comparing and contrasting Sybase and SQL Server

Question

They share common history, they run on different operating systems. This is the part I know.

• what parts remain the same?
• which have changed since they split?
• is SQL Server knowledge still applicable to Sybase?
• what features available in Sql Server are not present in Sybase?
• which features that are present in Sybase are not available in SQL Server?

I'm interested in answers from people with comparable experience in both platforms.

Answer 1

That's an old post but was looking for some similar information. Stick to SQL Server that's my advise. I have ported Sybase to SQL Server and the performance differences were fantastic for some queries. 2 to 3x faster for some and 50% at least for most. I am talking about comparable hardware, Sybase on Unix and SQL Server on Windows Server. Sybase is dead anyway, if you check forums there is hardly anything if you compare to SQL Server, especially now in 2024. Most shops migrated or didn't choose Sybase for new projects.

Answer 2

The latest published SQL Server benchmarks are at about 1.2 mil tran/min. That is roughtly 16k transactions per second, at system priced at USD ~6 mil in 2005 (64 way Superdome).

Sybase ASE 16.0 was tested with success at 200 0000 tran/sec Sybase ASE has a strog SAP Replication Server superior(it Primary faild the transacton are saved in stable queue) net to MS SQL server wich has a simple replication(if Primary faild it will louse transcations)

Answer 3

If you stick to the ANSI SQL syntax, they are the very much the same; but they do vary, and sometimes maddeningly so.

Since each vendor wants to get you to migrate onto their platform, I would search for the how-to-migrate-x-to-y documents on their websites. They will give you a good idea of the documented differences.

Answer 4

Common history until 15 years ago 1994 up until SQL Server 4.21. SQL Server 6.0, 6.5 were splits. SQL Server 7 was a complete re-write and it was a truly different product to SQL Server 6.0, 6.5 which were the last of the "shared" code base.

The features are quite similar and a lot of system tables and stored procs can be run on both. However, the 2 systems don't really have much in common now except the locking strategy (as compared to Oracle or MVCC based systems).

Saying that, basic SQL is portable between the 2 and I've ported Sybase to SQL Server before.

I've also worked in/or with teams that manage both platform teams but the overlap is not as much as you expect or perhaps hope for.

Why do you ask? I wouldn't plan a career on Sybase unless you work in Banking IT...