Re: Slony vs Longiste

Jason Long wrote:
> I need to set up master vs slave replication.
>
> My use case is quite simple. I need to back up a small but fairly
> complex(30 MB data, 175 tables) DB remotely over T1 and be able to
> switch to that if the main server fails. The switch can even be a
> script run manually.
>
> Can someone either comment in as much detail as possible or point me to
> a comparison of Slony vs Longiste. Or some other option I have not
> heard of?

Three questions you need to ask yourself.
1. How heavily updated is the database?
2. How often do you change the database's schema?
3. Are there other databases in the installation?

If #1 is "very heavy" then you'll want to do some testing with any
solution you use.

If #2 is "a lot" then you'll want to consider WAL shipping as mentioned
below. Slony can handle schema changes, but you'll need to process them
through its own script. I'm afraid I can't comment on Londiste.

If you just want a backup and the answer to #3 is no, look at WAL
shipping (see the various archive_xxx config settings in the manual and
google a bit).

> From what I read Longiste is easy to set up while I got a quote for
> Slony setup for 5-10k.

Unless your requirements are strange, that seems a little high, even
assuming USD as a currency. Of course, if you want support and
maintenance that will tend to make things mount.

--
Richard Huxton
Archonet Ltd