tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20038672.post9020189442541285742..comments2024-03-28T00:58:29.187-04:00Comments on Robert Haas: Choosing a DatastoreRobert Haashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08393677427643988650noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20038672.post-2300384748767673892010-10-15T10:09:06.189-04:002010-10-15T10:09:06.189-04:00I think any mention of scaling out with PostgreSQL...I think any mention of scaling out with PostgreSQL should at least mention that plproxy exists and is a reliable solution.dimhttp://tapoueh.org/blog.dim.htmlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20038672.post-82944689326511607552010-10-15T00:57:37.599-04:002010-10-15T00:57:37.599-04:00There's a well understood principle that the m...There's a well understood principle that the more safety you need the more you over-engineer things. If you're building a bridge you should design it to withstand much more stress than it might possibly bear. If it needs to bear a maximum load of 3000 tons, you build it bear, say, 10,000 tons. <br /><br />The same principle applies to software if it's running a pacemaker or controlling a nuclear power station. As we get away from things that could cost lives, the need to over-engineer gets fuzzier. <br /><br />Banks used to be paranoid about software correctness, but seem less so these days, sadly. And for many large data stores, a loss of service or coherence won't be a tragedy. If Google or Facebook lose track of a few nodes for a while, the world won't end. loss of coherence in secondary data stores like data warehouses doesn't matter as much either.<br /><br />Very few people will need shopping carts spread over large numbers of nodes, though. A single instance of PostgreSQL can handle a staggeringly large volume of sales transactions with ease. I strongly suspect many people are jumping into what Richard Hipp calls the Post-Modern Databases because it's sexy and has buzz, not for any great technical reason.Andrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12217888803221590278noreply@blogger.com