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PostgreSQL vs. SAP?
Johann asks: "As my friend and I embark on building a large web site using open source development tools, I planned on using PostgreSQL. I was reminded that another 'enterprize' database is now released under the GPL - SAP DB.
Since there have been countless Pg vs. MySQL comparisons on Slashdot, I wanted to ask: how does SAP DB compare technically to Pg?"
one big thing to consider is the interface to the db you'll be using. i chose postgres for a large server-side java web-application, and while i have zero complaints about postgres the database, the jdbc postgres interface is a complete mess. if you're doing anything beyond the most basic operations, you'll find a _lot_ of the jdbc-2 spec completely or partially unimplimented (and these shortcomings are, of course, undocumented). i've put far too many hours pouring through jdbc driver code in the last year with postgres. though, i give the developers credit for making steady progress in the last year, it just isn't there yet.
like you, i've been pondering the switch to SAP-DB - from looking through the source, their jdbc implementation seems to be very complete. the only problem i've run into with SAP is the lack of readable documentation... the manual seems to have lots of information, but it isn't exactly developer-friendly.
if this is an "enterprise" level application, i see little choice but to dive into SAP and figure it all out - otherwise i think you'll run into bigger problems down the road.
Also Slashdot now numbers each and every post uniquely. Contrary to popular myth, this was not done to reduce FPs. When they needed two fields (the story number and the post-within-story number) for their primary key, they took a nasty performance hit.
So if we use Slashdot as an example (and I have to admit it's the only big MySQL application I know much about), then we have to conclude that MySQL's much-touted performance lead goes away if your database has more than the most trivial structure, or if your database gets very large.
I know you seem pretty sure that you want one of those two (Postgres or SAP), but I don't think you should discount MySQL.
Introduction of a third option. Makes the audience feel powerful and privileged.
MySQL is considered (even by its detractors...and there are a lot of them!) to be much faster than the competition.
In this world of benchmarks, is there any need to talk about one database being "considered" faster than any others? Sneaky.
While other RDBMS makers go on about "tradeoffs,"
Well, the "tradeoffs" that they were going on about were little unimportant things like transactions which, up until recently, MySQL didn't support.
the MySQL team has put their money where their mouths are and delivered a database that makes speed the top priority.
Use of language to suggest the MySQL boys are a bunch of good stand-up guys all around.
This is vital in the enterprise.
According to...? Sneaky.
Furthermore, the latest MySQL releases have full support for transactions and complete ACID compliance.
Once again, only a very recent phenomenon.
MySQL also supports a greater and more useful subset of the SQL99 standard than either Postrgres or SAP.
"More useful"? According to...? Sneaky.
I am by no means a MySQL zealot (though there are plenty who are, and you won't have to look far to find them)
Ah yes. This person is an everyman. A reasonable person. You can tell because he talks about the marginalized whackos and does not identify with them.
Just ignore the fact that he's promoting the same software the marginalized whackos would.
but I do think you should take all the options into account.
And Slashdot uses MySQL. Could you even ask for a more shining recommendation?
Appeal to Authority. Sneaky...
Yes, you can now have transactions and foreign keys, but to get them you'll be using InnoDB tables, which don't offer up any significant speed advantage. They run at slightly slower than postgres speeds, in my testing.
MySQL sounds really good, especially if you haven't worked with real databases before, so you don't know what they're supposed to be able to do, but in the end it's not. Unfortunately, telling mysql advocates this is like convincing a Best Buy employee that overall PC performance cannot be compared by looking at the CPU clock rate.
I'm sorry that most of the responses haven't answered your question. I'll try to partially answer it, but I bet you already know all of this. I really like PostgreSQL and use it. If I were wanting to get a really big web site together, I'd try SAPDB, or just go with either DB/2 or Oracle.
My info about SAPDB is research-based, as I did a lot of that. Please feel free to correct me, if I'm wrong, in any way. MySQL has steadily improved, so a couple of items, below may be out of date.
I see that SAPDB is really an Oracle killer. It is a true enterprise-ready DB. If you want all the features of a big DB, such as replication, partitioning, etc., use SAPDB. You can get true commercial support, etc. Read their PDF's and be impressed.
