Re: Is PostGreSql's Data storage mechanism "inferior"? - Mailing list pgsql-general

Swaminathan Saikumar wrote:
> http://searchyourwebhost.com/web-hosting/articles/insight-database-hosting-using-sql
>
> Check out the link. I am starting out on a new personal project & had
> zeroed in on PostGreSql with Mono-ASP.NET as ideal for my needs,
> mainly owing to a PostGreSql whitepaper.
> Now, I chanced upon the article above. I've pasted the cons as
> mentioned in the article, and would like the community feedback on it,
> especially with regards to the "inferior Data Storage mechanism".
>
> The cons of PostgreSql Hosting
> * Performance considerations: Inserts and Updates into the PostgreSql
> database is much slower compared to MySql. PostgreSql hosting thus
> might slow down the display of the web page online.
> * BSD license issues: Since PostgreSql comes under the Berkeley
> license scheme, this is again considered to be too open.
> * Availability of inferior Data Storage mechanism: PostgreSql uses
> Postgres storage system, which is not considered to be transaction sae
> during PostgreSql hosting.
> * Its not far-flung: While MySql hosting and MSSql hosting have deeply
> penetrated into the market, PostgreSql hosting still remains to be
> passive in the database hosting market.
> * Non-availability of required assistance for PostgreSql hosting:
> Assistance is being provided via mailing lists. However there is no
> guarantee that the issue faced during PostgreSql hosting would be
> resolved.
>
Those "cons" are seriously out of date.
They apply to "very" old versions of PostgreSQL and even that is
stretching it.

The part about the BSD license is bogus. A BSD license is the most
desirable of any Open Source license and gives you the right to use
PostgreSQL in your commercial apps without worry.

The part about  inferior Data Storage mechanism is also flat out wrong.
PostgreSQL uses a MVC system same as Oracle and it also has transaction
logs,PITR etc.

Inserts and updates will be slightly slower than a Non MVC system, but
the human eye would not detect any difference in a web page displaying,
we are talking about miliseconds.  Who does massive amounts of inserts
and updates from a web page anyway?  I have CMS such as Drupal running
on both PostgreSQL and MySQL and I can't tell the difference in the
speed the pages render.

The availability of assistance is also bogus as there are many ways to
get support if you need it including commercial support companies and
Enterprise DB, The mailing list is also very active and effective.

The only part that has any truth to it is the far flung part, and MySQL
is king there, it even dwarfs M$ SQL server.  M$ SQL server is severely
limited for hosting as well since it ONLY runs on windows and most
hosting providers run some form of Unix where M$ cannot play at all.

So in conclusion I would not pay attention to this article, it was
written by someone who really does not know what they are talking about.


Later,

Tony Caduto
AM Software Design
Home of Lightning Admin for PostgreSQL and MySQL