Re: Humor me: Postgresql vs. MySql (esp. licensing)

> > It sounds like that is more a problem with improper operating protocols
> > than with the underlying database.
>
> No. Problem is machine was shutdown with shutdown -h. It sends sigterm to
> everybody. A good process would flsuh the buffers to disk before finishing.
> Mysql didn't on that occasion.

> Transactions or not, this behaviour is unacceptable for any serious app.

True, but was it because the shutdown scripts weren't set up properly
or does MySQL just not handle the 'kill' properly?  (I would consider the
latter a serious bug.)

I still fault the operations protocol, part of what should be done in
setting up a production shop is testing various shutdown options, and it
sounds like that wasn't done in advance or they would have known to build
in extra steps for shutting down MySQL.

> Do a shutdown -h on a live database machine with pg. It will gracefully shut
> itself down.

Is that true for all OS flavors and is it dependent upon the DBA having
set up proper shutdown scripts?

I'm not trying to be argumentative here or defending MySQL, just noting
that a shutdown process that isn't tested can cause problems even with
commercial databases.  And as someone who has to put up with MySQL on
occasion, I'm always looking for problem areas for the DBA.
--
Mike Nolan