Re: Database Comparisons

> You may check out DB2 from IBM. It's faster than Oracle, about on par > with SQL Server (under NT at least) if you get it configured correctly. > It's a -little- cheaper than Oracle as well, but doesn't seem to be as well > supported under PHP. I've not checked PEAR yet. > I've always used PostgreSQL in my web projects, 'cause it offers a good balance of performance, features, and robustness. It has some limits, however; the 8K limit is one, but will go away very soon; what I missed more was the availability of some manteinance tool: replication, a real backup, DB recovery, a watchdog system, none of this are - at the moment - available. Also, support for BLOBS is limited. I would nonetheless opt for PostgreSQL for the majority of projects; However, since I had at hand the needs of a heavyweight DB, I tested DB2 7.0. I have to say I'm quite satisfied. The worst side has been that I have had an HELLISH time in setting all up: DB2 for linux is distributed only in RPMs, and the installation docs summarize to "launch the installer script and pray"... needless to say, it hasn'be so easy. Moreover, I've had to recompile both Apache than PHP several times until I found a working configuration combo, and I've had to modify the startup scripts too. I guess we can call it Plug'n'Play, dont'you think :-)? Besides this, the DB engine works quite well: i've tested it on a modest box (PIII 400, 256 Mb) and I've found it quite fast. I didn't put it under heavy load, however. It has also a very nice GUI-driven control center made in java. The PHP API (thru unified ODBC driver) is quite complete, and I work well with its SQL dialect. Just my 2c. Bye! /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ Fabrizio Ermini Alternate E-mail: C.so Umberto, 7 faermini@tin.it loc. Meleto Valdarno Mail on GSM: (keep it short!) 52020 Cavriglia (AR) faermini@sms.tin.it