Comparison of DataNucleus with H2 embedded vs EclipseLink with HSQLDB server

Each of the following tables focuses on a specific database operation, where the last table presents average results comparison.

Speed comparison of JPA database persistence operations (normalized score, higher is better)

Transaction Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	DataNucleus H2 embedded	EclipseLink HSQLDB server	DataNucleus H2 embedded	EclipseLink HSQLDB server	DataNucleus H2 embedded	EclipseLink HSQLDB server
Basic Person Test	15.2	12.2	8.0	20.9	11.6	16.6
Element Collection Test	9.8	11.6	5.2	failed	7.5	11.6
Inheritance Test	6.2	failed	12.0	failed	9.1	failed
Indexing Test	16.0	failed	14.5	failed	15.3	failed
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	5.2	failed	4.6	failed	4.9	failed
Multithreading Test	8.0	failed	0.0000	failed	4.0	failed
All Tests	10.1	11.9	7.4	20.9	8.7	14.9

EclipseLink with HSQLDB server has failed in 9 tests (see exceptions).

Speed comparison of JPA database retrieval operations (normalized score, higher is better)

Retrieval Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	DataNucleus H2 embedded	EclipseLink HSQLDB server	DataNucleus H2 embedded	EclipseLink HSQLDB server	DataNucleus H2 embedded	EclipseLink HSQLDB server
Basic Person Test	3.9	2.6	8.3	14.6	6.1	8.6
Element Collection Test	2.9	1.4	5.8	failed	4.4	1.4
Inheritance Test	4.1	failed	12.4	failed	8.2	failed
Indexing Test	3.7	failed	8.5	failed	6.1	failed
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	3.6	failed	6.7	failed	5.2	failed
Multithreading Test	5.6	failed	10.1	failed	7.9	failed
All Tests	4.0	2.0	8.6	14.6	6.3	6.2

EclipseLink with HSQLDB server has failed in 9 tests (see exceptions).

Speed comparison of JPA database query operations (normalized score, higher is better)

Retrieval Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	DataNucleus H2 embedded	EclipseLink HSQLDB server	DataNucleus H2 embedded	EclipseLink HSQLDB server	DataNucleus H2 embedded	EclipseLink HSQLDB server
Basic Person Test	0.63	0.53	3.6	3.0	2.1	1.8
Element Collection Test	1.7	0.98	3.2	failed	2.4	0.98
Inheritance Test	0.53	failed	3.8	failed	2.2	failed
Indexing Test	0.63	failed	2.0	failed	1.3	failed
Multithreading Test	failed	failed	failed	failed	failed	failed
All Tests	0.88	0.75	3.2	3.0	2.0	1.5

DataNucleus with H2 embedded has failed in 2 tests (see exceptions). EclipseLink with HSQLDB server has failed in 7 tests (see exceptions).

Speed comparison of JPA database update operations (normalized score, higher is better)

Transaction Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	DataNucleus H2 embedded	EclipseLink HSQLDB server	DataNucleus H2 embedded	EclipseLink HSQLDB server	DataNucleus H2 embedded	EclipseLink HSQLDB server
Basic Person Test	7.0	1.9	5.9	7.5	6.4	4.7
Element Collection Test	21.8	3.1	6.2	failed	14.0	3.1
Inheritance Test	12.2	failed	6.2	failed	9.2	failed
Indexing Test	32.7	failed	6.9	failed	19.8	failed
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	7.0	failed	3.2	failed	5.1	failed
Multithreading Test	failed	failed	failed	failed	failed	failed
All Tests	16.1	2.5	5.7	7.5	10.9	4.2

DataNucleus with H2 embedded has failed in 2 tests (see exceptions). EclipseLink with HSQLDB server has failed in 9 tests (see exceptions).

Speed comparison of JPA database removal operations (normalized score, higher is better)

Transaction Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	DataNucleus H2 embedded	EclipseLink HSQLDB server	DataNucleus H2 embedded	EclipseLink HSQLDB server	DataNucleus H2 embedded	EclipseLink HSQLDB server
Basic Person Test	1.8	9.5	0.81	33.1	1.3	21.3
Element Collection Test	2.7	6.7	0.25	failed	1.5	6.7
Inheritance Test	2.1	failed	0.59	failed	1.3	failed
Indexing Test	3.4	failed	0.57	failed	2.0	failed
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	13.5	failed	26.4	failed	20.0	failed
Multithreading Test	failed	failed	78.6	failed	78.6	failed
All Tests	4.7	8.1	17.9	33.1	11.9	16.4

DataNucleus with H2 embedded has failed in 1 tests (see exceptions). EclipseLink with HSQLDB server has failed in 9 tests (see exceptions).

Comparison of JPA/Database speed - the averages (normalized score, higher is better)

Transaction/Retrieval Size	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	DataNucleus H2 embedded	EclipseLink HSQLDB server	DataNucleus H2 embedded	EclipseLink HSQLDB server	DataNucleus H2 embedded	EclipseLink HSQLDB server
Basic Person Test	5.7	5.4	5.3	15.8	5.5	10.6
Element Collection Test	7.8	4.8	4.1	failed	5.9	4.8
Inheritance Test	5.0	failed	7.0	failed	6.0	failed
Indexing Test	11.3	failed	6.5	failed	8.9	failed
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	7.4	failed	10.2	failed	8.8	failed
Multithreading Test	6.8	failed	29.6	failed	20.5	failed
All Tests	7.4	5.1	9.1	15.8	8.2	8.6

The results above show that in general EclipseLink with HSQLDB server is slightly more efficient than DataNucleus with H2 embedded in performing JPA database operations.

A large performance gap has been detected when using simple basic entities with large transaction/retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of DataNucleus with H2 embedded database (5.3) to the normalized speed of EclipseLink with HSQLDB database server (15.8) reveals that in that case, EclipseLink with HSQLDB server is 3.0 times faster than DataNucleus with H2 embedded.

JPA Performance Benchmark (JPAB)