RE: [PHP-DB] Re: Moving from MySQL to MSSQL Server 2000

Very good answer Frank, Thanks! My department is 95% MS oriented and this is why we prefer an MSSQL Server 2000 Cluster instead of a sun based cluster. We already have an MSSQL 7.0 Cluster which we will be upgrading soon to MSSQL Server 2000 which has been up for over 2 years. It's running on win2K Advanced Server and we are extremely pleased with the up time and performance. We are not considering IBM / ORACLE because we do not have the knowledge in this area, as I said, we are MS Oriented. I asked my Unix people to come up with some kind of Unix / Linux based alternative for a cluster of MySQL and you wouldn't believe some of the combinations they had to do to prepare such a scenario. Bottom line is that no scenario they came up with was a serious one IMHO. Trying to simulate a cluster on a NON cluster aware database does not look like a way to go to a serious Ecommerce Auction site. Thanks berber -----Original Message----- From: Frank Flynn [mailto:frank@declan.com] Sent: Wednesday, January 16, 2002 7:51 PM To: Boaz Yahav; php-db@lists.php.net Subject: RE: [PHP-DB] Re: Moving from MySQL to MSSQL Server 2000 There are few things you should consider; perhaps you already have. You may not be replacing the OS of your Web server but you will be adding a new OS for the database since MS SQL only runs on Windows. So now your site will have a Solaris / Apache piece and Windows cluster running MS SQL. I have run configurations like this and they do work however if your fundamental goal is better reliability I suggest to be careful about MS SQL. My experience (not wanting to start any flame wars here) has been that MS SQL is not as reliable as some of the bigger names such as Informix / IBM and Oracle. All of those also run on Solaris which means you could still only have one OS. That may or may not be an advantage to you. The other issue to be very careful about regarding MS SQL is it is not supported on Solaris. So if you have an issue where the database appears to be functioning normally yet your Apache Web server cannot retrieve data from the DB Microsoft will have nothing to do with helping you fix this. It is an unsupported configuration; the connectivity products you will use, whatever they are, will not come from Microsoft nor will any help. But to answer your specific questions: ODBC, JDBC are not the only ways to move data from the database to Apache but they are the most popular ways because they're easy to use and they do work very well. Also check out freeTDS (tabular data stream) and a product called OpenLink, there are others try Web search from your favorite search engine. A few months ago we did a benchmark and we found JDBC to be faster than the Microsoft client or ODBC. In our case we believe this was because of the way that JDBC returned results in larger chunks which matched our needs for that App. Your mileage may vary; these things depend on your application and a particular versions of the software and combinations of the software using. Nothing beats having the time to try a couple different combinations and see which works best for your situation. I don't think there any particularly special points you need to consider because you're using MS SQL but as I've said each application can be different and have its own unique needs. Good Luck, Frank > Well, > > My Site runs now on Solaris. Both the front end (Web Server / php code / > Apache) and the Database (Backend server). > We had some problems with Mysql and we don't find it 100% reliable for > such a busy site. We also want to use a db cluster > for high availability (we are talking about $200,000 of hardware and > software for the change). > > The code will still run on Apache / PHP / Solaris so there is no change > in that. Only the access to the Database will change. > > Does this help? > > berber > > -----Original Message----- > From: Manuel Lemos [mailto:mlemos@acm.org] > Sent: Saturday, January 12, 2002 10:28 PM > To: php-db@lists.php.net > Subject: [PHP-DB] Re: Moving from MySQL to MSSQL Server 2000 > > > Hello, > > Boaz Yahav wrote: >> >> Hi >> >> I'm planning to move my site (Very successful / high traffic Auctions >> site) from MySQL to MSSQL Server 2000. >> I was wondering if anyone has done this move and if there are any pit >> falls to notice. >> >> 1. Is ODBC the only way to work from a Solaris / Apache / PHP 4 > machine >> to a Win2K / SQL Server 2000? >> 2. What could be the performance cost (if any). >> 3. Are there any special points that need to be taken into > consideration >> on either side? > > If you have these doubts I wonder if you are really sure if moving from > OS and databases is the right thing to do. > > Maybe if you tell what is you motivation for the move we can address > your real problems more objectively. > > Changing OS, Web Server and database server all at the same time sounds > like an operation of great risk. If your motivation really justifies all > the changes, maybe changing one thing at a time would be of less risk. > Don't forget the Hotmail platform change fiasco. > > Regards, > Manuel Lemos >