However, you might want to know why I chose PostgreSQL over MySQL and SAPDB:
1.) PostgreSQL is really ACID compliant, as is SAPDB. MySQL, on the other hand hasn't yet proved itself in this area. Give MySQL a few more months, though, and we'll see, with version 4.1.
2.) Hosting companies support MySQL really well, and PostgreSQL only partially well. I have yet to see SAPDB as a hosting offering. Oracle is rare, too, but expensive.
3.) All three are free, in both senses of the word, while DB/2, Sybase, Oracle, etc., are not. (No preference in this area.)
4.) There is an enormous userbase for MySQL, and a sizable one for PostgreSQL, so I can get help from peers 24 by 7. SAPDB, unfortunately, does not have much in this area.
5.) PostgreSQL 7.1.x+ is supposed to scale better in many ways compared to MySQL 3.xx+. Many benchmarks seem to bear out the fact that PGSQL annihilates MySQL 3.xx, after about 5-10 or so web users. PGSQL seems to beat Oracle up through and beyond 100 simultaneous web users. I cannot find any benchmark on SAP, anywhere.
6.) Installing PostgreSQL and MySQL are easy, easy, easy. It's not so easy with SAPDB. While I'm no neophyte, when you consider remote hosting issues, I hope to have a system I can quickly rebuild if hardware dies.
7.) PostgreSQL has enough enterprise-ready features for my web site. MySQL did not (and probably still does not). SAPDB is almost overkill. Views, triggers, foreign keys, constraints of various kinds, stored procedures, versioning, hot backups, etc., are all available in PostgreSQL and SAPDB. One responder indicated that programming time is more important than benchmarks -- amen, preach it, brother. Your time programming and tweaking are far more expensive than hardware and most software.
8.) After working with PostgreSQL and MySQL, I saw that care and feeding (DBA work, in particular) were very simplified, straight forward, and quick. SAPDB smacks of Oracle, in terms of tweaking, complexity, etc. (I was an Oracle DBA for two years; a RedBrick DBA; worked for Informix; and have administered MySQL, PostgreSQL, and even lowly Access.) I haven't actually tried SAPDB, because it looks like a major investment of time.
9.) Books, web sites, and other literature are readily available for MySQL and PostgreSQL. SAPDB's included documentation is most excellent, however, followed by MySQL's included docs. PostgreSQL suffers in this area -- buy the books.
10.) As I scale up, I probably will have to consider something other than PostgreSQL, like SAPDB, DB/2, or Oracle. I refuse to look at Sybase or especially it ancestor, SQL Server. On the other hand, PostgreSQL is semi-tunable and the development team plans to be adding replication, etc., in the coming months. I'll have to wait-and-see. If SAP ERP can be hosted on SAPDB, then, well, it'll scale, no question. I'd contact the author of BinaryCloud for more objective info, here. http://www.binarycloud.com/
11.) Warning, total subjectivity: something about PostgreSQL seems "clean," compared to MySQL. I can't say what it is, but there is a big lack of business-likeness to MySQL, other than what I listed above. I'm sure the same is true about SAPDB, and more so, since it's got a real business and an ERP behind it.
12.) PostgreSQL, like MySQL, has a user-friendly SQL command line, with readline support, etc. I don't know about SAPDB, but I expect it to be less so, like Oracle's SQL*Plus. Can somebody help me out, here?
In conclusion, my first choice, for now, is PostgreSQL, my second would be SAPDB, my third is actually MySQL, followed by the commercial products. Again, I've never used SAPDB, but I hope to, in the near future; it seems "too big" for my needs, now, and information, outside of sapdb.org is scarce. I hope the community really gets around it, soon, so we can have a more objective look at the product. We need support groups and books available at our local book stores.
SAPDB looks absolutely excellent, while PostgreSQL looks good. MySQL has potential to be a business/enterprise-ready product, in a couple of years. I like the fact that SAPDB uses ODBC/UDBC for its native calls, like SQL Server, Access, and DB/2. MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, and the like, require drivers to translate calls back and forth, slowing things down and adding complexity, for ODBC, UDBC, and JDBC.
For PostgreSQL, I gotta say, the thing that really impressed my was versioning, which makes transaction support and hot backups easy, while keeping performance very, very high.
Try out both databases. Use PGSQL today and SAP tomorrow, as you grow into it.