SQL Anywhere

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SQL Anywhere is an RDBMS product from the company Sybase iAnywhere, a subsidiary of Sybase.

Contents 1 Features 2 Uses 3 History 4 See also 5 External links 6 References

[edit] Features

• SQL Anywhere can be run on Windows, Windows CE, Novell NetWare, and various UNIX platforms, including Linux.
• Database files are independent of the operating system, allowing them to be copied between supported platforms.
• The product provides several standard interfaces (ODBC, JDBC, and ADO.NET) and a number of special interfaces (eg. PHP, Perl).
• The engine supports stored procedures, user functions (using Watcom SQL, T-SQL, Java, or C/C++), triggers, referential integrity, row-level locking, replication (SQL Remote, MobiLink), proxy tables (links to other databases), and events (scheduled and system events).
• Strong encryption is supported for both database files and client-server communication.
• Version 10 supports materialized views, database mirroring, server clustering, and snapshot isolation.

[edit] Uses

SQL Anywhere is widely used in several contexts:

• as an embedded database, particularly as an application data store. For example, it is used in Intuit QuickBooks, in network management products, and in backup products. Its ability to be used with minimal administration is a distinguishing feature in this role.
• as a database server for workgroups or for small or medium-sized businesses.
• as a mobile database. It includes scalable data synchronization technology that provides change-based replication between separate databases, including large server-based RDBMS systems from Sybase's major competitors.

As of 2006, there were over 10 million deployed seats of SQL Anywhere.^[1]

[edit] History

• Initially created by Watcom as Watcom SQL.
• Version 3: 1992
• Watcom acquired by PowerSoft in 1993; Watcom SQL shipped with their visual programming environment PowerBuilder
• Version 4: 1994 (Stored procedures, triggers)
• PowerSoft and Sybase merged in 1995: Watcom SQL was renamed SQL Anywhere.
• Version 5: 1995 (SQL Remote data replication; graphical administration tools)
• Version 6: 1998. Renamed Adaptive Server Anywhere. (multi-processor support, Java objects in the database)
• Version 6.0.2: 1999 (MobiLink data synchronization, UltraLite mobile database for Palm OS and Windows CE)
• Version 7: 2000 (dynamic cache, task scheduling and event handling, cross-platform administration tools)
• Version 8: 2001 (Volcano query optimizer, encrypted data storage and transmission,
• Version 9: 2003 (Index consultant, embedded HTTP server)
• Version 10: 2006 - renamed SQL Anywhere (high availability, intra-query parallelism, materialized views)
• Version 11: 2008 (full text search, BlackBerry support)

Outdated information about SQL Anywhere can still be found on the Internet. For example, the database size is no longer limited to 4GB. In current versions, the database size is limited only by file system restrictions.

Despite the historical similarity of their names, SQL Anywhere and Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise (ASE) are totally different products. SQL Anywhere is not the "little brother" of ASE.

[edit] See also

• IvanAnywhere

[edit] External links

• SQL Anywhere official product page
• Sybase iAnywhere main page

[edit] References