PostgreSQL vs. InnoDB performance

On a particular system, loading 1 million rows (100 bytes, nothing
fancy) into PostgreSQL one transaction at a time takes about 90
minutes.  Doing the same in MySQL/InnoDB takes about 3 minutes.  InnoDB
is supposed to have a similar level of functionality as far as the
storage manager is concerned, so I'm puzzled about how this can be.
Does anyone know whether InnoDB is taking some kind of questionable
shortcuts it doesn't tell me about?  The client interface is DBI.  This
particular test is supposed to simulate a lot of transactions happening
in a short time, so turning off autocommit is not relevant.

As you might imagine, it's hard to argue when the customer sees these
kinds of numbers.  So I'd take any FUD I can send back at them. :)

--
Peter Eisentraut
http://developer.postgresql.org/~petere/