Tom Lane wrote:
Given the Linux kernel hackers' apparent disinterest in fixing their OOM kill policy or making write barriers work well (or at all, with LVM), I think arguing that Linux is the best database platform requires a certain amount of suspension of disbelief.
Don't forget the general hostility toward how the database allocates shared memory on that list too.
I was suggesting Linux as being the best in the context of consistently having up to date packages that install easily if you can use the PGDG yum repo, since that was a specific request. The idea that Linux is somehow the preferred platform from PostgreSQL is pretty weird; it's just a popular one, and has plenty of drawbacks.
I think it's certainly the case that you have to enter into using PostgreSQL with Linux with the understanding that you only use the most basic and well understood parts of the OS. Filesystem other than ext3? Probably buggy, may get corrupted. Using the latest write-barrier code rather than the most basic fsync approach? Probably buggy, may get corrupted. Using LVM instead of simple partitions? Probably going to perform badly, maybe buggy and get corrupted too. Assuming software RAID can replace a hardware solution with a battery-backed write cache? Never happen.
There's a narrow Linux setup for PostgreSQL that works well for a lot of people, but some days it does feel like that's in spite of the priorities of the people working on the Linux kernel.
-- Greg Smith 2ndQuadrant Baltimore, MD PostgreSQL Training, Services and Support greg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx www.2ndQuadrant.com -- Sent via pgsql-performance mailing list (pgsql-performance@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx) To make changes to your subscription: http://www.postgresql.org/mailpref/pgsql-performance
