Re: MSSQL support for PHP on Unix?

I don't know your shop, obviously, but I have a feeling they will want to stay with MSSQL, especially if it's 7. Probably 2 reasons - 1. they've probably already paid for it and 2. it's a nice product. It's not always the best for web projects, because, imo, there's extra overhead that really isn't necessary for small to medium projects (define your own small and medium!), but it is good. Lots of things that just are 'easier' for someone to use - not trying to start a flame war, because it's not my first choice db, but I have a client who's already paid for MSSQL7, and they insist (rightly so, imo) that we continue to use it. We are planning a move to PHP/Linux at some point soon, and need to keep talking to MSSQL, so we're in the same boat. I've looked at the Easysoft and Openlink solutions, but each are cost prohibitive to the extent that we've got multiple web servers (8). Might be reduced to 5 if PHP is quick enough (seems to be so far on this project), but I just can't justify to them (or myself) why we should abandon a platform that talks natively to SQL7 to move to another platform that ends up costing us more money out of pocket to make it talk to SQL7. Much of the sales point of Linux is the price, but if it costs up to an extra $6k *per machine* (as I read the openlink pricing), what are we gaining? I've got a friend in town using the Easysoft solution, and that's working fine for him, but it's still thousands extra for us to make this move, and it's not something I can easily sell. After all that, I will say that the FreeTDS.org project has come a long way, and seems to work fine with the latest snapshot of PHP4, talking to SQL7 (sp2). I'm sure it's not as robust yet as openlink or easysoft, but it's fast and free. If you're getting heat to stick with SQL7, you'll have a hard sell, imo, telling people to spend money to move AWAY from a native MS platform. For your proposal, yes, PHP4 can talk directly to SQL7. We're doing it here in the office right now. We needed 1. The latest snapshot from tds.org (available at ftp site freetds.internetcds.com) 2. *Latest* dev version of PHP (4.0.2). There were/are some issues with 4.0.0, and the 4.0.1 pl releases in our testing, but the latest snapshot from this past Monday resolved all the issues were having. Get these items, compile freetds (tdsver=7.0), compile PHP with -with-sybase=/path/to/freetds and whatever other options, and your mssql_xxxx features will work. *very* quick, here, I might add. For your boss' info, our latest PHP testing here shows that our pages on a 300 mhz webserver (linux/php) and 200mhz db server (SQL7) are anywhere from 30-100% *faster* than similar ASP code on a 500mhz NT box talking to a dual 550 SQL7 box. My friend with the Easysoft setup has shown me 100-300% improvements in his port from ASP to PHP using the Easysoft bridge to NT/SQL from Linux/Apache. Long rambling post, I know, but I hope this helps some! phoenix@phoenixdigital.com wrote: > Hi, > > I am writing up a proposal for my boss and he needs to know if php can talk directly to MSSQL > via the PHP modules for this? > He doesn't want to use the ODBC connection but would prefer PHP to talk directly to the > MSSQL database. > > Is this possible in the Unix version or only the Win32 version? > If it is possible on Unix what is needed to compile it into the Unix version? > > I am trying to push MySQL but I need a backup plan if they choose to stay with MSSQL, otherwise > it will all end up on a NT machine with ASP. :( > > Thanks for your help. -- ========================== Michael Kimsal http://www.tapinternet.com 734-480-9961