Nick W wrote:
Hey group,
I'm looking for a local hosting company with:
linux [duh]
php [necessity]
postgres [necessity]
mysql [nice feature but not imperative]
disk space not a huge deal - 100MB is probably overkill
transfer - the more the better
pricing - as long as it's reasonable
uptime - needs to be guaranteed 99%+.
the kicker seems to be postgres. Don't know why people favor mysql so heavily.
Putting on my hat as a sysadmin at a web hoster, when we have a request
for PHP and database, most folks want mysql. This is probably because
there is a preponderance of books and examples that use the mysql_*
functions in PHP. That means the code cannot be easily switched over to
postgres (or any other DBMS for that matter).
From a business perspective, it is not economical to spend the manhours
maintaining two software packages that solve the same problem. So based
on the demand (from folks that ask for something specifically), we chose
mysql. Also, at the time we made that choice, mysql was considerably
easier to maintain and didn't require offlining databases regularly to
vacuum them so that the query optimizer worked properly. Admittedly,
this was some time ago and things have changed quite a bit since then.
However, we now have mysql deployed and understood so it doesn't make
sense to change.
Note that this is not intended as a commentary on the relative merits of
mysql over postgres. Mysql has its own set of problems. Still speaking
wearing my sysadmin hat, I have no problem with postgres. It's just that
until we have a clear case of demand for it, it doesn't make sense to
spend our time maintaining yet another software package.
And, finally, one last data point. Most sites don't come anywhere near
requiring the advanced features of any dbms. For the vast majority of
sites, any dbms will do the job. Mysql, postgres, sybase, etc., will all
work sufficiently for most sites. As a result, there's no compelling
technological reason (for *most* sites) to choose one over the other.
Thus, the preponderance of documentation and examples wins out.
--
William Astle
finger [EMAIL PROTECTED] for further information
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