On 10/23/07, Craig Hawkes <craig.hawkes@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Everyone I have a question re using postgres as a "embedded" database on
> Windows.
This question gets asked about once every three months. Searching the
archives should turn up some previous discussions on the subject.
> First a little background:
> I have been using Postgres for a number of years on Linux, and it is great.
> I am now working with a company which develops Windows software using
> Delphi. This has been successful and they have a number of users (1000's).
> This currently uses a Paradox database. For various reasons (some I am sure
> you can guess!) we would like to move away from paradox, and Postgres is a
> good option.
> I would like to hear feed back from others, has anyone else deployed
> Postgres in this type of environment?
> Are there options for running postgres, maybe as a process (maybe the wrong
> term) within the main application - this could be started and stopped by the
> application?
No, and it's not likely to happen. this would make postgresql subject
to silent corruption if the application crashed, and no one wants to
support that on top of the version we already have.
> I am thinking some type of options similar to SQLLite would be great for a
> single user install - but we also want to be able to A) use the full power
> of Postgres, B) set-up as a full server in some other cases.
Sadly, there ain't no such thing as a free lunch here. Either you
install the real thing, and deal with the issues of administration and
such, or you go with sqllite or it's brethren.
I'd look into building an appliance computer for the customers.
Something in a 1U rack mount with a pair of SATA or SAS drives mounted
in a sw RAID-1 would do nicely for this kind of thing. Think of it as
delivering the whole solution. Deliver it with a super simple custom
gui on top to create accounts or phpmyadmin or something. The further
away from a database on every desktop you get, generally the better
off you'll be.
If embedded fits this project better, then look elsewhere, it's really
not pgsql's strong suit.
