Re: IBM/DB2 PostgreSQL FUD?

> Last week, I got some DB2 literature from IBM. (I didn't ask for it,
all
> I wanted was a CD with the software, but I guess they saw fit to send
me
> the whole thing.) In this literature was a guide titled, "Why DB2 vs.
> Open Source Databases Sales Guide".
>
> The guide mostly concentrated on MySQL, but they did have one
paragraph
> about PostgreSQL. They noted that SourceForge started off using
> PostgreSQL, but when the site grew it "crashed 4 to 5 times per day"
under
> the increased workload as more people put their projects on SF. They
of
> course then went on to praise how DB2 handles heavy workloads.
>
> Can anyone provide details on this? Were the servers misconfigured?
I've
> run into situations where the postgres server will stop responding if
the
> disk fills to capacity. We should prepare something to respond to
this.

Off the top of my head they are quoting the article from Tim Perdue
comparing mysql and postgres (google: mysql postgresql comparioson).
The version was some 7.0.x version. They neglected to summarize his
follow-up which was a big win for pg. However, it's from a non biased
source, and is well documented. I agree that a rebuttal should be ready
at will.

Merlin

On Mon, 2004-07-12 at 17:07, Merlin Moncure wrote:
>
> > Last week, I got some DB2 literature from IBM. (I didn't ask for it,
> all
> > I wanted was a CD with the software, but I guess they saw fit to send
> me
> > the whole thing.) In this literature was a guide titled, "Why DB2 vs.
> > Open Source Databases Sales Guide".
> >
> > The guide mostly concentrated on MySQL, but they did have one
> paragraph
> > about PostgreSQL. They noted that SourceForge started off using
> > PostgreSQL, but when the site grew it "crashed 4 to 5 times per day"
> under
> > the increased workload as more people put their projects on SF. They
> of
> > course then went on to praise how DB2 handles heavy workloads.
> >
> > Can anyone provide details on this? Were the servers misconfigured?
> I've
> > run into situations where the postgres server will stop responding if
> the
> > disk fills to capacity. We should prepare something to respond to
> this.
>
> Off the top of my head they are quoting the article from Tim Perdue
> comparing mysql and postgres (google: mysql postgresql comparioson).
> The version was some 7.0.x version. They neglected to summarize his
> follow-up which was a big win for pg. However, it's from a non biased
> source, and is well documented. I agree that a rebuttal should be ready
> at will.
>

A better rebuttal would be the shareholders information given out at the
time to VA stock holders that showed the agreement where IBM would
invest in VA and VA would switch to DB2. Course that's probably private
corporate information that can't be shared.

Robert Treat
--
Build A Brighter Lamp :: Linux Apache {middleware} PostgreSQL

People:

> > Can anyone provide details on this?  Were the servers misconfigured?
> I've
> > run into situations where the postgres server will stop responding if
> the
> > disk fills to capacity.  We should prepare something to respond to
> this.

I'm also pretty sure that they laid off their PostgreSQL support staff
*before* the switchover to DB2; as you can imagine, they ran into some
problems in the interval.

Merlin, if you can actually provide a link, I'm sure that Tim P. would be
happy to give us a statement refuting IBM's interpretation.

--
-Josh Berkus
Aglio Database Solutions
San Francisco

Robert,

> A better rebuttal would be the shareholders information given out at the
> time to VA stock holders that showed the agreement where IBM would
> invest in VA and VA would switch to DB2. Course that's probably private
> corporate information that can't be shared.

Oh, you won't get that. But you can very well get a coincidence of timing
from the IBM investment and the date of the switchover. Just google the
news.

--
-Josh Berkus
Aglio Database Solutions
San Francisco