Data warehousing using postgresql is it possible ? Answer is yes, it is possible. Postgresql has always been considered as not suitable for data warehousing because of advanced database features present in it, like transaction support , locking, etc. But the fact is: We cannot decide performance of a database just by reading about it, best way is to practically implement the scenario, tune it and compare it with other databases. I did just that and following are the points one should consider to achieve data warehouse in postgresql. Handling transactions and locks -Optimum transaction size -Parallelism to avoid locks PostgreSQL parameter configuration -Tweaking postgresql configuration parameters to best utilize available hardware. Compartmentalize data storage -Making logically physical division of data on disk Views and fact tables -Frequency of create and update view and maintaining fact tables Column Index planning -Deciding use of index. Query planning -Planning a query based on requested criteria Hardware/Software properties that effect performance -RAM, HDD properties and softwares that can increase / decrease system performance Case study: Open source SIEM Cyberoam-iview -> http://sourceforge.net/projects/cyberoam-iview/ Cyberoam-iView is a practically successful example of A Real time data warehouse using unchanged postgresql 8.4 and files. -->Features: -Supports up to 60,000 Events/Sec. ( collect, parse, process, insert into postgresql tables) -1040 predefined reports (OLAP Aggregated cubes). -Storage capacity: Aggregated cubes with granularity of 5 minutes for 1 week, cubes with granularity of 4 hours for 1 year, cubes with granularity of 24 hours for 7 years. Fact table in compressed form. -Response time < 30 seconds for most of the reports. -Real time view update, Aggregation cubes updated every 5 min. -Reports for any time range selection (up to 7 years) supported. -->Limitations: -Does not support ad hoc aggregated report generation from fact table, All reports needs to be predefined at the time of deployment. -Fact table need to be extracted and loaded before searching. -Each cube is updated with top n significant aggregated records where 0 < n < 4001. -->Minimum Hardware requirements : Pentium P4 processor 3.0 G Hz 2 GB RAM 1 TB HDD , standard company with read write speed > 50 MBps Regards Dhaval Rami -- Sent via pgsql-admin mailing list (pgsql-admin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx) To make changes to your subscription: http://www.postgresql.org/mailpref/pgsql-admin