Comparison of OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server vs DataNucleus with Derby 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
	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	DataNucleus Derby server	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	DataNucleus Derby server	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	DataNucleus Derby server
Basic Person Test	5.2	2.8	4.8	2.3	5.0	2.6
Element Collection Test	2.8	0.71	2.2	0.35	2.5	0.53
Inheritance Test	4.6	2.7	3.2	2.0	3.9	2.3
Indexing Test	7.4	4.5	6.9	4.0	7.1	4.3
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	0.98	0.62	0.81	0.53	0.89	0.57
Multithreading Test	23.4	4.9	9.1	3.4	16.2	4.1
All Tests	7.4	2.7	4.5	2.1	5.9	2.4

The results above show that in general OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server is more efficient than DataNucleus with Derby server in persisting JPA entity objects to the database. Comparing the normalized speed of DataNucleus with Derby database server (2.4) to the normalized speed of OpenJPA with PostgreSQL database server (5.9) reveals that in these tests, OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server is 2.5 times faster than DataNucleus with Derby server.

A large performance gap has been detected when using JPA element collections with large transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of DataNucleus with Derby database server (0.35) to the normalized speed of OpenJPA with PostgreSQL database server (2.2) reveals that in that case, OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server is 6.3 times faster than DataNucleus with Derby server.

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

Retrieval Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	DataNucleus Derby server	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	DataNucleus Derby server	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	DataNucleus Derby server
Basic Person Test	5.8	0.56	16.1	6.3	10.9	3.4
Element Collection Test	0.013	0.36	8.7	0.93	4.4	0.64
Inheritance Test	5.2	0.45	17.6	6.8	11.4	3.6
Indexing Test	4.8	0.50	18.7	7.1	11.8	3.8
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	0.27	0.22	0.35	6.6	0.31	3.4
Multithreading Test	11.9	1.2	23.3	10.0	17.6	5.6
All Tests	4.7	0.55	14.1	6.3	9.4	3.4

The results above show that in general OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server is more efficient than DataNucleus with Derby server in retrieving JPA entity objects from the database. Comparing the normalized speed of DataNucleus with Derby database server (3.4) to the normalized speed of OpenJPA with PostgreSQL database server (9.4) reveals that in these tests, OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server is 2.8 times faster than DataNucleus with Derby server.

A huge performance gap has been detected when using class inheritance in the object model with small retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of DataNucleus with Derby database server (0.45) to the normalized speed of OpenJPA with PostgreSQL database server (5.2) reveals that in that case, OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server is 11.6 times faster than DataNucleus with Derby server.

On the other hand, OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server is slower, for instance, when using JPA element collections with small retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of OpenJPA with PostgreSQL database server (0.013) to the normalized speed of DataNucleus with Derby database server (0.36) reveals that in that case, OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server is 27.7 times slower than DataNucleus with Derby server.

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

Retrieval Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	DataNucleus Derby server	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	DataNucleus Derby server	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	DataNucleus Derby server
Basic Person Test	failed	37.7	failed	3.6	failed	20.7
Element Collection Test	failed	25.9	failed	1.4	failed	13.6
Inheritance Test	failed	6.5	failed	1.8	failed	4.2
Indexing Test	failed	0.030	failed	4.9	failed	2.5
Multithreading Test	failed	failed	failed	failed	failed	failed
All Tests	failed	17.5	failed	2.9	failed	10.2

OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server has failed in 10 tests (see exceptions). DataNucleus with Derby server has failed in 2 tests (see exceptions).

