Re: Is Postgres comparable to MSSQL

On 10/14/05, Andy Hester <ahester(at)galacticltd(dot)com> wrote:
> Hello,
> I am a network/security guy not a dba.

And you got internal applications based on MS SQL and most likely
Exchange. I call this the "Armadillo Security Model" - hard on the
outside, soft on the inside ;-)

> One argument he makes repeatedly is that there is no database that is
> enterprise worthy for a cost even comparable to MSSQL.

There is a company here in Manhattan that is an up-and-coming
financial services company. They were using MS SQL for their internal
data processing, and ran into trouble running queries with 20 joins
(or more, cannot remember the details). In short, the queries actually
wouldn't run, and MS SQL wouldn't have anything to do with such
nonsense...

When they asked about an Open Source alternative, I answered
"PostgreSQL" without any hesitation. They ran an evaluation (thanks to
PostgreSQL being free to use) and not only learned that their monster
joins went well, but overall performance (on the same hardware)
improved.

I'm now told that my advice may have shaved up to three months from
their internal schedule as a result of their blossoming love fest with
PostgreSQL. My all-time favorite quote from the CTO: "Every day I get
a little more experience with PostgreSQL, and every day I get to
liking it just a little bit more than yesterday."

-- Mitch