Borland ® InterBase ® is a powerful, SQL-compliant database that is often considered for embedding in applications and for application-specific uses. Savvy developers and application architects who take the time to examine InterBase closely find that it offers substantial advantages over Microsoft® SQL Server™.

Those advantages include:
• Greater concurrency in a mixed read/write environment
• More flexible trigger support
• Faster crash recovery
• Easier event management
• More deployment options
• Cross-platform support
• Smaller size
• Lower system requirements
• Shorter training time
• Lower training cost
• Lower licensing cost
This white paper discusses those advantages in greater detail.

Today’s embedded and distributed database applications create an environment that consists of both the short read and update transactions typical of data entry systems and the long read transactions required for reporting and data analysis. When data analysis requires a consistent view of data at a point in time, the locks required by Microsoft SQL Server prevent other users from accessing the data being analyzed.

The InterBase database engine is specifically designed to provide a consistent snapshot of your data at a point in time without blocking reads or updates by other users. With InterBase, readers never block writers and writers only block writers when two transactions try to update the same row at the same time. In addition, the InterBase concurrency model is completely.

Download pdf Borland InterBase and Microsoft SQL Server : A Technical Comparison