ODP.NET

Hello all,

I'm looking into integrating Oracle data into SharePoint 2010 using the BCS. I'd love to hear about the different options for doing this along with their advantages and disadvantages. Basically I’m looking to be able to display data from multiple Oracle tables and be able to manipulate that data in SharePoint. By that I mean write, update and delete data from different tables at the same time.

This is what I've found out from the research I've done so far please let me know if I'm mistaken or simplifying things. Thanks so much for your help in advaance.

- I need to use SharePoint Designer to create External Content Types that my BCS will use.
- These are based of External Data Source Types (.NET Type, SQL Server, WCF Service).

What are my options for these 3 Data Source types?
- .NET Type: What can I do with this option? Is this where I create a data model using ODP.NET? Are there other options here?
- SQL Server: Obviously this connects to a SQL Server. What do people think of the option of syching our Oracle DB to a SQL DB and the using all the functionality and options SQL give us?
- WCF Services: Can I use any type of web service here to connect to Oracle? Does this option have CRUD functionality and can I update multiple tables at the same time?

ODP.NET
- Is this where I create a .NET Type?
- Can I select multiple tables?
- Does this have CRUD functionality?
- How easy is this to do?
- Benefits of this?
- Downsides?
- Do I need Oracle installed on the SharePoint Server?

BCS MetaMan
- Uses Oracle as Data Source
- Has CRUD functioality
- Only allows us to update one table in our selection at a time?
- Benefits of this?
- Downsides?
- Do I need Oracle installed on the SharePoint Server

I’d love to hear back from anyone on the options above or different options I’m not familiar with (whether 3rd party or other).

Cheers - Paul