Re: Threads

Please no threading threads!!!

Has anyone calculated the interval and period of "PostgreSQL needs
threads" posts?

The *ONLY* advantage threading has over multiple processes is the time
and resources used in creating new processes.

That being said, I admit that creating a threaded program is easier than
one with multiple processes, but PostgreSQL is already there and working.

Drawbacks to a threaded model:

(1) One thread screws up, the whole process dies. In a multiple process
application this is not too much of an issue.

(2) Heap fragmentation. In a long uptime application, such as a
database, heap fragmentation is an important consideration. With
multiple processes, each process manages its own heap and what ever
fragmentation that exists goes away when the connection is closed. A
threaded server is far more vulnerable because the heap has to manage
many threads and the heap has to stay active and unfragmented in
perpetuity. This is why Windows applications usually end up using 2G of
memory after 3 months of use. (Well, this AND memory leaks)

(3) Stack space. In a threaded application they are more limits to stack
usage. I'm not sure, but I bet PostgreSQL would have a problem with a
fixed size stack, I know the old ODBC driver did.

(4) Lock Contention. The various single points of access in a process
have to be serialized for multiple threads. heap allocation,
deallocation, etc all have to be managed. In a multple process model,
these resources would be separated by process contexts.

(5) Lastly, why bother? Seriously? Process creation time is an issue
true, but its an issue with threads as well, just not as bad. Anyone who
is looking for performance should be using a connection pooling
mechanism as is done in things like PHP.

I have done both threaded and process servers. The threaded servers are
easier to write. The process based severs are more robust. From an
operational point of view, a "select foo from bar where x > y" will take
he same amount of time.