[DB-SIG] DBMS with easy administration and replication

[Lloyd Kvam]

Thanks for the very detailed reply.  The MySQL log based replication
has worked well.  The main issue was writing a "collector" to take
the logs from the remote locations and combine them into a single
replication stream for the central database.

 > As an off-topic bit of trivia, isn't using MySQL on 41 servers
 > expensive?  Or maybe your app is open source, or you get a volume discount?
Yes the application has a GPL.

David Rushby wrote:

> --- Lloyd Kvam <pythontutor at venix.com> wrote:
> 
>>There is no tech support at the remote locations, so database
>>administration must be minimal.  The central server is running
>>RedHat 9 Linux while the remote locations are running Win2k.
> 
> 
> Firebird's ease of administration is top notch, in part because its
> predecessor, Interbase, has long been included with Borland developer
> tools as an embedded database solution (these days, both are more
> typically run as a standalone server, AFAIK).  Obviously, embedded
> databases have stringent requirements for ease of administration.  I
> leave the Firebird server running for months at a time at client sites
> without anything but automated administration (for backups).
> 
> kinterbasdb also thickly wraps Firebird's administrative API (called
> the Services API), so you can perform administrative tasks like backup
> and restore from a Pythonic API instead of scripting command line
> tools.
> 
> 
>>Everything works reasonably well, but I am curious as to whether
>>I could make this work with another DBMS.  Firebird seems like 
>>a possible candidate.
>>I could not find any details about replication on the Firebird
>>web site.
> 
> 
> AFAIK, the Firebird core engine contains no support for replication.
> 
> I know of a few third-party, bolt-on solutions that provide
> asynchronous master/slave replication, usually implemented via
> triggers.  They look pretty lame compared to Oracle-level replication.
> 
> Here's one open source bolt-on replicator (in "early beta"):
>   http://fibre.sourceforge.net/
> 
> and two commercial ones:
>   http://www.ibphoenix.com/a415.htm
>   http://www.2p.cz/en/ibrepl/
> 
> I haven't used any of these, so I can't comment on how well they work.
> 
> ---
> 
> As far as the other open source relational databases, neither
> PostgreSQL nor SAPDB has built-in replication support, though in the
> case of PostgreSQL, there are some bolt-on implementations similar to
> those available for Firebird.
> 
> However, replication is high on the PostgreSQL to-do list:
>   http://developer.postgresql.org/todo.php
> PostgreSQL's proposed replication includes features such as
> multi-master replication, cross-server data partitioning, and
> replication over non-persistent links.  I applaud them for aiming to
> provide a featureful implementation rather than something simplistic. 
> MySQL supports only asynchronous master/slave replication, which is
> just the tip of the iceberg.  Who knows when PostgreSQL's support will
> arrive, though--they haven't even finished adding two-phase commit
> support yet.
> 
> ---
> 
> As an off-topic bit of trivia, isn't using MySQL on 41 servers
> expensive?  Or maybe your app is open source, or you get a volume discount?
> 
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-- 
Lloyd Kvam
Venix Corp.
1 Court Street, Suite 378
Lebanon, NH 03766-1358

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