Hardware Independence

This refers to the ability to query and update information regardless of the hardware platform on which the data resides. A single query from a PC might retrieve information from

1. an IBM 390 or RS6000,
2. a local database on the PC, and
3. an HP-9000

in a single transaction. Of course, an Oracle Network Services implementation does not care what type of processor is included in the network. Oracle Network Services also does not care what type of hardware is being used in your network.

Hardware independence refers to the ability to execute a select statement and update data regardless of the underlying platform on which the data resides. For example, a single query initiated on a Mac might retrieve information from an

1. IMS on a mainframe,
2. a Lotus database on a PC, and
3. an Oracle database on a midrange host.

The various participants in a distributed system should be able to run on whatever hardware platform suits their needs. In effect, this means that the RDBMS should run on all conceivable platforms and include the same functionality across all platforms.