Comparison of DataNucleus with H2 server vs Hibernate with Derby embedded

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 server	Hibernate Derby embedded	DataNucleus H2 server	Hibernate Derby embedded	DataNucleus H2 server	Hibernate Derby embedded
Basic Person Test	3.4	5.9	2.2	3.8	2.8	4.9
Element Collection Test	1.2	2.9	0.64	1.8	0.92	2.3
Inheritance Test	3.0	5.3	1.9	3.7	2.4	4.5
Indexing Test	5.3	7.0	3.5	4.8	4.4	5.9
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	2.1	1.9	1.3	1.7	1.7	1.8
Multithreading Test	10.0	10.5	4.3	3.7	7.2	7.1
All Tests	4.2	5.6	2.3	3.3	3.2	4.4

The results above show that in general Hibernate with Derby embedded is more efficient than DataNucleus with H2 server in persisting JPA entity objects to the database.

A large performance gap has been detected when using JPA element collections with large transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of DataNucleus with H2 database server (0.64) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with Derby embedded database (1.8) reveals that in that case, Hibernate with Derby embedded is 2.8 times faster than DataNucleus with H2 server.

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

Retrieval Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	DataNucleus H2 server	Hibernate Derby embedded	DataNucleus H2 server	Hibernate Derby embedded	DataNucleus H2 server	Hibernate Derby embedded
Basic Person Test	2.5	14.2	5.2	16.4	3.9	15.3
Element Collection Test	0.56	4.4	1.1	4.9	0.82	4.6
Inheritance Test	2.2	10.3	6.1	18.6	4.2	14.4
Indexing Test	2.1	10.0	7.7	16.4	4.9	13.2
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	5.7	2.6	8.9	3.0	7.3	2.8
Multithreading Test	2.3	19.3	8.7	19.3	5.5	19.3
All Tests	2.5	10.1	6.3	13.1	4.4	11.6

The results above show that in general Hibernate with Derby embedded is more efficient than DataNucleus with H2 server in retrieving JPA entity objects from the database. Comparing the normalized speed of DataNucleus with H2 database server (4.4) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with Derby embedded database (11.6) reveals that in these tests, Hibernate with Derby embedded is 2.6 times faster than DataNucleus with H2 server.

A large performance gap has been detected when using multithreading with small retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of DataNucleus with H2 database server (2.3) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with Derby embedded database (19.3) reveals that in that case, Hibernate with Derby embedded is 8.4 times faster than DataNucleus with H2 server.

On the other hand, Hibernate with Derby embedded is slower, for instance, when using graphs of objects with large retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of Hibernate with Derby embedded database (3.0) to the normalized speed of DataNucleus with H2 database server (8.9) reveals that in that case, Hibernate with Derby embedded is 3.0 times slower than DataNucleus with H2 server.

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

Retrieval Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	DataNucleus H2 server	Hibernate Derby embedded	DataNucleus H2 server	Hibernate Derby embedded	DataNucleus H2 server	Hibernate Derby embedded
Basic Person Test	4.1	49.3	1.3	6.8	2.7	28.1
Element Collection Test	4.0	37.6	0.49	2.7	2.3	20.1
Inheritance Test	2.9	24.1	1.5	7.6	2.2	15.9
Indexing Test	0.0036	5.3	1.5	14.8	0.75	10.1
Multithreading Test	1.3	39.7	failed	6.1	1.3	22.9
All Tests	2.5	31.2	1.2	7.6	1.9	19.4

DataNucleus with H2 server has failed in 1 tests (see exceptions).

The results above show that in general Hibernate with Derby embedded is much more efficient than DataNucleus with H2 server in executing the tested JPA queries. Comparing the normalized speed of DataNucleus with H2 database server (1.9) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with Derby embedded database (19.4) reveals that in these tests, Hibernate with Derby embedded is 10.2 times faster than DataNucleus with H2 server.

A huge performance gap has been detected when using database indexes with small retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of DataNucleus with H2 database server (0.0036) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with Derby embedded database (5.3) reveals that in that case, Hibernate with Derby embedded is 1,472 times faster than DataNucleus with H2 server.

