SQL vs ISAM — Enjoy the Best of Both

SQL or ISAM — it’s a frequent question we’re asked, especially when it comes to performance. Both offer unique advantages. Many customers believe they must choose one over the other. Why Choose!? Enjoy the best of both worlds. FairCom believes you should have your ISAM and enjoy SQL too.

Direct Record ISAM

• Fast data capture and indexing
• Exquisite indexing strategies
• Programmatically precise record queries
• Advanced control for unique engineering needs
• C, C++, .NET and Java APIs

Relational SQL

• Industry-standard query language
• Fully relational
• Flexible ad hoc queries
• Broad development environment support
• ODBC, JDBC, ADO.NET, dbExpress, Python, and Direct SQL APIs

New Applications

Data challenges come in many forms so focus on what best works to solve your specific data challenge at hand. c‑treeACE SQL provides complete relational capabilities and, coupled with ISAM performance, brings speed and control to your toughest data challenges. Choose the data access that best fits the task at hand. A combination of ISAM and SQL provides application developers the ability to develop the most innovative and cost-effective solution for your customers. Implement critical performance-sensitive sections of your application with direct record-oriented ISAM technology and achieve greater transaction throughput, typically 5-10 times faster than a relational-only model.

Existing Applications

You’ve invested many resources, including your own sweat, through the years, perfecting your applications. Avoid costly application rewrites and quickly add SQL access. Leverage existing files and continue using your ISAM applications for cost effectiveness with additional new feature development. All built upon proven c‑treeACE SQL core database technology.

Advantages of ISAM + SQL

• Preserve your existing code and performance
• Advanced control for performance-sensitive application sections
• Ad hoc queries over continuous ISAM data capture
• Easily integrate new functionality and external applications

The c‑treeACE SQL footprint, including the SQL engine, is <20 MB (15.3 including utilities). Compare this to 500 MB or more with MS SQL. This greatly reduces resource requirements and ultimately, costs. Full 64-bit file addressing enables HUGE files up to 16 exabytes. Cross platform support takes advantage of today’s latest hardware architectures for extreme scalability with modern enterprise applications. And, providing a single point of licensing and support c‑treeACE SQL, greatly simplifies your deployment and support structures.

The FairCom team has extensive experience in bridging yesterday’s data with today’s access needs. We’ve helped many customers bring the added flexibility of a relational SQL interface to their existing data—in some cases, applications and data more than 20 years old. And, in most cases, they’ve retained the original application with little or no code changes! Contact your FairCom office today to discuss your data challenges and how we can help bring SQL access to your existing data.