Thanks to all for the reference to the earlier discussion about comparing
Microsoft SQL Server to PGSQL.
re: Oracle - it's always been clear to me that Oracle far outpaces MSSQL; no
need to go into detail there. I was simply hoping for a comparison to MSSQL
because that's the tool I have been using (and my clients generally prefer).
However, re: the long message that someone quoted, with a feature-by-feature
comparison: I appreciate the laundry list, and it had a few eye-openers for
me (was surprised that PGSQL doesn't yet support RI although I know it's
just around the corner). But what it lacked was the real meat of my
question, which is a basic benchmark comparing the two. Again, I'm not
looking for 10 significant digits of precision or anything, I just want to
know whether or not the two products are in the same ballpark in terms of
raw performance. Assuming they are, then I can feel comfortable recommending
using PGSQL to my clients for future projects (I build data-driven web
sites). I am anxious to get off the Microsoft wagon and onto the Open Source
wagon, from a professional standpoint. I know that Linux can meet
tit-for-tat Windows NT on performance, as can Apache meet IIS, as can PHP
meet ASP (I think, not sure about that). The last piece is, can PGSQL meet
MSSQL, or at least be in the same ballpark.
I only briefly considered MySQL before turning to PGSQL in my new platform
research; I saw that MySQL lacked a lot of advanced SQL features (such as
transactions), and that although it was blazingly fast, it seemed kind of a
hack. Also, it's sort of commercial in a weird way that I can't quite figure
out. So here I am in the PGSQL camp checking things out.
Thanks,
Bryan