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

Transaction Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	DataNucleus Derby server	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	DataNucleus Derby server	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	DataNucleus Derby server
Basic Person Test	4.9	1.1	3.9	0.85	4.4	0.99
Element Collection Test	0.033	0.81	4.6	0.62	2.3	0.71
Inheritance Test	4.8	1.2	4.9	1.3	4.9	1.2
Indexing Test	5.1	1.2	6.0	1.5	5.6	1.3
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	0.57	0.29	0.31	0.41	0.44	0.35
Multithreading Test	22.2	failed	7.4	failed	14.8	failed
All Tests	6.3	0.93	4.5	0.92	5.4	0.92

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

The results above show that in general OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server is much more efficient than DataNucleus with Derby server in updating JPA entity objects in the database. Comparing the normalized speed of DataNucleus with Derby database server (0.92) to the normalized speed of OpenJPA with PostgreSQL database server (5.4) reveals that in these tests, OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server is 5.9 times faster than DataNucleus with Derby server.

A large performance gap has been detected when using JPA element collections with large transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of DataNucleus with Derby database server (0.62) to the normalized speed of OpenJPA with PostgreSQL database server (4.6) reveals that in that case, OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server is 7.4 times faster than DataNucleus with Derby server.

On the other hand, OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server is slower, for instance, when using JPA element collections with small transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of OpenJPA with PostgreSQL database server (0.033) to the normalized speed of DataNucleus with Derby database server (0.81) reveals that in that case, OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server is 24.5 times slower than DataNucleus with Derby server.

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

Transaction Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	DataNucleus Derby server	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	DataNucleus Derby server	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	DataNucleus Derby server
Basic Person Test	4.6	1.3	5.3	1.3	5.0	1.3
Element Collection Test	0.032	0.61	2.8	0.33	1.4	0.47
Inheritance Test	4.3	1.0	4.6	1.3	4.4	1.2
Indexing Test	8.0	2.3	7.1	1.9	7.5	2.1
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	0.53	0.26	0.55	0.46	0.54	0.36
Multithreading Test	17.4	failed	9.1	failed	13.3	failed
All Tests	5.8	1.1	4.9	1.1	5.4	1.1

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

The results above show that in general OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server is much more efficient than DataNucleus with Derby server in deleting JPA entity objects from the database. Comparing the normalized speed of DataNucleus with Derby database server (1.1) to the normalized speed of OpenJPA with PostgreSQL database server (5.4) reveals that in these tests, OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server is 4.9 times faster than DataNucleus with Derby server.

A large performance gap has been detected when using JPA element collections with large transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of DataNucleus with Derby database server (0.33) to the normalized speed of OpenJPA with PostgreSQL database server (2.8) reveals that in that case, OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server is 8.5 times faster than DataNucleus with Derby server.

On the other hand, OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server is slower, for instance, when using JPA element collections with small transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of OpenJPA with PostgreSQL database server (0.032) to the normalized speed of DataNucleus with Derby database server (0.61) reveals that in that case, OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server is 19.1 times slower than DataNucleus with Derby server.

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

Transaction/Retrieval Size	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	DataNucleus Derby server	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	DataNucleus Derby server	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	DataNucleus Derby server
Basic Person Test	5.1	8.7	7.5	2.9	6.3	5.8
Element Collection Test	0.72	5.7	4.6	0.72	2.6	3.2
Inheritance Test	4.7	2.4	7.6	2.6	6.2	2.5
Indexing Test	6.3	1.7	9.7	3.9	8.0	2.8
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	0.59	0.35	0.50	2.0	0.55	1.2
Multithreading Test	18.7	3.0	12.2	6.7	15.5	4.9
All Tests	6.0	3.8	7.0	2.8	6.5	3.3

The results above show that in general OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server is more efficient than DataNucleus with Derby server in performing JPA database operations.

A large performance gap has been detected when using JPA element collections with large transaction/retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of DataNucleus with Derby database server (0.72) to the normalized speed of OpenJPA with PostgreSQL database server (4.6) reveals that in that case, OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server is 6.4 times faster than DataNucleus with Derby server.

On the other hand, OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server is slower, for instance, when using JPA element collections with small transaction/retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of OpenJPA with PostgreSQL database server (0.72) to the normalized speed of DataNucleus with Derby database server (5.7) reveals that in that case, OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server is 7.9 times slower than DataNucleus with Derby server.

JPA Performance Benchmark (JPAB)