-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Dann Corbit wrote: >> -----Original Message----- >> From: pgsql-general-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:pgsql-general- >> owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Ron Johnson >> Sent: Thursday, July 06, 2006 5:26 PM >> To: Postgres general mailing list >> Subject: Re: [GENERAL] Long term database archival >> >> >> Agent M wrote: >>> Will postgresql be a viable database in 20 years? Will SQL be used >>> anywhere in 20 years? Are you sure 20 years is your ideal backup >> duration? >> >> SQL was used 20 years ago, why not 20 years from now? >> >> I can't see needing data from 10 years ago, but you never know. >> Thank $DEITY for microfilm; otherwise, we'd not know a whole lot >> about what happened 150 years ago. > > The company I work for does lots of business with OpenVMS systems > running RMS, Rdb, and DBMS and IBM Mainframes running VSAM, IMS, etc. > along with many other 'ancient' database systems. > > We have customers with Rdb version 4.x (around 15 years old, IIRC) and > RMS and VSAM formats from the 1980s. Wow, that *is* ancient. Rdb 4.2 was 1993, though. "Only" 13 years. Snicker. > Suppose, for instance, that you run a sawmill. The software for your > sawmill was written in 1985. In 1991, you did a hardware upgrade to a > VAX 4100, but did not upgrade your Rdb version (since it was debugged > and performed adequately). > > Your software can completely keep up with the demands of the sawmill. > It even runs payroll. The workers got tired of the RS232 terminals and > so you did a client server upgrade using PCs as terminals in 1999, but > kept your VAX 4100 minicomputer running Rdb with no changes. You > upgraded from Xentis to Crystal Reports in 2003, but using OLEDB drivers > means you did not have to touch anything on your server. > > Sound far-fetched? It's not uncommon in the least. Furthermore, a > million dollar upgrade to a shiny new system and software might not > increase productivity at all. > > It's the data that contains all the value. The hardware becomes > obsolete when it can no longer keep up with business needs. DEC surely did build VAX h/w to last. Much higher quality than the cheapo industry standard stuff they use now. And, IMO, VAX/VMS was a heck of a lot more stable written in Bliss and Macro than Alpha/VMS ported to C. I'd be worried, though, about the disk drives, so would push for migration to Charon-VAX running on an x86 server. - -- Ron Johnson, Jr. Jefferson LA USA Is "common sense" really valid? For example, it is "common sense" to white-power racists that whites are superior to blacks, and that those with brown skins are mud people. However, that "common sense" is obviously wrong. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.3 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFErcXiS9HxQb37XmcRAqRDAKC63yqdkw4DEk0rUGu0AQw3a9jIDQCfR+fn gWsYc94OFgcJEAA8J8Bs7jc= =gbgy -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
