Since I dont need more that 4gb of data storage,can I use oracle express for my web application ?

Question

I am developing a small web application,Its data size is constant. i.e data dosent grow with date/user.

I would like to know if I can use Oracle Express for this application.

Answer 1

http://www.oracle.com/technology/software/htdocs/xe_lic_prod.html

Any use of the Oracle Database Express Edition is subject to the following limitations; 
1. Express Edition is limited to a single instance on any server; 
2. Express Edition may be installed on a multiple CPU server, 
  but may only be executed on one processor in any server; 
3. Express Edition may only be used to support up to 4GB of user data 
  (not including Express Edition system data); 
4. Express Edition may use up to 1 GB RAM of available memory.

So I would say, yes.

Does Oracle enforce these limits themselves? If not, how to limit the instance to run on only one CPU?

Answer 2

I think the limitations of Oracle are pretty deep. My experience with Oracle shows that they make money selling consultancy, and to do this they don't document their products. Expect to have a really though time if you want to do a non-default install or some fancy configuring.

Why not choose:

MySql, MS SQL Express or Postgre SQL ?

They are all free and have less limitations. If you develop your site using ASP.NET or Java or PHP all of these make sense. Postgre SQL is probably one of the strongest free database engines out there.

If you want to be really cool and flexible, use an ORM like (N)Hibernate or Linq. This will abstract the database you use, so you can easily change databases later on.

Answer 3

Without knowing the details of all the things you require my response will reflect that.

To name a few: 1. How many users will be connecting into this database? 2. Will it be CPU or IO bound system? 3. What DB features do you need?

Oracle Express will most likely handle your vague CURRENT needs. The issue you will most likely run into first is if your data grows beyond 4GB. I wouldn't assume your data will stay constant, few things stay constant. The pain of dealing with purging data every time you hit the 4GB data limit or having to move data to a new database is not worth the FREE marketing hook that got you to use it in the first place. If you don't plan to ever pay for an Oracle license you might be better off using an open source database such as PostgreSQL or even MySQL that won't have artificial limits placed on the software and who's license will always be free. Personally I would go with PostgreSQL.

I find Oracle Express a nice tool to get a quick install of Oracle on my laptop to learn with. I wouldn't use it for anything in production though many people probably do.

Those are my thoughts without knowing all your requirements.

And yes Oracle enforces the limitations stated previously by Thilo in the software.