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Oracle VirtualBox vs. SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Oracle VirtualBox

    Score8.2 out of 10
    N/AOracle VirtualBox is an open source, cross-platform, virtualization software, enables developers to deliver code faster by running multiple operating systems on a single device.

    $0

    per month

    SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer

    Score5.6 out of 10
    N/ASolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer (DPA) enables deep visibility into database performance and expert advice for performance optimization and tuning. What can you monitor with DPA? Oracle Oracle Exadata Oracle EBS Microsoft SQL Server Azure SQL Database Azure SQL Database Managed Instance MySQL DB2 SAP ASE Aurora MariaDB DPA monitors physical, virtual,…N/A
    Pricing
    Oracle VirtualBoxSolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Oracle VirtualBoxSolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Oracle VirtualBoxSolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer
    Considered Both Products
    Oracle
    No answer on this topic
    SolarWinds
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    95%
    Would buy again
    18 Answers
    100%
    Would buy again
    13 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    19 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    13 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    19 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    13 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    85%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    11 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    12 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    17 Answers
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    12 Answers
    Features
    Oracle VirtualBoxSolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer
    Server Virtualization
    Comparison of Server Virtualization features of Oracle VirtualBox and SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer
    Feature
    Oracle VirtualBox
    8.2
    50 Ratings
    2% above category average
    SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer
    -
    Ratings
    Virtual machine automated provisioning8.036 Ratings00 Ratings
    Management console8.846 Ratings00 Ratings
    Live virtual machine backup8.236 Ratings00 Ratings
    Live virtual machine migration7.033 Ratings00 Ratings
    Hypervisor-level security9.029 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Oracle VirtualBoxSolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer
    Small Businesses
    Proxmox VE
    Score9.2 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    VMware vSOM (discontinued)
    Score10 out of 10
    Redgate Monitor
    Score8 out of 10
    Enterprises
    IBM PowerVM
    Score9.6 out of 10
    Foglight
    Score10 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Oracle VirtualBoxSolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.5
    (53 ratings)
    9.1
    (114 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (4 ratings)
    8.6
    (4 ratings)
    Usability
    10.0
    (7 ratings)
    8.2
    (7 ratings)
    Availability
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    9.3
    (6 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    7.3
    (2 ratings)
    Configurability
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Oracle VirtualBoxSolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Oracle
    It is best suited when you want to have different operating systems on your laptop or desktop. You can easily switch between operating systems without the need to uninstall one. In another scenario, if you expect some application to damage your device, it would be best to run the application on the VM such that the damage can only be done to the virtual machine. It is less appropriate when time synchronization is very important. At times the VMs run their own times differently from the host time and this may cause some losses if what you doing is critical. Another important thing to take note of is the licensing of the application you want to run your VM. Some licenses do not allow the applications to be run on virtual servers so it is not appropriate to use the VM at this time.
    Incentivized
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    SolarWinds
    This is an easy 10 because I actually have recommended this product to multiple clients and colleagues! Any shop that writes its own SQL queries will benefit from the insight provided by SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer, so they know which of their queries is causing a bottleneck. Small shops or databases with only a few tables likely will see far fewer opportunities for optimization.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Oracle
    • It is simple to install - there is no advanced knowledge required to begin building virtual computers
    • It is easy to use - adding new virtual machines is simple with wizard-based deployment
    • It enables easy portability - moving virtual machines from one host to another is straight-forward and simple
    • It is free
    Incentivized
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    SolarWinds
    • Maintains historical SQL execution data, enabling forensic analysis
    • Has the ability to slice and dice the data so that you can drill down to the execution of a single SQL statement being executed by a stored procedure
    • Alerts to when the consumption pattern changes
    • Shows historical average run times against the current, illustrating problems when they arise
    • Provides tuning advice based on best practices
    Incentivized
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    Cons
    Oracle
    • I have had issues in the past when it has come to resizing VM disk storage. The issue is entirely detailed here: https://www.virtualbox.org/ticket/9103 -- the problem was caused because of having existing snapshots (which error message output was not detailing). I haven't had to deal with the issue due to my dynamic disk sizes not being small from the start anymore (this is mostly an issue for my Windows VMs where the base disk may need significant size for the OS). It looks like, for a resize, that a merge of all snapshots has to occur first -- one user on that list details a workaround to maintain snapshots by cloning the VM. (Note: 5.2 was just released a few weeks ago, and looks like it should prevent the problem happening in the future by properly informing users that it isn't possible with snapshots).
