> -----Original Message----- > From: pgsql-general-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:pgsql-general- > owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Will Rutherdale (rutherw) > Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2009 1:32 PM > To: pgsql-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx > Subject: Is there a meaningful benchmark? > > Hi. I'm writing up a database comparison paper in my department at > work, with Postgres being a major candidate. I have been attempting to > research various issues and provide a meaningful comparison. > > One issue I would like to give some kind of information on is > comparative performance. When I look for such things in Google or > Wikipedia or the pgsql email archives, it's hard to find anything > reasonably definitive. I've found isolated claims and anecdotes here > and there, and a fellow on the list here who attempted to do a > comparison between Postgres, MySQL, and Oracle but gave it up for now. > > Some of the claims I've seen said that in some cases MySQL with MyISAM > ran 2x faster than Postgres, but that may have been for a special case > with only read access to the database; whereas another one claimed > that > MySQL with InnoDB was slower than Postgres. Other people commented > that > it depends on how you tune the databases. > > Maybe there's nothing definitive out there. However I'd like to get a > ballpark idea of how some databases compare, using some kind of average > case schema and application, in terms of transactions per second, on a > common hardware platform. I would like to be able to point to a > reasonable reference, rather than engaging in handwaving myself. > > Does anyone know where I could look? The only way to get an answer to a question like this is to actually benchmark the application you have in mind. And the answer won't be very good unless you have an expert on each given system install and tune the application. There is a regular benchmark that is run against the PostgreSQL database. I don't remember where to find the graphs. Probably, someone on the list can tell us the location. Here are some benchmark figures: http://tweakers.net/reviews/657/6 http://www.spec.org/jAppServer2004/results/res2007q3/jAppServer2004-2007 0606-00065.html http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/linux/showArticle.jhtml?art icleID=201001901 http://www.kaltenbrunner.cc/blog/index.php?/archives/21-guid.html http://benchw.sourceforge.net/benchw_results_open3.html P.S. PostgreSQL seems to scale pretty well: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&; taxonomyId=18&articleId=9087918&intsrc=hm_topic My opinion: Most benchmarks are run by someone with an axe to grind. I never believe them. The TPC benchmarks are probably the most trustworthy, because they have to be certified. But a fast TPC/whatever benchmark is no guarantee that *your* application will run fast. So if you want to evaluation several different technologies do your own benchmark. Do your own calculations to find out the total cost of ownership over the lifetime of the project. Examine all the features that are available, and what kind of technical support is possible. Consider the impact of product licensing. What happens if you need to scale up to titanic volume? After you have thought all factors over very carefully, make your choice. If you rely on someone else to do the work for you, it's really begging for trouble. MySQL guys will show you why MySQL is faster. PostgreSQL guys will show you why PostgreSQL is faster. Oracle guys will show you why Oracle is faster. SQL*Server guys will show you why SQL*Server is faster. DB/2 guys will show you why DB/2 is faster. Now, none of them are lying (at least hopefully) but they are experts in their own domain and not in the domain of the other product and they are also going to choose those tight little corners where their product has the biggest advantage. IMO-YMMV. P.S. I'm a PostgreSQL fan and so I am likely to (perhaps unconsciously) favor PostgreSQL in my remarks. -- Sent via pgsql-general mailing list (pgsql-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx) To make changes to your subscription: http://www.postgresql.org/mailpref/pgsql-general
