Connectivity Challenge Reveals Shortcomings of Open Source

When choosing a data connectivity solution, it's not always worth going the cheapest route. Progress DataDirect connectors are often more than two orders of magnitude faster than open source alternatives.

One of the most common questions that we have to answer about our drivers is, essentially, “who cares?” And it’s a fair question. After all, when free and open source options are readily available, the idea of paying for data connectivity may seem a bit strange. Quite simply, it comes down to three major reasons—security, stability and perhaps most importantly, performance. Progress® DataDirect® drivers are often more than two orders of magnitude faster than open source alternatives. When time and money is on the line, that difference in speed is incredibly important.

Revisiting the “Million Row Challenge”

Last fall, our Chief Data Evangelist, Sumit Sarkar, famously took on the “Million Row Challenge” and passed with flying colors. During this challenge, Sumit used DataDirect drivers to transform what would usually be a six-hour process into one that takes only eight minutes. To raise the stakes, he did it live on the Oracle OpenWorld 2014 stage.

For those who couldn’t make that session, I put together a short video demonstrating a slightly scaled down version of that “Million Row Challenge.” In the video, you’ll see that the DataDirect driver is more than 250 times faster than open source, able to insert around 6,656 rows per second as opposed to the 26 rows that the open source driver can handle.

The Choice is Yours

When making a decision between open source and enterprise data connectivity, you need to ask yourself how much your data—and time—is worth to you. When it comes to data connectivity, you get what you pay for, and the powerful performance offered by DataDirect may just be the edge you need.

Contact Sales or leave a comment below with any questions you might have, and then head to our website to grab a free trial of our Amazon Redshift driver so you can start leveraging the DataDirect advantage today.