We have Oracle on our HP987/150, 10 gb database.  We access the database
through SQLNET using Powerbuilder as the front end. Here are my
observations :

1. It takes a great deal more horsepower to handle Oracle than
Turboimage/SQL or Allbase.

2. You will need to max out your memory configuration (ours is 768) -  it
will need it.  Oracle is not fast at retreiving data from the database
(relative to Turboimage),  you want as much in memory as possible.

3. We are using the fast and wide scsi drives - you will need the bandwidth
and speed.

4. Performance is very good with all these things in place and with good
SQL programmers.
We have found that just by adding an outer-join to an SQL process the run
time can go from 30 seconds to 45 minutes.

5. If you are not using Oracle in client server mode (your users sign on to
the HP then access Oracle) then you will not see the following problems.
The Oracle listener spawns system processes for each remote user (Oracle
7.1.6).  Since they are system processes,  their priority is linear, ie
they are never decremented when they exceed their quantum.  This means
that, since they default to the CS queue, a large query or run-away process
can monopolize the system and cause you to have to shut down and reboot.
The listener process is expected to be changed to a batch process spawning
normal non-system processes in 7.3, so this problem should be fixed. We
retuned our queues to circumvent this problem for now.

6. Dead Connection Detection (DCD) does not work correctly as of yet.  This
kills off orphaned processes when a user does a hard disconnect, such as
rebooting the pc.  This typically throws the process into a cpu loop and
brings the system to its knees.  This problem also exists on the Unix
platform, so you can't get away from this in client server mode.

7. Oracle support.  He is very good.  So far, though, I have found only one
proficient with the HP3000 in the US.