Using PostGres general distribution

["Mike Gould" <mgould(at)allcoast(dot)net>]

We currently use SQL Anywhere 9.0.2 as our database in our current product.  The main reason is the low maintenance that is required and the installation is a breeze.  All we need to do is to ship 3 dll's and a db and log file.
I understand that with PostGres that the installation will end up being much more complex, however that doesn't really worry me as much as how much "administration" of the database is needed.  SQL Anywhere has an event processor built in to make doing database backups while the system is online very easy.  We also are able to do certain types of maintenance such as selective reorganize of tables, automatically adding additional free space at night so that it doesn't affect performance during processing hours and many other functions.

If we had 1500 customers running our system with PostGres and we have little control over the server hardware, the OS the customer would be running the db on, is Postgres the appropriate choice or is this going to be a maintenance nightmare?  How self sufficient is Postgres?

Best Regards,

Michael Gould, Manager Information Technology
All Coast Intermodal Services, Inc.
First Coast Intermodal Services, Inc.
First Coast Logistical Services, LLC.
904-226-0978