Introduction to NonStop SQL/MP

Why Use NonStop SQL/MP?

113425 Tandem Computers Incorporated 1–5

languages. You need to store these messages in their original languages and forward

them to the appropriate geographical location. Because your business is growing

rapidly, you do not know how many geographical locations you will have in the

future.

Solution

Reliability and transaction integrity. As in an OLTP environment, NonStop SQL/MP

uses architectural features such as mirrored disks as well as extensive data checking to

ensure that data is stored and retrieved accurately and that transactions are not lost

even if they are executed on remote systems.

Availability. NonStop SQL/MP is designed for continuous availability. Through the

use of Tandem technology, application requests are automatically resubmitted if a

processor failure occurs. In addition, SQL statements are automatically recompiled if a

change in the environment renders the execution plans invalid. Also, you can increase

the size of the database and build new indexes while the database is in full use.

Scalability. By adding processor boards and disks, you enable the Tandem system to

keep pace with growing demand and maintain a response time equivalent to the one

you had originally.

Distributed database. You can partition NonStop SQL/MP tables so that some

partitions reside on a local system and some on remote systems. Programs operate as

if all the data were local and, therefore, do not need to specify the location of the data.

Thus, you can add new partitions at remote locations without changing any

applications. In addition, if a query requires only local data, you do not need to access

remote systems. NonStop SQL/MP ensures transaction integrity across system

boundaries by using a two-phase commit protocol, which commits changes to the

database only when all systems are able to complete their portions of the transaction.

Multiple character set support (MCSS). NonStop SQL/MP supports the use of a variety

of character sets, including the ISO 8859 family of character sets as well as double-byte

character sets. You can save and retrieve data in its original character set, allowing

you to maintain different portions of the data in many different languages.

Online database configuration. NonStop SQL/MP allows the database administrator

(DBA) to redistribute data while the database is in use. For example, the Move

Partition operation moves a portion of the database from one location to another. This

feature allows you to open a new data center for a particular part of the world; you can

move some data from a central location to the new data center.