DBMS > Firebird vs. IBM Db2 warehouse vs. Ingres vs. Oracle vs. PostgreSQL

System Properties Comparison Firebird vs. IBM Db2 warehouse vs. Ingres vs. Oracle vs. PostgreSQL

Editorial information provided by DB-Engines

Name

Description

Firebird is an open source RDBMS forked from Borland's InterBase

Cloud-based data warehousing service

Well established RDBMS

Widely used RDBMS

Widely used open source RDBMS

Developed as objectoriented DBMS (Postgres), gradually enhanced with 'standards' like SQL

Primary database model

Relational DBMS

with object oriented extensions, e.g.: user defined types/functions and inheritance. Handling of key/value pairs with hstore module.

Secondary database models

Document store
Graph DBMS

with Oracle Spatial and Graph
RDF store

with Oracle Spatial and Graph
Spatial DBMS

with Oracle Spatial and Graph
Vector DBMS

since Oracle 23

Document store
Graph DBMS

with Apache Age
Spatial DBMS
Vector DBMS

with pgvector extension

DB-Engines Ranking measures the popularity of database management systems
Trend Chart

Score	20.82
Rank	#30	Overall
	#18	Relational DBMS

Score	1.30
Rank	#164	Overall
	#75	Relational DBMS

Score	4.11
Rank	#81	Overall
	#44	Relational DBMS

Score	1236.29
Rank	#1	Overall
	#1	Relational DBMS

Score	645.54
Rank	#4	Overall
	#4	Relational DBMS

Website

www.firebirdsql.org

www.ibm.com/products/db2/warehouse

www.actian.com/databases/ingres

www.oracle.com/database

www.postgresql.org

Technical documentation

www.firebirdsql.org/en/reference-manuals

docs.actian.com/ingres

docs.oracle.com/en/database

www.postgresql.org/docs

Developer

Firebird Foundation

IBM

Actian Corporation

Oracle

PostgreSQL Global Development Group

www.postgresql.org/developer

Initial release

2000

As fork of Borland's InterBase

2014

1974

originally developed at University Berkely in early 1970s

1980

1989

1989: Postgres, 1996: PostgreSQL

Current release

5.0.0, January 2024

11.2, May 2022

23c, September 2023

16.3, May 2024

License

Commercial or Open Source

Open Source

Initial Developer's Public License

commercial

restricted free version is available

Open Source

BSD

Cloud-based only

Only available as a cloud service

yes

DBaaS offerings (sponsored links)

Database as a Service

Providers of DBaaS offerings, please contact us to be listed.

PostgreSQL Flex @ STACKIT offers managed PostgreSQL Instances with adjustable CPU, RAM, storage amount and speed and several extensions available, in enterprise grade to perfectly match all application requirements. All 100% GDPR-compliant.
Aiven for PostgreSQL: Fully managed PostgreSQL for developers with 70+ extensions and flexible orchestration tools.

Implementation language

C and C++

Server operating systems

AIX
FreeBSD
HP-UX
Linux
OS X
server-less

Firebird Embedded Server
Solaris
Unix
Windows

hosted

AIX
HP Open VMS
HP-UX
Linux
Solaris
Windows

AIX
HP-UX
Linux
OS X
Solaris
Windows
z/OS

FreeBSD
HP-UX
Linux
NetBSD
OpenBSD
OS X
Solaris
Unix
Windows

Data scheme

yes

Schemaless in JSON and XML columns

yes

Typing

predefined data types such as float or date

yes

XML support

Some form of processing data in XML format, e.g. support for XML data structures, and/or support for XPath, XQuery or XSLT.

Import/export of XML data possible

but tools for importing/exporting data from/to XML-files available

yes

specific XML-type available, but no XML query functionality.

