Re: Best database for web backend on Linux?

On Mon, 19 Oct 1998 21:40:02 +0000, Evan Carew <ecarew_at_yahoo.com> wrote:
>In response to your functionality requirements, watch out for
>row-level-locking. This feature was resisted for years in Sybase for
>good reason, it sucks. Row-level-locking has been known to cut the
>performance of an otherwise zipy Oracle server down to glacial speeds.
>Generaly speaking, row-level-locking is regarded to be a design flaw
>anyway, so you probably don't want to rate that feature too highly.

And, on the other hand, trying to have large numbers of processes update DBs in the *absence* of row-level-locking can also 'suck badly.'

There doesn't seem to be any "free lunch" here:

• Page locking mandates rather less bookkeeping, and thus is definitely quicker, but locks more records, which is injurious to "other users."
• Row level locking is more costly, but minimizes the amount of "locked data."

Interestingly, Sybase is just about the only vendor that has resisted locking rows...

-- 
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cbbrowne_at_ntlug.org- <http//www.hex.net/~cbbrowne/lsf.html>