Database Sensei Brian 'Krow' Aker Answers Your Questions

So, let me get this straight: you (mySQL) use a dolphin to fetch data while PostgreSQL uses an elephant to fetch data. Would that explain why PostgreSQL is better at fetching large datasets? Like, the elephant can haul more, but is slower while the dolphin is faster, but can't carry as well? Have you thought about using a non-animal to fetch your data? Maybe a racecar? Those are fast and could probably haul as much as an elephant. Plus, then I wouldn't need to have fish or peanuts in my server room.

Dbdeploy - A Database Change Management tool

What?

dbdeploy is a Database Change Management tool. It’s for developers or
DBAs who want to evolve their database design - or refactor their
database - in a simple, controlled, flexible and frequent manner.
Why?

The recurring problem with database development is that at some point
you’ll need to upgrade an existing database and preserve its content.
In development environments it’s often possible (even desirable) to
blow away the database and rebuild from scratch as often as the code
is rebuilt but this approach cannot be taken forward into more
controlled environments such as QA, UAT and Production.
How?

Drawing from our experiences, we’ve found that one of the easiest ways
to allow people to change the database is by using version-controlled
SQL delta scripts. We’ve also found it beneficial to ensure that the
scripts used to build development environments are the exact same used
in QA, UAT and production. Maintaining and making use of these deltas can
quickly become a significant overhead - dbdeploy aims to address this.

The Virtual Database Tier

In this Artima interview, JBoss CTO Sacha Labourey explains the concept of a virtual database tier, and how virtual database tools can help access data from multiple legacy databases.