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right database for the right job

Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2004 9:10 am
by malcolmboston
I am used to using MySQL but i am currently developing a large scale auction site that will ned to be highly scalable and very fast.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to whether or not i shuold switch over to another database and if so, which one.

Thanks
Mal

Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2004 9:41 am
by infolock
if you are willing to pay for it, MS-SQL is probably the best sql db out there.. although Oracle has quite a nifty security setup as well... are you looking for an open-source/free distribution or licensed version? it could vary depending on how much you are willing to spend(if any) and what kind of security you are wanting

Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2004 10:34 am
by malcolmboston
i am looking for suggestions on both open-source and paid database systems.

It will need to be fast, that is the most important thing.

Isn't PostgreSQL good for this?

Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2004 10:50 am
by feyd
the database used is only part of the speed though...

having a dedicated server or cluster for strictly database handling of the actual auction stuff (leaving logging in and other administrative junk to a seperate server) is equally important, if not more so. Gobs of RAM, CPU power, and ultra fast HD's (in RAID5 or higher) are also extremely important.

the RAID arrays should probably be in their own systems. The way a company I worked with used to do it is basically have a load balancing system spread out the queries onto the individual database servers, which would call their own (or slightly shared) RAID 48 or something system. Basically the company had RAID5 in RAID5 configurations, quite possibly with mirroring. The system was EXTREMELY fault tolerant. We could take down something like 3 of the RAID5 servers before the system would start to have "problems" ...

Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2004 10:52 am
by malcolmboston
lol, sounds expensive.
Hpow much would a syste like this cost?

Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2004 10:56 am
by feyd
each server was $15K .. quad processor, 4GB of RAM (back then mind you), 20 HD bays or something.. crazy stuff..

today, the frontend would probably be blade servers. As for the RAIDs themselves... I can't remember who's systems we used.

Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2004 10:57 am
by malcolmboston
do any hosting companies offer anything like this?
and how much pm

Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2004 11:01 am
by feyd
not sure about today, but back then no.

I'd bet IBM does today.

Personally, for datacenters and things.. I only trust IBM and Dell.

Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2004 11:02 am
by hedge
infolock wrote:if you are willing to pay for it, MS-SQL is probably the best sql db out there.. although Oracle has quite a nifty security setup as well... are you looking for an open-source/free distribution or licensed version? it could vary depending on how much you are willing to spend(if any) and what kind of security you are wanting
You must be joking to rank ms-sql above Oracle. Oracle is in it's own category, it is clearly superior in performance, scaleability and functionality... it's downfall is price.

Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2004 11:04 am
by feyd
forgot SGI too.. if you can afford it :D

Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2004 11:07 am
by malcolmboston
obviously im gonna wait to see hopw the site pans out, but im thinking in terms of ebays success i will need a much much faster server.

Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2004 11:08 am
by patrikG
Have a look at postgreSQL, malcomboston. It has triggers, stored procedures etc. Very fast, open source and a very mature product. PostgreSQL and Firebird are probably as close as you can get to Oracle-like functions with open source databases.

MySQL is still slowly introducing those more advanced features - it simply can't compare to Oracle, not in scope, functionality, adminstration etc.

Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2004 12:22 pm
by ldomingues
MySQL using MyISAM Tables can be as fast as Oracle (although Oracle has MUCH more features).

Sybase ASE for Linux is free (with some limitations such as 2 Gb database, etc.) - not as fast as Oracle, but very stable. You can buy support for a modest fee.

Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2004 8:38 pm
by fractalvibes
IBM's DB2 is an enterprise-class DBMS. Version 8.2 (Stinger) is the newest version. Like Oracle, not for the casual
user...very very full-featured. Not Cheap either.

fv

Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2004 12:10 pm
by infolock
hedge wrote:
infolock wrote:if you are willing to pay for it, MS-SQL is probably the best sql db out there.. although Oracle has quite a nifty security setup as well... are you looking for an open-source/free distribution or licensed version? it could vary depending on how much you are willing to spend(if any) and what kind of security you are wanting
You must be joking to rank ms-sql above Oracle. Oracle is in it's own category, it is clearly superior in performance, scaleability and functionality... it's downfall is price.

not at all.. ms-sql is the fastest and best db out there. i think you are blinded by the saying "if it's the most expensive, it must be the best". do some research on the studies between the 2...