Database Vendors

As mentioned, there are hundreds of database vendors who peddle databases of various strengths and price points. The database you build for Sun will not compete with the following products, but perhaps you can borrow some ideas from them. Also, if you use SQL in your search functionality, replacing the assignment database with one of these database products will be much easier:

MySQL ” Free, small, and fast because it implements ASCII SQL features and a few extensions. It doesn't have native transaction or replication capabilities. However, InnoDB, a third-party vendor (http://www.innodb.com/), now provides an add-on for basic transaction functionality. It's a good product from the open source community, but only if used within its limitations. Data integrity is lacking, so be careful. (For more information, see http://www.mysql.com.)
Postgres ” Free, more extensive than MySQL, and still fast. It includes some transaction control with transaction statements such as begin trans , commit , and rollback . (For more information, see http://www.postgresql.org.)
Other free databases ” There are many other free, open source database products, such as GNU SQL, but they don't have the reputation to match the two preceding products. (For more information, see http://directory.google.com/Top/Computers/Software/Databases/Open_Source/.)
Microsoft SQL Server ” In my opinion, this database has the most developer-friendly administrative tools. Recently, Microsoft has also responded to previous "can't handle big jobs" criticism. This is the best all-around database for medium- sized corporate projects. However, I wouldn't use it for something like a national class reservation system. (For more information, see http://www.microsoft.com/sql/.)
Sybase SQL Server ” The long-lost twin brother of Microsoft SQL Server. You can still see the resemblance. Microsoft catered to developers while Sybase went after bigger corporate clients . Sybase handles larger data sets, but is not as easy to work with as Microsoft SQL Server. (For more information, see http://www.sybase.com.)
IBM DB2 ” This product handles huge databases. DB2 is a good choice if you need a large database that isn't complicated and doesn't require a lot of application development. (For more information, see http://www-3.ibm.com/software/data/db2/.)
Oracle ” If you want to build an airline reservation with lots of features (in other words, you need to do a lot of application development) to handle an ocean of data, use Oracle. Oracle has focused on reliability and scalability, but it has a complex interface and is difficult to use. (For more information, see http://www.oracle.com.)
Other database products ” There are several excellent databases that aren't as popular as those listed previously, ranging from desktop to enterprise size. These databases include such products as Btrieve, FileMaker Pro, Visual FoxPro, Informix, InterBase, and SAP DB. (For a list of the more current ones, please see Google's database directory at http://directory.google.com/Top/Computers/Software/Databases/.)