Comment Re:MySQL... (Score 1) 59
MySQL is fast with easy backups and outer joins, but none of the durability stuff. PostgreSQL is slower (not slow), but no outer or cross-db joins.
Know what -- I'll take either one over Sybase or Oracle any day of the week. I've worked with all of them and keep going back to opensource for a reason.
Two current clients of mine are using MySQL for their web-interactions, feeding the data from a PostgreSQL database. In one case, we went to PG because Sybase install has been down for two weeks (during development, thank ghu) and Sybase can't figure out why.
One of these companies is even making extentions to PostgreSQL and handing them back to the opensource community as a thanks. (BTW, any good db-programmers looking for a job adding even more features to PostgreSQL? )
If you want a feature in opensource you can (1) write it yourself, (2) pay someone to write it, (3) wait for the existing developers to do it. With a commercial product, you can #3 period. W're opting for #1 and #2 since the devlopers are working on other stuff -- end result, even more functionality faster.
As far as cross or multi-database joins (not transactions), think about a proxy server that maintains durable connections to each DB and handles the join for you. It worked for us.
