Anyone know anything about PostgreSQL? (or RDBMS generally)

[Destructionator XV]

I have been reading more and more about databases recently, and I am starting to form the opinion that MySQL sucks, that it is a toy similar to PHP. (Not as shitty as Access, mind you).

I know there is another open source RDBMS, PostgreSQL, that seems to suck less, but since I really am a database noob (but still better than some professionals... at least I know what normalization is), I don't really know what makes a good database system stand out from the less good ones.

Anyone have any experiences with databases (I am looking at you, KAN!) who knows if it is any good, or even in general, what features a database management system should have so it doesn't suck?

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

Anyone have any experiences with databases (I am looking at you, KAN!) who knows if it is any good, or even in general, what features a database management system should have so it doesn't suck?

I actually prefer the word 'capability' instead of 'features'. In general, first thing first is take a look at the capacity. How much is the maximum file size supported by the database, the maximum database size, the maximum number of tables, etc, etc. The next is manageability. For instance, in Oracle you can control everything from block size to SGA size (how much RAM is reserved for the database). Such thing is important because it translates into performance. For instance, small block size is suitable for OLTP, while Business Intelligence database would perform better with large block size.

And then, take a look at the features. Oracle, for instance, has the RAC option that enables the database to be deployed in a clustered configuration. Does PostGre SQL also have such features? Etc.

[Destructionator XV]

I see. I also understand Oracle really shines in stored procedures. How useful are they in larger scale databases?

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

I see. I also understand Oracle really shines in stored procedures. How useful are they in larger scale databases?

Stored procedures are actually more related to programming; for instance, with Oracle's Java-based stored procedures, you can make the database execute operations it normally can't due to the limitations of SQL language.

As for large scale database, scalability and level of control is more important. For instance, in Oracle you can set storage parameters (how the data is stored in hard drives) to optimize performance, and performance optimization is important in large-scale database. An example of setting storage parameters is partitioning large tables into small partitions.