It isn't actually possible at this stage for me to benchmark "the application" because it doesn't yet exist. There are a number of potential projects floating around, with as yet unwritten specifications, to run on different platforms ranging from embedded to larger servers. People just want to hear what I think is a good RDBMS to use. My opinion won't necessarily be followed. Nobody at this point is expecting the RDBMS to become a bottleneck, if they are planning to actually use one at all. However someone is sure to ask the question, for an average application with an average database, how is performance? Even if such a question is answered, it isn't going to be the only factor. For example I have collected reasonable numbers already on footprints of different RDBMSs, because embedded guys might find that important if they're restricted to 64MB of flash. On the other hand if they went with some of the newer solid state drives with gigs of space, then a few packages using 10s of MB wouldn't be such a problem any more. In short, all bets are off and I'm just looking for baseline information. This is just a general feasibility and technology exploration phase. I'm aware of the limitations of hard numbers, but the more simple information I have in different dimensions, the easier it is to convince people not to lock in too early. Thanks for the info, I'll check some of those references. -Will -----Original Message----- From: Dann Corbit [mailto:DCorbit@xxxxxxxxx] Sent: 19 March 2009 17:16 To: Will Rutherdale (rutherw); pgsql-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: RE: Is there a meaningful benchmark? 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
