After installing a HAPI FHIR server, what database to use?

Question

I'm new to HAPI FHIR, I created a google cloud compute engine VM, installed java and maven, cloned the hapi-fhir-jpaserver-starter and installed it with : mvn install Then runned it to test in my server with : mvn jetty:run

Now I access it using : http://IP:8080/hapi-fhir-jpaserver and I get this page :

Now all the resources are empty (patients etc..) , I need to know :

1. Is this a good server for production ?
2. What Database the server is actually using and how to access it ?
3. What type of Database I must set up and how ?

Thanks

EDIT : I tried to install the hapi server using docker compose, I built the app with mvn clean install and ran the command docker-compose up -d --build but when the installation was finished I get the basic HAPI SERVER (the fresh one) not the version I edited and built.

Any ideas why ?

Answer 1

1. This s a question of opinion and isn't really an appropriate question to ask on this site. However, there certainly are many systems that do use HAPI in production.
2. It depends on which server. As per the documentation here, you can either use the 'plain' server and provide your own persistence layer or use the JPA server which uses JPA 2.0 with Derby as the default data store. Details about the database and its structure are defined in the aforementioned documentation
3. If you're not sure what to do and don't have an existing database you must use, it's probably simplest/wisest to stick with the JPA database as it's already properly configured and works pretty well.

Answer 2

1. This is an opinion question, so there is not a true right answer.

2. Having said that, I would stick with "known" setups.

https://smilecdr.com/docs/database_administration/database_design.html

Relationship between smilecdr and hapi

https://smilecdr.com/open-source.html

I am partial to Sql Server or Postgres.

I would not go with Oracle, unless my company is already heavily invested. See image later in this post.

https://docs.oracle.com/cd/B19306_01/server.102/b14200/statements_6014.htm

The command “Create Schema” ‘does not actually create a schema’. #makesPerfectSense But you automatically get a schema when you create a user.

Do what?? I am not a fan of Oracle. Some of it is historical, which is why I think MySql may be the ripped off bandaid.

=========================

2022 UPDATE.

SmileCDR has "discouraged" MySql.

https://smilecdr.com/docs/database_administration/setting_up_mysql.html

Note that as of 2021.11.R01, MySQL is discouraged for production use due to performance limitations of the database. SmileCDR will continue to support customers on this database, but if serious performance issues arise, we will suggest migrating to a more performant database.