I-Got-Notices™ has used the Advantage Database for storing the mountain of data it collects since version 2. Advantage comes in two flavors: local version and client/server. The local version comes built into IGN without additional cost and is adequate for single users or very small installations. The client/server version is an industrial strength database on par with MS SQL or Oracle. It must be purchased from Sybase via LegalPRO or other vendors who use it such as Abacus.

Although there is an added initial cost for having the client/server (C/S) version, the benefits are very much worth it. First, you will notice a significant speed increase. C/S systems run as a service on the server computer receiving and answer requests for data from the workstation computers. Because the service runs on the computer that actually contains the data, there is no need to pull index files through the relatively slow network connections. The service is able to seek, find, and gather the exact data requested very quickly and return only what is needed back through the network.

On a local (non C/S) system, each workstation will have to pull large index files through the network, look up their targets and then retrieve the needed data across the network again. When inserts or edits are performed, the amount of network traffic really jumps as index and data files are pushed and pulled back and forth to update. On a C/S system, new and updated data is simply sent to the service from the workstations and all the file writing is handled on the server machine very quickly. Local (non C/S) systems are file sharing systems. Each workstation that wants access to the files must pull their own copy across the network and set file locks each time they update the data. C/S systems manage all the locks in memory and never have to send unnecessary data across a network.

This delegation of work also brings us to the second advantage of using the Advantage Database Server (ADS): data integrity. When multiple workstations are writing to files on a local, fire sharing system, the opportunity for corruption is magnified considerably. If a single workstation crashes or incurs a network error while writing to the database, then corruption will result. The more workstations attached to the database the more often it will occur.

When using a C/S database, such as the Advantage Database Server, corruption is prevented. If a workstation crashes or incurs a network error while talking to the service the service will simply ignore the request. Since only the service is allowed to “touch” the actual data files, no workstation crash or network error will ever be able to cause corruption. The only way for corruption to occur is with failure of the server machine. Simple power losses, however, generally won’t cause corruption either as the Advantage Database Server is designed to recover from them.

Other advantages of C/S systems are data security and built-in backup capability. The network folder holding the actual data files does not need to be shared out to everyone like it does for local file sharing databases. This means the data is secure from being wiped out or deleted by malicious or careless users. The built-in backup feature allows the database to be backed up while in use.

We here at LegalPRO are so confident in the Advantage Database Server to prevent data corruption that we have discounted renewal fees for ADS users simply because they require far less support. Advantage Database Server users don’t call us with corruption issues that take hours to solve. Renewals are priced to allow you to recover the initial cost of the server in only three years.