There was an article about a LARGE storage network of linux boxes I saw recently. Absolutely stable. Wish I could tell you where it was, but I can't.
Lamar Owen wrote:
> Good evening.
>
> RPMs for PostgreSQL 7.3.4, built on three architectures, are in the midst of
> uploading to ftp.postgresql.org, in /pub/binary/v7.3.4/RPMS. As usual,
> inside that directory is the directory SRPMS, which contains the source RPM,
> as well as the three binary RPM directories I am uploading. One minor thing;
> a source RPM suitable for rebuilding on Red Hat 7.3 is available in the
> aurora-1.0 subdirectory. Aurora 1.0 is basically Red Hat 7.3 for SPARC;
> there are also SPARC binaries there.
>
> Other than the version change, this RPMset includes the correct JDBC jars.
> There are a couple of fixes that have been e-mailed to me that are not in
> this update; I will address those as soon as I can.
>
> In other news, I have changed jobs. Previously, I worked full-time as a
> broadcast engineer/IT person for WGCR Radio. I still work part-time for
> them, amongst other radio stations, but my full-time position is now as
> Director of Information Technology for Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute
> (PARI), a radio/optical astronomical observatory located in Western North
> Carolina. You can find out more about PARI at our website, www.pari.edu.
>
> PARI is already using PostgreSQL for several applications, and soon will be
> looking at PostgreSQL for a large data warehousing application. And, in this
> case, I do mean large. I will be indexing and storing over three million
> astronomical photographic plates (if plans come together!), where each plate
> will scan in at roughly 650-750MB in size (uncompressed) (and this is 8-level
> grayscale scanning). Mass storage will be critical of this priceless data
> store, and PostgreSQL may very well fit the bill. I'm still in the planning
> phases, and we are still trying to secure funding for this project. But I am
> relatively confident that PostgreSQL will rise to the occassion. Some of the
> plates in question are over 100 years old.
>
> New challenges, new opportunities. But still the same PostgreSQL.