On 11/1/07, Kevin Hunter <hunteke@earlham.edu> wrote:
> - More in line with the conversation with my friend, what/why is it that
> Postgres needs a DBA while MySQL doesn't? I highly suspect that the
> assumption that MySQL doesn't need a DBA is incorrect, but that's what
> was posed to me and I couldn't agree or disagree.
I'm going to say something that might be surprising to some since I'm
one of the biggest pg cheerleaders out there, but there are some
particular challenges that affect people trying to jump into the
database that can make things difficult for newcomers. These issues
have been mostly addressed in recent releases but there is some
legitimacy some complaints in the past, including:
* difficulty dealing with vacuum issues in 24/7 environments (pre autovacuum)
* relative scarcity of information or lack of community consensus on
memory settings
* dealing with relatively slow update performance (both mysql and
mssql are historically non-mvcc databases)
* grappling how best to apply the many features to best use (should i
use functions, or views?)
* a lot of other things related to mvcc that surprise users, slow
count(*), etc etc
A lot of those issues have been mitigated or eliminated but the
relative complexity of setting up postgresql for various workloads has
been a fair analysis. Having a DBA, or at least someone who
understands databases (I don't like overly broad labels), is not
necessarily a bad idea, either. A competent DBA, by the way, can keep
your programmers under control and can make your team much stronger.
All this being said, PostgreSQL is a rich and robust system that can
redefine your idea of information architecture as you pour over the
manual asking your self again and again (aha! I've always thought this
was good...where have you been all my life!). Once over the initial
hump where learning new things feels awkward and scary, it will slowly
dawn on you that you have enormous power at your disposal to solve all
kinds of crazy problems quickly and efficiently.
I would tell your management to take a chance on the database, and to
take a chance on you, and if your earnestness and abilities are up to
par (posting on this list is already a very positive sign), then you
won't be disappointed.
merlin
