The RDBM system is a commercial package, provided by Sybase, Inc. Its relatively low cost (compared with other commercial package such as Oracle) is suitable to the size of a project like the SMA. With the standard ANSI SQL (Structure Query Language), Sybase also has an excellent reputation as a SQL Server. The software functions supported by Sybase are also enough to meet our requirements for archiving documentation and data management carried out at the SMA. Sybase SQL Server is available on many hardware platforms under a variety of operating systems. The SQL Server-client platforms can be any of the following system: MS-DOS or Windows PCs, OS/2 PCs, Next PCs, Unix workstation, Unix terminal servers, or Apple Macintoshes. The flexibility in hardware and OS system makes our on-line archive system portable and easy for upgrading in hardware.
One of the major components in the Sybase SQL Server architecture is the Server Nucleus, that is the collection of software installed on a host platform that acts as a server to a client platforms. It includes the SQL Server Kernel, Process Manager, Query Optimizer, system databases, and application data.