    • Certain scenarios, like resizing disks, required dropping into a terminal as there were no options to previously do so via the GUI. According to some recent posts, I've seen that v5.2 has added disk management stuff like that to the GUI (or will be adding it). I'm comfortable with dropping into the terminal, but in a teaching scenario or when evaluating the learnability of the tools, it complicates things.
    Incentivized
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    SolarWinds
    • Alerts seem to be lacking in DPA compared to competitor's tools. They can be setup but are not quite as easy or as helpful as some other tools I have used.
    • Grooming/pruning the repository database isn't very easy. We don't manage a lot of instances but our repo DB has grown pretty significantly.
    • At times when I am drilled-down to a chart, it can be difficult to navigate around from that point to another time range/query/metric.
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    Oracle
    I give this rating because virtual box is inexpensive but there is another product such as vm ware that can also be used
    Incentivized
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    SolarWinds
    We have relied on this product for a very long time and it continues to exceed expectations. The product is a vital part of our organization at this point, it would not be very ideal for us to abandon it. We use it almost every day and depend on its alerts for critical parts of our business
    Incentivized
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    Usability
    Oracle
    I love using the Graphical User Interface. The VirtualBox Manager is very easy to understand and use. You can quickly create, configure and manage all your virtual machines in one window. It makes operating virtual machines easy and simple. When using VBoxManage it gives the user comprehensive control over VirtualBox so that you can use automation and scripting at the command-line interface
    Incentivized
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    SolarWinds
    I don't want to think about managing clusters of SQL servers in the future without this tool. We have demoed other tools and SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer is the gold standard for usability and insight into what your servers are doing. The UI is a bit dated, but everything is laid out in a logical manner and drilling down into queries or timeslices is extremely intuitive.
    Incentivized
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    Reliability and Availability
    Oracle
    Dependency on the Host OS means it is as reliable as it is possible to be. Application errors are beyond the purview of the application.
    Incentivized
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    SolarWinds
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    Oracle
    No issues, especially with the extensions addons.
    Incentivized
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    SolarWinds
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Oracle
    Oracle have a very fast response rate and a strong user community. One can geet help from many sources if they choose to research for themselves.
    Incentivized
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    SolarWinds
    I have had to use their support on a few occasions, for reasons that I am not clear about until recently I have always had problems upgrading the software (although the last 2 updates have gone without issue which I am very pleased to say). On those unfortunate occasions, the support has been brilliant with either excellently documented guides on how to resolve the issue by myself or have been hands-on with calls and screen sharing to remotely fix the issue. Every time the problem was sorted and more importantly, nothing was lost (apart from a bit of time). And as I stated above whatever the problem was that was causing my upgrade issues appears to have been resolved in the last 2 updates.
    Incentivized
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    Implementation Rating
    Oracle
    We really enjoy using virtual box. We do not require to buy expensive hardware but instead we can minimize costs and maximize profits.
    Incentivized
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    SolarWinds
    Follow the guidelines for the capacity of the servers. We found that the DPA databases were getting rather large and also that there are ways to reduce their size built into some of the options.
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    Oracle
    VirutalBox is very similar to using Vmware with the slight difference in appearance and what might be considered a less polished look. However, what it lacks in polish and looks it makes up for in functionality, easy of use and the wide range of operating systems and features it supports without the need of buying the full professional edition
    Incentivized
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    SolarWinds
    At the time, we found SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer to be easier to setup and to have a richer feature set than Redgate SQL Monitor, plus, from what I remember, the DPA pricing worked better for us over the course of a year. We're very happy with all the features DPA has to offer.
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    Oracle
    The only problem I have found is that the deployment is dependent and intrinsically linked to the Host OS. This is different from bare metal solutions which remove that dependency on a Host OS. The latter is more reliable and removes a layer of potential failure.
    Incentivized
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    SolarWinds
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Oracle
    • Minimal-to-no support needed from the DevOps team.
    • Provides a direct and an easy way to access multiple VMs inside the same machines which enables performing various testing and QA tasks without the need to switch hardware.
    • Automatic provisioning using tools (esp. Vagrant) which enables developing a base image once, and allows for exporting/importing anywhere across the developers team.
    • Very cost-effective (no fees or monthly subscriptions).
    Incentivized
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    SolarWinds
    • It has allowed us to progress as an organization with much less reliance on a direct DBA than would traditionally be required
    • Allowed us to be much more proactive in our performance monitoring and responding to issues that would affect users.
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots

    SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer Screenshots

    Screenshot of DashboardScreenshot of Alerts and reportsScreenshot of Application-centric view of DPAScreenshot of Blocking deadlock analysisScreenshot of Collaboration across teamsScreenshot of Intuitive performance monitoring