDB includes a space- and write-optimized storage engine to improve the write performance and reduce the disk I/O of write-intensive workloads.
Advanced security
MariaDB supports both data-in-motion encryption (e.g., connections and replication) and data-at-rest encryption (i.e., transparent data encryption), data protection via roles and dynamic data masking (full or partial) and database protection from denial-of-service attacks. In addition, it includes a database firewall capable of blocking queries based on syntax, role, frequency and/or time.
Scalable, high-performance analytics
MariaDB can replicate data via a change-data-capture (CDC) stream to support scalable, high-performance analytics on near real-time data. MariaDB Enterprise Server uses distributed, columnar storage and massively parallel processing (MPP) to support ad hoc, on-demand analytics on billions of rows without the need for indexes.
Standard SQL
MariaDB supports JSON documents, geospatial data, sequences and virtual columns – and is the first enterprise open source database with out-of-the-box support for temporal tables and queries via system-versioned tables and standard SQL syntax. In addition, MariaDB supports window functions, common table expressions, user-defined functions (scalar and aggregate) and set operators (UNION, INTERSECT and EXCEPT).
MariaDB vs. Oracle, Microsoft and IBM
MariaDB Enterprise Server supports the same core enterprise features as Oracle Database 18c Enterprise Edition, Microsoft SQL Server 2017 Enterprise and IBM Db2 for Linux, Unix and Windows 11.1 Advanced Enterprise Server Edition, and in some cases, supports more. Oracle Database and IBM Db2 support multi-master clustering, but Oracle RAC and IBM pureScale are not supported on public clouds (e.g., Microsoft Azure) because they rely on shared storage. However, MariaDB multi-master clustering is based on synchronous group replication, so it can be used on any public cloud. Further, MariaDB Enterprise Server is engineered to run well on commodity hardware, cloud instances and containers.
| MariaDB Enterprise Server | Oracle Enterprise Edition | Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise | IBM DB2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Replication | Yes | Active Data Guard* | Availability Groups | SQL Replication |
| Clustering | Multiple clustering options | RAC* | Yes* | pureScale |
| Multi-cloud Single-architectures | Yes | No | No | No |
| Backup and restore | MariaDB BCM | RMAN | Yes | Yes |
| Built-in SQL IDE | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Distributed partitions with legacy RDBMS connectors | Multiple options | Oracle Partitioning* | No | DPF |
| Compression | Multiple options | Advanced Compression* | Yes | Yes |
| Encryption | Yes | Advanced Security* | Yes | Yes |
| Database firewall | Yes | Database Firewall* | Uses Windows Firewall | No |
| Columnar | MariaDB ColumnStore | Database In-Memory* | Yes | Blu Acceleration |
| Temporal | Yes | Flashback Query* | Temporal Tables | Time Travel Query |
| Stored procedures | SQL, PSM, PL-SQL, C | PL, SQL, Java | T-SQL | DB2-SQL, SQL PL |
| Oracle compatibility | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
*Not included in an Oracle Database Enterprise Edition license; must be purchased separately.
Download the enterprise database comparison white paper below to see a full comparison based on 50+ features.
Oracle to MariaDB: Pragmatic Migration Strategies
Whether you're looking to break free from Oracle or you need an open source database that's hardened for production, you can position your organization well for the future by moving to MariaDB. And with the right process in place, you'll be poised for a smooth transition. This webinar, co-presented by William Wood, DBA expert and author of “Migrating to MariaDB,” and Manjot Singh, MariaDB Enterprise Architect, will cover pragmatic strategies for migrating to MariaDB.
Watch now
Enterprise database comparison guide
This enterprise database comparison between Oracle Database Enterprise Edition 18c, Microsoft SQL Server 2017 Enterprise and IBM Db2 Advanced Enterprise Server Edition 11.1 for Linux, Unix and Windows (LUW) and MariaDB is based on 50+ features defined across six categories of modern enterprise requirements.
Download the guide