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

Transaction Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	DataNucleus H2 server	Hibernate Derby embedded	DataNucleus H2 server	Hibernate Derby embedded	DataNucleus H2 server	Hibernate Derby embedded
Basic Person Test	2.5	4.5	1.4	3.2	1.9	3.8
Element Collection Test	2.0	3.9	1.0	3.1	1.5	3.5
Inheritance Test	2.4	4.6	2.3	4.5	2.3	4.5
Indexing Test	2.7	4.6	3.0	5.5	2.9	5.1
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	1.8	2.7	0.60	1.2	1.2	2.0
Multithreading Test	failed	11.6	failed	2.6	failed	7.1
All Tests	2.3	5.3	1.7	3.3	2.0	4.3

DataNucleus with H2 server has failed in 2 tests (see exceptions).

The results above show that in general Hibernate with Derby embedded is more efficient than DataNucleus with H2 server in updating JPA entity objects in the database. Comparing the normalized speed of DataNucleus with H2 database server (2.0) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with Derby embedded database (4.3) reveals that in these tests, Hibernate with Derby embedded is 2.2 times faster than DataNucleus with H2 server.

A large performance gap has been detected when using JPA element collections with large transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of DataNucleus with H2 database server (1.0) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with Derby embedded database (3.1) reveals that in that case, Hibernate with Derby embedded is 3.1 times faster than DataNucleus with H2 server.

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

Transaction Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	DataNucleus H2 server	Hibernate Derby embedded	DataNucleus H2 server	Hibernate Derby embedded	DataNucleus H2 server	Hibernate Derby embedded
Basic Person Test	3.4	3.8	1.3	4.2	2.3	4.0
Element Collection Test	1.5	2.3	0.68	1.5	1.1	1.9
Inheritance Test	2.7	4.0	1.3	4.3	2.0	4.2
Indexing Test	5.7	5.5	1.9	3.6	3.8	4.6
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	1.5	0.74	1.2	0.96	1.3	0.85
Multithreading Test	failed	5.6	5.1	4.9	5.1	5.3
All Tests	3.0	3.7	1.9	3.3	2.4	3.5

DataNucleus with H2 server has failed in 1 tests (see exceptions).

The results above show that in general Hibernate with Derby embedded is more efficient than DataNucleus with H2 server in deleting JPA entity objects from the database.

A large performance gap has been detected when using class inheritance in the object model with large transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of DataNucleus with H2 database server (1.3) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with Derby embedded database (4.3) reveals that in that case, Hibernate with Derby embedded is 3.3 times faster than DataNucleus with H2 server.

On the other hand, Hibernate with Derby embedded is slower, for instance, when using graphs of objects with small transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of Hibernate with Derby embedded database (0.74) to the normalized speed of DataNucleus with H2 database server (1.5) reveals that in that case, Hibernate with Derby embedded is 2.0 times slower than DataNucleus with H2 server.

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

Transaction/Retrieval Size	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	DataNucleus H2 server	Hibernate Derby embedded	DataNucleus H2 server	Hibernate Derby embedded	DataNucleus H2 server	Hibernate Derby embedded
Basic Person Test	3.2	15.5	2.3	6.9	2.7	11.2
Element Collection Test	1.9	10.2	0.78	2.8	1.3	6.5
Inheritance Test	2.6	9.7	2.6	7.7	2.6	8.7
Indexing Test	3.2	6.5	3.5	9.0	3.3	7.8
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	2.8	2.0	3.0	1.7	2.9	1.8
Multithreading Test	4.5	17.3	6.0	7.3	5.3	12.3
All Tests	2.9	10.5	2.8	6.1	2.9	8.3

The results above show that in general Hibernate with Derby embedded is more efficient than DataNucleus with H2 server in performing JPA database operations. Comparing the normalized speed of DataNucleus with H2 database server (2.9) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with Derby embedded database (8.3) reveals that in these tests, Hibernate with Derby embedded is 2.9 times faster than DataNucleus with H2 server.

A large performance gap has been detected when using JPA element collections with small transaction/retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of DataNucleus with H2 database server (1.9) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with Derby embedded database (10.2) reveals that in that case, Hibernate with Derby embedded is 5.4 times faster than DataNucleus with H2 server.

JPA Performance Benchmark (JPAB)