Secondary indexes

yes

SQL

Support of SQL

yes

with proprietary extensions

yes

standard with numerous extensions

APIs and other access methods

ADO.NET
C/C++ API
JDBC

Jaybird
ODBC
OLE DB

.NET Client API
JDBC
ODBC
OLE DB

.NET Client API
JDBC
ODBC
proprietary protocol (OpenAPI)

JDBC
ODBC
ODP.NET
Oracle Call Interface (OCI)

ADO.NET
JDBC
native C library
ODBC
streaming API for large objects

Supported programming languages

C
C#
C++
Delphi
Java
JavaScript

Node.js
Lua
Perl
PHP
Python
Ruby

Java
JavaScript (Node.js)
Perl
PHP
Python
R
Ruby

C
C#
C++
Clojure
Cobol
Delphi
Eiffel
Erlang
Fortran
Groovy
Haskell
Java
JavaScript
Lisp
Objective C
OCaml
Perl
PHP
Python
R
Ruby
Scala
Tcl
Visual Basic

.Net
C
C++
Delphi
Java

JDBC
JavaScript (Node.js)
Perl
PHP
Python
Tcl

Server-side scripts

Stored procedures

PSQL

PL/SQL, SQL PL

yes

PL/SQL

also stored procedures in Java possible

user defined functions

realized in proprietary language PL/pgSQL or with common languages like Perl, Python, Tcl etc.

Triggers

yes

Partitioning methods

Methods for storing different data on different nodes

none

Sharding

horizontal partitioning

Ingres Star to access multiple databases simultaneously

Sharding, horizontal partitioning

partitioning by range, list and (since PostgreSQL 11) by hash

Replication methods

Methods for redundantly storing data on multiple nodes

Source-replica replication

yes

Ingres Replicator

Multi-source replication
Source-replica replication

Source-replica replication

other methods possible by using 3rd party extensions

MapReduce

Offers an API for user-defined Map/Reduce methods

can be realized in PL/SQL

Consistency concepts

Methods to ensure consistency in a distributed system

Immediate Consistency

Foreign keys

Referential integrity

yes

Transaction concepts

Support to ensure data integrity after non-atomic manipulations of data

ACID

isolation level can be parameterized

ACID

Concurrency

Support for concurrent manipulation of data

yes

Features a multi-generational MVCC architecture, readers do not block writers

yes

MVCC

yes

Durability

Support for making data persistent

yes

In-memory capabilities

Is there an option to define some or all structures to be held in-memory only.

yes

Version 12c introduced the new option 'Oracle Database In-Memory'

User concepts

Access control

Users with fine-grained authorization concept

fine grained access rights according to SQL-standard

More information provided by the system vendor

We invite representatives of system vendors to contact us for updating and extending the system information,
and for displaying vendor-provided information such as key customers, competitive advantages and market metrics.

Related products and services

3rd parties

Devart ODBC driver for Oracle accesses Oracle databases from ODBC-compliant reporting, analytics, BI, and ETL tools on both 32 and 64-bit Windows, macOS, and Linux.
» more

Navicat for Oracle improves the efficiency and productivity of Oracle developers and administrators with a streamlined working environment.
» more

Timescale: Calling all PostgreSQL users – the 2023 State of PostgreSQL survey is now open! Share your favorite extensions, preferred frameworks, community experiences, and more. Take the survey today!
» more

Instaclustr: Fully Hosted & Managed PostgreSQL
» more

Fujitsu Enterprise Postgres: An Enterprise Grade PostgreSQL with the flexibility of a hybrid cloud solution combined with industry leading security, availability and performance.
» more

CYBERTEC is your professional partner in PostgreSQL topics for over 20 years. As our main aim is to be your single-source all-in-one IT service provider, we offer a wide range of products and services. Visit our website for more details.
» more

pgDash: In-Depth PostgreSQL Monitoring.
» more

Navicat Monitor is a safe, simple and agentless remote server monitoring tool for PostgreSQL and many other database management systems.
» more

Navicat for PostgreSQL is an easy-to-use graphical tool for PostgreSQL database development.
» more

SharePlex is the reliable and affordable data replication solution for PostgreSQL migrations, high availability and more.
» more

Redgate webinars: A series of key topics for new PostgreSQL users.
» more

Aiven for PostgreSQL: Fully managed PostgreSQL for developers with 70+ extensions and flexible orchestration tools.
» more

We invite representatives of vendors of related products to contact us for presenting information about their offerings here.

