I don't know about performance, but thick and OCI add one important element - TAF. I am working now on converting an exclusive Oracle8i system to 9i RAC, but the front end is thin client (i.e. no TAF).
Don Granaman [certifiable OraSaurus] ----- Original Message ----- To: "Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, April 10, 2002 11:58 AM > In "Java Programming with Oracle JDBC", Don Bales actually benchmarks the > differences. The copy here in our group seems to have taken legs, so > recalling from memory, I recall that under some circumstances the thin is > faster and other times the thick is faster. The differences weren't great, > and given the hassles of setting up SQL*Net clients, thin looks good to me. > Dennis Williams > DBA > Lifetouch, Inc. > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > -----Original Message----- > Sent: Wednesday, April 10, 2002 11:23 AM > To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L > > > But it's a very important difference. The thin driver, basically just the > classes12.zip file, is slower than the OCI. The advantage for me is that I > don't need an Oracle supported platform (mine is Linux on Alpha) to run the > thin driver. For our upcoming JDBC stuff here at work, I can't imagine why > we wouldn't want to use OCI. > > Rich Jesse System/Database Administrator > [EMAIL PROTECTED] Quad/Tech International, Sussex, WI USA > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Ben Poels [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > > Sent: Tuesday, April 09, 2002 4:03 PM > > To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L > > Subject: RE: Differences between Oracle JDBC thin and thick drivers > > > > > > Hi > > > > I believe the difference is that the OCI drivers use SQL*Net > > or NET8 or whatever they call it now, whereas the thin driver > > does not require SQL*Net on the client machine. > > > > Ben Poels > > Sr. Technical Analyst > > Queen's University > > > > -----Original Message----- > > Avrami > > Sent: Tuesday, April 09, 2002 4:29 PM > > To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L > > > > > > > > > > Hello all, > > > > I have a question concerning the Oracle JDBC thin vs. thick drivers > > and how they might affect operations from an application perspective. > > > > > > We're in a Solais 8/Oracle 8.1.7.2 environment. We have several > > applications on several servers connecting to the Oracle database. > > > > > > For redundancy, we're looking into setting up TAF (transparent > > application failover). Currently, some of our apps use the Oracle > > JDBC thin drivers to talk to the database, with a connection > > string that like this: > > > > jdbc:oracle:thin:@host:port:ORACLE_SID > > > > In a disaster recovery mode, where we would switch the database > > from one server to another, the host name in the above string > > would become invalid. That means we have to shut down our application > > servers and restart them with an updated string. > > > > Using the Oracle OCI (thick) driver though, allows us to connect > > to a Net8 service instead of a specific server: > > > > jdbc:oracle:oci8:@NET8_SERVICE_NAME > > > > Coupled with the FAILOVER=ON option configured in Net8, it is > > then possible to direct a connection from the first server to > > the failover database on another server. This is exactly what > > we would like to do. > > > > My question is, from an application perspective, how is the Oracle > > thick driver different from the thin driver? If everything > > else is "equal" (i.e. the thick driver is compatible with the > > app servers) would there be something within the the thick/OCI > > driver that could limit functionality vs. the thin driver? > > > > My understand, which obviously is sketchy, is that the thick > > driver is a superset of the thin driver. If this is the case, > > and for example if all database connections were handled through > > a configuration file with the above OCI connection string, then > > theoretically the thick driver should work. > > > > If anyone has any info on this that they can share, it would > > be greatly appreciated. > > > > Thanks, > > Lou Avrami > -- > Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com > -- > Author: Jesse, Rich > INET: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Fat City Network Services -- (858) 538-5051 FAX: (858) 538-5051 > San Diego, California -- Public Internet access / Mailing Lists > -------------------------------------------------------------------- > To REMOVE yourself from this mailing list, send an E-Mail message > to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (note EXACT spelling of 'ListGuru') and in > the message BODY, include a line containing: UNSUB ORACLE-L > (or the name of mailing list you want to be removed from). You may > also send the HELP command for other information (like subscribing). > -- > Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com > -- > Author: DENNIS WILLIAMS > INET: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Fat City Network Services -- (858) 538-5051 FAX: (858) 538-5051 > San Diego, California -- Public Internet access / Mailing Lists > -------------------------------------------------------------------- > To REMOVE yourself from this mailing list, send an E-Mail message > to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (note EXACT spelling of 'ListGuru') and in > the message BODY, include a line containing: UNSUB ORACLE-L > (or the name of mailing list you want to be removed from). You may > also send the HELP command for other information (like subscribing). -- Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com -- Author: Don Granaman INET: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Fat City Network Services -- (858) 538-5051 FAX: (858) 538-5051 San Diego, California -- Public Internet access / Mailing Lists -------------------------------------------------------------------- To REMOVE yourself from this mailing list, send an E-Mail message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (note EXACT spelling of 'ListGuru') and in the message BODY, include a line containing: UNSUB ORACLE-L (or the name of mailing list you want to be removed from). You may also send the HELP command for other information (like subscribing).