Re: go for a script! / ex: PostgreSQL vs. MySQL

Hi,

Josh Berkus wrote:

> Nick,
>
> > I reckon do a system scan first, and parse the current PostgreSQL conf
> > file to figure out what the settings are. Also back it up with a date
> > and time appended to the end to make sure there is a backup before
> > overwriting the real conf file. Then a bunch of questions. What sort of
> > questions would need to be asked and which parameters would these
> > questions affect? So far, and from my limited understanding of the .conf
> > file, I reckon there should be the following
>
> Hmmm ... but I do think that there should be a file to store the user's
> previous answers. That way, the script can easily be re-run to fix config
> issues.
>
> > Here is your config of your hardware as detected. Is this correct ?
> >
> > This could potentially be several questions, i.e. one for proc, mem,
> > os, hdd etc
> > Would affect shared_buffers, sort_mem, effective_cache_size,
> > random_page_cost
>
> Actually, I think this would break down into:
> -- Are Proc & Mem correct? If not, type in correct values
> -- Is OS correct? If not, select from list
> -- Your HDD: is it:
> 1) IDE
> 2) Fast multi-disk SCSI or low-end RAID
> 3) Medium-to-high-end RAID
>
> Other things, we don't care about.
>
> > How was PostgreSQL compiled?
> >
> > This would be parameters such as the block size and a few other
> > compile time parameters. If we can get to some of these read-only
> > parameters than that would make this step easier, certainly for the new
> > recruits amongst us.
>
> Actually, from my perspective, we shouldn't bother with this; if an admin
> knows enough to set an alternate blaock size for PG, then they know enough to
> tweak the Conf file by hand. I think we should just issue a warning that
> this script:
> 1) does not work for anyone who is using non-default block sizes,
> 2) may not work well for anyone using unusual locales, optimization flags, or
> other non-default compile options except for language interfaces.
> 3) cannot produce good settings for embedded systems;
> 4) will not work well for systems which are extremely low on disk space,
> memory, or other resouces.
> Basically, the script only really needs to work for the people who are
> installing PostgreSQL with the default options or from RPM on regular server
> or workstation machines with plenty of disk space for normal database
> purposes. People who have more complicated setups can read the darned
> documentation and tune the conf file by hand.
>
> > Is PostgreSQL the only thing being run on this computer?
>
> First, becuase it affects a couple of other variables:
>
> What kind of database server are you expecting to run?
> A) Web Server (many small fast queries from many users, and not much update
> activity)
> B) Online Transaction Processing (OLTP) database (many small updates
> constantly from many users; think "accounting application").
> C) Online Analytical Reporting (OLAP) database (a few large and complicated
> read-only queries aggregating large quantites of data for display)
> D) Data Transformation tool (loading large amounts of data to process,
> transform, and output to other software)
> E) Mixed-Use Database Server (a little of all of the above)
> F) Workstation (installing this database on a user machine which also has a
> desktop, does word processing, etc.)
>
> If the user answers anything but (F), then we ask:
>
> Will you be running any other signficant software on this server, such as a
> web server, a Java runtime engine, or a reporting application? (yes|no)
>
> If yes, then:
>
> How much memory do you expect this other software, in total, to regularly use
> while PostgreSQL is in use? (# in MB; should offer default of 50% of the RAM
> scanned).
>
> > How are the clients going to connect?
> >
> > i.e. TCP or Unix sockets
>
> We should warn them that they will still need to configure pg_hba.conf.
>
> > How many clients can connect to this database at once?
> >
> > Affects max_connections
>
> Should add a parenthetical comment that for applications which use pooled
> connections, or intermittent connection, such as Web applications, the number
> of concurrent connections is often much lower than the number of concurrent
> users.
>
> > How many databases and how many tables in each database are going to be
> > present?
> >
> > Affects max_fsm_pages, checkpoint_segments, checkpoint_timeout
>
> Also need to ask if they have an idea of the total size of all databases, in
> MB or GB, which has a stronger relationship to those variables.
>

Why not to make a cron script that will detect this size fot hil self?In many
cases we do not have a good idea how many records(size) will be in data base.

> Also, this will give us a chance to check the free space on the PGDATA
> partition, and kick the user out with a warning if there is not at least
> 2xExpected Size available.
>
> > Do you want to vacuum you database regularly?
> >
> > Initial question for cron job
> >
> > It is recomended that you vacuum analyze every night, do you want to do
> > this?
> > It is also recomended that you vacuum full every month, do you want to
> > do this?
>
> Depends on size/type of database. For large OLTP databases, I recommend
> vacuum as often as every 5 mintues, analyze every hour, and Vacuum Full +
> Reindex once a week. For a workstation database, your frequencies are
> probably OK.
>
> --
> Josh Berkus
> Aglio Database Solutions
> San Francisco
>

regards,ivan.

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