More resources

DB-Engines blog posts

MySQL is the DBMS of the Year 2019
3 January 2020, Matthias Gelbmann, Paul Andlinger

The struggle for the hegemony in Oracle's database empire
2 May 2017, Paul Andlinger

Architecting eCommerce Platforms for Zero Downtime on Black Friday and Beyond
25 November 2016, Tony Branson (guest author)

show all

PostgreSQL is the DBMS of the Year 2023
2 January 2024, Matthias Gelbmann, Paul Andlinger

Snowflake is the DBMS of the Year 2022, defending the title from last year
3 January 2023, Matthias Gelbmann, Paul Andlinger

Snowflake is the DBMS of the Year 2021
3 January 2022, Paul Andlinger, Matthias Gelbmann

show all

Conferences, events and webinars

more DBMS events

Oracle Cloud World
Las Vegas, 9-12 September 2024

Monitoring PostgreSQL with Redgate Monitor
Webinar, 10-11am CT / 4-5pm BST, 22 May 2024

Recent citations in the news

12 Top Open Source Databases to Consider
1 May 2024, TechTarget

DoNot Team's New Firebird Backdoor Hits Pakistan and Afghanistan
23 October 2023, The Hacker News

Exploring the Firebird Database
9 August 2023, Open Source For You

US and Australian police arrested Firebird RAT author and operator
15 April 2024, securityaffairs.com

Top Databases for Artificial Intelligence, IoT, Deep Learning, Machine Learning, Data Science, and Other Software Applications
23 July 2023, MarkTechPost

provided by Google News

Introducing the next generation of Db2 Warehouse: Our cost-effective, cloud-native data warehouse built for always-on ...
11 July 2023, IBM

Db2 Warehouse delivers 4x faster query performance than previously, while cutting storage costs by 34x
11 July 2023, IBM

Top 7 Cloud Data Warehouse Companies
31 May 2023, Datamation

Announcing the availability of Bring-Your-Own-License and Reserved Instance plans for next generation Db2 ...
7 August 2023, IBM

Data mining in Db2 Warehouse: the basics
23 June 2020, Towards Data Science

provided by Google News

Postgres pioneer Michael Stonebraker promises to upend the database once more
26 December 2023, The Register

New startup from Postgres creator puts the database at heart of software stack
12 March 2024, TechCrunch

Actian Launches Ingres as a Fully-Managed Cloud Service
24 September 2021, Integration Developers

PostgreSQL now top developer choice ahead of MySQL, according to massive new survey • DEVCLASS
13 June 2023, DevClass

Dr. Michael Stonebraker: A Short History of Database Systems
1 February 2019, The New Stack

provided by Google News

AI-Fueled Enterprise Data Management: The Rise Of Oracle Database 23ai
8 May 2024, Forbes

Oracle Database 23ai Brings the Power of AI to Enterprise Data and Applications
2 May 2024, PR Newswire

Oracle Database 23ai - all of your data should be in one place, argues CTO Larry Ellison
3 May 2024, diginomica

Lords of May-hem: Seven signs it is Oracle's year end
17 May 2024, The Register

Oracle renames Database 23c to 23ai, makes it generally available
2 May 2024, InfoWorld

provided by Google News

Continuously replicate Amazon DynamoDB changes to Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL using AWS Lambda | Amazon ...
14 May 2024, AWS Blog

Distributed PostgreSQL Buyers Guide
16 May 2024, Database Trends and Applications

SolarWinds Unveils Enhanced Database Performance Analyzer with Advanced PostgreSQL Support
14 May 2024, businesswire.com

ServiceNow trades MariaDB for RaptorDB (PostgreSQL)
13 May 2024, Techzine Europe

Automatically Generate Types for Your PostgreSQL Database
1 May 2024, The New Stack

provided by Google News

Share this page