So recently I was browsing Walmart.com ‘s Electronics section and was amazed at the selection they have.
You want to buy a computer? They’ve got it.
You want an operating system for that computer? They’ve got it.
You want to buy a network switch and cables to link multiple computers together? They’ve got it.
You want to buy 4TB of NAS storage? They’ve got it.
You can get them all from one vendor. The switches say their certified with the OS. The computer says its certified with the OS. Your storage is certified with your OS.
You can even install Oracle database on the hardware and be fully supported by Oracle (thought not certified by Oracle because Oracle doesn’t certify 3rd party hardware).
Have you ever bought a wireless Microsoft keyboard and mouse that didn’t work right with your Microsoft Windows OS running on a PC with a sticker on it that said “Designed for Windows” ? It’s all from one vendor. Just one throat to choke, right?
So why isn’t most of your data center running off of what’s at Walmart?
Because those products might not be leaders in their category.
Because the technical support backing those products might be crappy.
Because the software might not be enterprise ready .
Just because you can buy everything from one company doesn’t mean you should.
“Just because you can buy everything from one company doesn’t mean you should.”
so, whats your point? that you shouldn’t buy exadata, running oracle db on oracle linux?
Software. Hardware. Huge Bill. Complete
My point is that just because it’s all from one vendor that doesn’t automatically mean it’s better. Buy products because they meet your requirements, not because they’re from the same vendor.
The old saying is that with a single vendor there’s “only one throat to choke.” that is, unfortunately, true but often times it’s the customer’s throat that’s getting choked. There is a reason Oracle became a successful company through the 80s and 90s–it’s called Open Systems and as an alternative to the soup-to-nuts IBM approach of the day it made a lot of sense.
We have to re-learn things on a regular basis.