Thread: possible os recommendations
wanting to avoid religious warfare, I'm curious if there may be some who would have recommendations for what operating system is 'best' to run postgresql 8.x on.. I've used postgresql 7.x on FreeBSD. It was already. But, I'm getting sucked into the linux world and have found Suse 9.3 a pretty good distro. Since I've chosen a packaged distro, I realize that I depend upon 'them' to keep me updated with criticals and other bug fixes wrt postrgresql. That may be consider bad by some, good by others. I'm more concerned though about the complete experience, i.e. postgresql performance on Linux vs Bsd vs Windows... Maintainability.. Stability... os tweeks that were really needed to make pg work well, etc. I would really like to hear from those who have used postgresql on multiple operating systems.. thanks. -- David Bear phone: 480-965-8257 fax: 480-965-9189 College of Public Programs/ASU Wilson Hall 232 Tempe, AZ 85287-0803 "Beware the IP portfolio, everyone will be suspect of trespassing"
On Mon, 2005-05-23 at 14:02, David Bear wrote: > wanting to avoid religious warfare, I'm curious if there may be some > who would have recommendations for what operating system is 'best' to SNIP > I'm more concerned though about the complete experience, i.e. > postgresql performance on Linux vs Bsd vs Windows... > Maintainability.. Stability... os tweeks that were really needed to > make pg work well, etc. There's not a lot of difference between running postgresql on BSD versus Linux for most people. As long as you or your sysadmin is reasonably familiar with whichever you're running on, they should work fine. Some folks choose to run PostgreSQL on commercial OSes like Solaris or AIX, primarily for it's ability to support hot swappable and high availability hardware. Generally speaking, a Very fast two CPU machine running on AMD-64s with the latest and greatest FreeBSD or Linux kernel is likely to outrun most of the big iron machines, they just don't provide the 99.999 reliability. The Windows port of PostgreSQL is just too new to be considered as an equal to the unix or other ports. Plus, the things needed to make PostgreSQL competitive on Windows aren't likely to show up any time soon, since stability is the main focus of such a new port right now. Your hardware and quality hardware drivers for your given OS are probably just as important as the amount of memory and CPU speed you throw at things. This is especially true of your RAID controller, it's cache, and the number of hard drives you can throw at the problem. Generally speaking, BSD handles lots of processes and file system I/O better, while Linux handles CPU / memory intensive apps a little better. But the difference is small to nil, depending.
> > I'm more concerned though about the complete experience, i.e. > postgresql performance on Linux vs Bsd vs Windows... > Maintainability.. Stability... os tweeks that were really needed to > make pg work well, etc. Linux and FreeBSD is going to be your best bet. BSD is a little better and dealing with very, very high loads. Linux tends (at least from my experience) to be a little quicker. So it depends on your needs. Basically if you stay with Linux (2.6 kernel) or FreeBSD (4.9+) you should be rock solid. Sincerely, Joshua D. Drake
Hello, > I'm more concerned though about the complete experience, i.e. > postgresql performance on Linux vs Bsd vs Windows... > Maintainability.. Stability... os tweeks that were really needed to > make pg work well, etc. > > I would really like to hear from those who have used postgresql on > multiple operating systems.. I've used PostgreSQL on lots of Unixes. Most of the advantages and disadvantages of those are not database-specific. Here are some pro's of each of them: BSDs: centralized, well-organized code management, code well thought-out and readable, especially NetBSD. Good performance and reliability. Linux: supports hardware faster, so if you want to play video games or have rare network cards, use this. Mac OS: pleasing user interface, easier administration for non-technicians, good performance Solaris: superior OS architecture and features, esp. in Solaris 10 (unbeatable diagnostics with dtrace/mdb), high degree of automization (hands-off installation and configuration of everything) Notice: BSD, Linux, and Solaris cost nothing. Mac OS is payware. Sources are available for BSDs, Linux, Mac OS (the "Unix" subset), and (within the next 5 weeks) Solaris. So, if you're a professional, go with NetBSD or Solaris. If you want a system that your grandparents (may they still be living) feel comfortable with, take Mac OS X. Greetings, Rainer
David.Bear@asu.edu (David Bear) writes: > wanting to avoid religious warfare, I'm curious if there may be some > who would have recommendations for what operating system is 'best' to > run postgresql 8.x on.. I've used postgresql 7.x on FreeBSD. It was > already. But, I'm getting sucked into the linux world and have found > Suse 9.3 a pretty good distro. > > Since I've chosen a packaged distro, I realize that I depend upon > 'them' to keep me updated with criticals and other bug fixes wrt > postrgresql. > > That may be consider bad by some, good by others. > > I'm more concerned though about the complete experience, i.e. > postgresql performance on Linux vs Bsd vs Windows... > Maintainability.. Stability... os tweeks that were really needed to > make pg work well, etc. > > I would really like to hear from those who have used postgresql on > multiple operating systems.. You're going to be fundamentally better off if you go with a system that you can more readily support than one that is unfamiliar to you. In particular, if you want to use more or less esoteric hardware features like in-OS RAID or volume management systems, or to tweak filesystem parameters, you're going to have better luck with a system you're already familiar with. The one clear "quasi-religous" argument to be made is that it is highly preferable to head to some Unix-like system for "production" as opposed to Windows, as there simply isn't the long history of Windows-based deployments to nail down OS-related issues. -- (format nil "~S@~S" "cbbrowne" "acm.org") http://www.ntlug.org/~cbbrowne/sap.html Rules of the Evil Overlord #78. "I will not tell my Legions of Terror "And he must be taken alive!" The command will be: ``And try to take him alive if it is reasonably practical.''" <http://www.eviloverlord.com/>