H2 Database Engine vs. Oracle TimesTen

For running application tests it's well suited. H2 [Database Engine] can replace the real-world database solution for them easily and removes the requirement to set up a a separate database instance just for running unit tests. For using in actual production application one needs to consider scale. H2 is suitable if application runs in single instance and database is located in same machine as a file where that application runs. This means the application shouldn't have a large user base. However it's easy to switch to an actual MySQL instance if the need arises, it's most likely only a configuration change and doesn't require new code.

Incentivized

TimesTen is well suited for applications using smaller data or smaller data stores and where transaction response times are not as business critical. TimesTen is good for applications already accessing Oracle and need to cache data for quick read/write operations. TimesTen is not appropriate for large data dependent applications or applications requiring fast response times. In these cases, using Oracle database or Exadata is better

Incentivized

• Can run as an in-memory database.
• Simple and quick to get started with, and is light weight (only 2MB).
• SQL compliant so it compatible with most relational databases.

Incentivized

• With basic database experience, TimesTen has a very short learning curve.
• The installation and setup is easy and straightforward. The command line instructions are easy to follow.
• The error logging mechanism is simple and efficient. The system log files are helpful in troubleshooting problems with using TimesTen.
• The maintenance tools are user friendly and effective. Upgrading is easy and quick. TimesTen is almost a self-administrating database.

Incentivized

• There's a warning in official FAQ "Is it Reliable?"-section which makes it seem like H2 is not yet a mature product.
• If raw SQL queries are used there maybe be differences between MySQL & H2. ORM library should be used.
• Support seems to be community-based only.

Incentivized

• Provide better monitoring tools of TimesTen daemon, servers and connections.
• Improved support for APIs. The libraries lack the necessary code for applications to customize for applications using TimesTen.

Incentivized

While both can run as an in-memory database, H2 Database Engine was just so much easier for us to use since we primarily use the Java stack and H2 Database Engine is also built with Java.

Incentivized

Sybase does not have an in-memory database until version 15 so TimesTen was ideal for caching data. TimesTen has reliable replication and backing up mechanisms. Oracle takes longer to set up and use for most applications where as TimesTen is a smaller DBMS that is quick and easy to set up and use. TimesTen can connect to Oracle for caching data so using Oracle as a backend makes sense

Incentivized

• Doesn't take time from developers, once it's configs are set up for testing it works in everyone's development environments
• Easy to integrate in application, no need to setup separate database software, no maintenance
• No need to deal with infrastructure related issues/costs - database runs in same machine as the application that uses it.

Incentivized

• TimesTen has had a positive impact from a developer's perspective because implementing TimesTen is quick and easy. The benefits of TimesTen can be seen almost instantly. For instance, the application start up time is faster, the data is easy to maintain and the performance is fast for TimesTen clients.
• TimesTen has had a positive impact for the business because it can be made accessible to users via a GUI. This gives users transparency to the data at any time.
• The negative impact is that once the TimesTen database has grown too large, the application should move to using Oracle database or else it suffers from performance degradation and stability issues.

Incentivized