PostgreSQL vs MySQL: Choosing Your Weapon in the 2010 Database Wars
Let’s address the elephant in the server room: Oracle bought Sun Microsystems earlier this year. For those of us managing LAMP stacks, that sent a shiver down the spine. Is MySQL going to remain the open-source champion, or will it slowly bleed out? While forks like MariaDB are gaining traction, most of you are still running yum install mysql-server on CentOS 5 and hoping for the best.
Meanwhile, PostgreSQL dropped version 9.0 in September. It’s no longer just the "academic" database; with built-in replication and hot standby, it is finally a viable contender for high-availability web clusters. But which one belongs on your VPS? I’ve spent the last month migrating a high-traffic forum from a crashing MyISAM setup to a tuned Postgres backend. Here is the reality of the situation.
The MySQL Reality: Speed vs. Reliability
MySQL is the default for a reason. It is ubiquitous. If you are running WordPress, Drupal, or Joomla, you are likely married to MySQL. Its primary strength in 2010 remains its read speed, specifically for simple queries.
However, the default storage engine, MyISAM, is a ticking time bomb for any serious application. It uses table-level locking. If one user writes to the wp_posts table, everyone else waits. On a high-traffic site, this creates a lock pile-up that spikes your load average instantly.
Pro Tip: If you stick with MySQL, you must switch to InnoDB immediately. It supports row-level locking and transactions (ACID compliance). Add this to your /etc/my.cnf to ensure you aren't starving your I/O:
[mysqld]
default-storage-engine = InnoDB
innodb_buffer_pool_size = 512M # Set this to 70-80% of available RAM on a dedicated DB server
innodb_flush_log_at_trx_commit = 2 # sacrifice a tiny bit of ACID for massive speed gains
The PostgreSQL 9.0 Revolution
PostgreSQL has always been the "strict" parent. It forces you to write better SQL. It supports complex joins and subqueries that would choke the MySQL optimizer. But until version 9.0, setting up replication was a nightmare involving Slony-I or risky shell scripts.
Now, with Streaming Replication, Postgres is ready for the enterprise. If your application handles financial data, complex analytics, or geospatial data (PostGIS is lightyears ahead of MySQL's GIS extensions), Postgres is the only professional choice.
I recently debugged a Magento export script that took 45 minutes on MySQL due to poor subquery optimization. Porting that logic to Postgres reduced the execution time to 4 minutes. The query planner in Postgres is simply smarter.
The Hidden Bottleneck: Disk I/O and Virtualization
Here is where most hosting companies in Norway fail you. You can spend weeks tuning your shared_buffers or query_cache_size, but if your underlying disk subsystem is slow, your database will crawl. Databases are I/O bound, not CPU bound.
Most budget VPS providers pile hundreds of customers onto a single SATA array. When your neighbor runs a backup, your database latency spikes. This is the "noisy neighbor" effect.
The CoolVDS Architecture
At CoolVDS, we refuse to play the overselling game. We use KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) virtualization. Unlike OpenVZ, KVM provides true hardware isolation. Your RAM is yours. Your kernel is yours.
More importantly, we utilize enterprise-grade SAS RAID-10 arrays with battery-backed cache units. For our high-performance tier, we are beginning to roll out early-generation SSD caching. This drastically reduces the iowait that kills database performance.
| Feature | MySQL 5.1 (InnoDB) | PostgreSQL 9.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Replication | Mature (Statement/Row based) | New Streaming Replication (Hot Standby) |
| Concurrency | Good (Row-level locking) | Excellent (MVCC) |
| Strictness | Loose (allows bad data/dates) | Strict (ACID compliant by default) |
| Ideal Use Case | Web CMS, Read-heavy Apps | Complex Apps, Financial, GIS |
The Norwegian Context: Latency and Law
Why host in Norway? Latency. If your customers are in Oslo or Bergen, hosting in Germany or the US adds 30-100ms of latency to every database round-trip. CoolVDS peers directly at NIX (Norwegian Internet Exchange), keeping ping times typically below 5ms within the country.
Furthermore, we must respect the Personopplysningsloven (Personal Data Act). The Datatilsynet (Data Inspectorate) is becoming increasingly strict about where sensitive data resides. Hosting your database on Norwegian soil simplifies compliance significantly compared to navigating the Safe Harbor chaos with US providers.
Final Verdict
If you are deploying a standard LAMP stack for a blog or simple brochure site, stick with MySQL 5.1 (but switch to InnoDB!). It is what your developers know.
However, if you are building a custom web application in 2010 that requires complex data relationships, or if you simply cannot afford data corruption, PostgreSQL 9.0 is the superior engine. Just ensure you aren't crippling it with cheap, shared storage.
Need to test the difference? Spin up a KVM instance on CoolVDS today. We offer a 99.9% uptime SLA and pure, dedicated resources that let your database breathe.