DbVisualizer vs. Komprise

Whenever you have to access data sources from more than one database engine provider, you should consider using DbVisualizer for the task. Switching between multiples IDE consumes time and resources (memory), and you also need to learn menus, shortcuts, etc., for each IDE, while using DbVisualizer allows you to work consistently no matter which database engine you are connecting. You can use it to simply navigate through data structures, write SQL sentences or even create new tables and views, develop stored procedures, etc.

As any other archiving solution, it is very well suited for environments with a large footprint of unstructured data (CIFS / NFS shares for user data) with a large amount of unused/old files and a need to keep those unused files for long term. In our scenario, due to some legal and contractual constraints we need to keep these files for 15 years. Archiving is a good choice to move the unused files to a cheaper storage tier, both on-prem or cloud.

• Timed queries that add their result to the result grid for every execution are helpful. Creation of graphs also extremely helpful.
• Query history and auto-recover feature makes sure we don't lose our queries.
• Actions like exporting grids to Excel or other tools is a very easy task.

• It gives you a good overview on user data: files age, sizes, file types, owners, etc.
• It is very flexible on the archiving policies.
• The data scans are really fast without affecting storage's performance.
• It has a great alternative to STUB files, which they call 'bread crumbs' (symlinks to files).

• When exporting databases to jpg or png image, it should be possible to print banner type without losing quality and legibility
• Be able to define sections or a set of tables with an identifier of colors that help a better visualization or understanding of large databases
• Implement a cooperative mode for work teams

• Its licensing plan, which takes into account the amount of data analyzed instead of data transferred.

We never had problems with it. It is able to connect to all data sources (Oracle, Informix, DB2, SQL Server) that we currently use.

Menus are simple and well organized. You can use the same shortcuts no matter which database engine you are connecting to. Configuration of data source connections is simple while keeping all required options.

DbVisualizer provides a good value when compared against other 3rd party products with similar features as well as products with similar functionality made by the database vendors. The user interface is good and user friendly / intuitive and easy to learn. It doesn't take too long for an experienced DBA / database developer to come up to speed.

We have used Veritas Enterprise Vault in the past, and besides its being a well-known player on the data archiving market, their tool is far more complex to implement, to manage and to keep working. Komprise is very robust and also very easy to implement, as most part of the job is done on Komprise side. The management console is delivered through a public URL as a SaaS platform. You only need to deploy a few VMs for scan/archiving/user access, which they call "Observer VMs." Komprise also doesn't uses Stub files, which is a poor implementation adopted by the competitor for file access. We had a lot of issues in the past with stub files. Komprise has implemented 'bread crumbs', which are CIFS symlinks to the files on the Observer. It is a very good implementation and it works really well.

• The pricing for DbVisualizer is fair.
• The tool also succeeds in non-functional areas I find important, such as being able to install and/or run without requiring administrator privileges on Windows.
• Has capability to generate diagrams and models from existing databases which is very helpful in reverse engineering.

• It allowed us to free up some space on our main storage during a time where we didn't have the budget to expand it.
• It allows us to move unused data to a cheaper storage tier (Azure Blobs).