Re: PostgreSQL questions

Carel Combrink <s25291930(at)tuks(dot)co(dot)za> writes:
> I have 2 questions about PostgreSQL:
> 1.) Is there a difference in running PostgreSQL on Windows vs Linux. I
> am a Windows user but have a Linux box. For the application I am
> leaning more to Linux. Is there advantages or factors I should
> consider when choosing the OS?

The PG developers practically all prefer Unix over Windows, and view
running *any* kind of server on Windows with suspicion. The Windows
port of PG is plenty good enough for development purposes, but if you're
after a high-reliability server you should lean towards the Unix camp.
Now whether you should prefer Linux or some other Unix flavor is another
question, for which you will get different answers from different people.

> The specifications for the application are real-time to semi-real-time
> thus I need an OS with semi-real-time characteristics (Windows is not
> as far as I know, that is why Linux is a good option). And I want to
> notifying the application of changes in the database as soon as they
> happen, this will help with the real-time aspect.

What do you consider to be "real time"? Practically any SQL database is
going to give you fits if you have very short hard deadlines. In
general I would say that PG is optimized with total throughput much more
in mind than guaranteed response to any one query, so tight deadlines
could be a killer for you. (MySQL is unlikely to be much better on that
dimension, btw.)

regards, tom lane