In this scenario, a bookstore uses Oracle to track book orders and inventory. The bookstore is introducing an online ordering system through the Internet and is considering using the built-in Web server for Windows NT Server, Internet Information Services (IIS) version 4.0, and SQL Server 7.0 to receive and process orders. Unless SQL Server is given the functionality to handle the orders and inventory, the two systems must coexist.
Online orders processed by SQL Server are published to Oracle. This is achieved without the use of any add-ons because the Oracle OLE DB driver provided with SQL Server 7.0 supports Oracle as a Subscriber in a SQL Server publication. Also, inventory can be directly accessed or modified in Oracle from SQL Server using linked remote servers and stored procedures. Reports can be built that access Oracle and SQL Server databases using the heterogeneous query support provided in SQL Server 7.0.
Given the proliferation of Windows NT and IIS and the ease of maintenance of Microsoft products, existing customers with Oracle databases can use a Microsoft Internet solution if they can easily access their legacy Oracle data.