You won't find an unbiased comparison of the 2, it doesn't exist. I'm fairly sure that pcweek used to have a comparison that showed Oracle on top but that seems to have gone. BTW You should note that hot backups are perfectly possible - indeed the default - in sqlserver. Niall Litchfield Oracle DBA Audit Commission +44 117 975 7805 ********************************************************************** This email contains information intended for the addressee only. It may be confidential and may be the subject of legal and/or professional privilege. Any dissemination, distribution, copyright or use of this communication without prior permission of the sender is strictly prohibited. ********************************************************************** ---------------------------------------------------------------- Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com ---------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe send email to: oracle-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx put 'unsubscribe' in the subject line. -- Archives are at //www.freelists.org/archives/oracle-l/ FAQ is at //www.freelists.org/help/fom-serve/cache/1.html -----------------------------------------------------------------