Open Source Databases Comparison: MySQL, PostSQL and mSQL Features James Andrews
Saturday, May 29, 1999 01:36:47 PM
Supported Programming Languages
Just a note before we begin our feature comparison: C, Java, PHP and Perl are well supported on all the databases and free libraries are available to build applications. Other languages are supported too; check the lists on the respective database home pages.
mSQL
mSQL is run by a number of WWW hosting sites. The reasons are clear to see--it offers free entry level access to fast database services but is free to license and light on system resources. One way in which it preserves memory whilst keeping up speed is by using a 'single process engine'. This means that new connections to the database are at a low 'cost' to the system in terms of memory and CPU use. The drawback of this approach is that the number of simultaneous connections is limited to around 250 but often this will be enough. Find mSQL at http://www.hughes.com.au/.
mySQL
mySQL is built on top of a fast indexed sequential engine. It is faster than mSQL but it gains this extract speed by burning extra system resources. It is fully multi-threaded using kernel threads. That means it easily can use multiple CPUs if available. As well as excellent Linux support it also runs on most Unix systems and has a ODBC driver available. Support contracts are available from the company that wrote the program at very reasonable rates. Find mySQL at http://www.mysql.com/.
POSTgresql
From the POSTgreSQL Web page:
PostgreSQL is a sophisticated Object-Relational DBMS, supporting almost all SQL constructs, including subselects, transactions, and user-defined types and functions. It is the most advanced open-source database available anywhere.
POSTgreSQL is based on the commercial Ingres database system. Because of its roots as a teaching aid it does not have the blistering performance that MySQL boasts, but instead has focused on wide range of features. Find POSTgresql at http://www.postgresql.org/.
