POSTGRESQL is an object-relational database developed on the Internet by a group of developers spread across the globe. It is an open-source alternative to commercial databases like Oracle and Informix.

POSTGRESQL was originally developed at the University of California at Berkeley. In 1996, a group began development of the database on the Internet. They use email to share ideas and file servers to share code. POSTGRESQL is now comparable to commercial databases in terms of features, performance, and reliability. It has transactions, views, stored procedures, and referential integrity constraints. It supports a large number of programming interfaces, including ODBC, Java (JDBC), TCL/TK, PHP, Perl, and Python. POSTGRESQL continues to improve at a tremendous pace thanks to a talented pool of Internet developers.

Performance Concepts

Keeping Information Near the CPU

POSTGRESQL Shared Buffer Cache

How Big Is Too Big?

Effects of Cache Size

Proper Sizing of Shared Buffer Cache

Sort Memory Batch Size

Cache Size and Sort Size

Disk Locality

Multiple Disk Spindles

Conclusion

Bruce Momjian

2001-12-17