0

It's basically a educational situation: We've got a Intel Celeron 2.5Ghz / 512 MB RAM / >40GB Hard Drive. We need to set up a basic SQL server for 5~15 LAN users with a >1GB database.

I can use debian, fedora, freeBSD, mandrake, opensuse, redhat, slackware, suse or ubuntu with firebird, mysql or postgreSQL.

[btw: it's a corporate decision, I can't pick anything else besides the one listed. What I can do is ask for support for another software - This is something that looks interesting since I believe that MariaDB w/ Slackware would be the best choice)

I basically need the most lightweight solution possible.

I'm thinking about Slackware with PostgreSQL, but I was wondering which one would be less dependent on hardware specs and easiest to manage, the traffic flow itself won't be very high but the database will have to up for tests for at least a semester or two before we can apply for a dedicated server..

marc_s
  • 732,580
  • 175
  • 1,330
  • 1,459
Johnny Bigoode
  • 578
  • 10
  • 31

1 Answers1

2

I recommend debian with mysql.

Debian because its a very widespread system for severs and you get tons of documentation so its easy to setup and maintain.

mysql because its simple and well documented.

Angelo Fuchs
  • 9,825
  • 1
  • 35
  • 72
  • 3
    I'd prefer Postgres over MySQL nowadays, because MySQL was first acquired by Sun and now by Oracle, previously one of their greatest competitors. PosgreSQL may be a more stable solutions in the future. – pvoosten Dec 08 '11 at 20:53
  • 1
    @lbp yeah I prefer postgres over MySQL usually as well, except for educational purposes. Here where I live surprisingly many younger students have elder siblings that know MySQL and can help them, but only very few have ones that know Postgres, so it makes the start easier. In every other situation, I would also prefer Postgres over MySQL. – Angelo Fuchs Dec 08 '11 at 20:57
  • If I started with MySql now and decided to go to PosgreSql later, would I have a lot of problems? The part that MySql is more simple than Posgres makes it much more atractive. At least for starters. – Johnny Bigoode Dec 08 '11 at 20:58
  • @JohnnyBigoode That depends on what you do with it. If "a lot of problems" mean its bad if it takes you more than two days, then: yes there are lots of problems. As long as you don't do very obscure things (which is unlikely in an educational situation) it should not be that hard. 90% of what you do is transferable. – Angelo Fuchs Dec 08 '11 at 21:01
  • @JohnnyBigoode I have to admit though that debian is not the most lightweight solution, but if I were you, I would ask myself more if I really have the need for that. Extremely lightweight solutions tend to be rather limited in possibilities or its harder to achieve certain results. Also if you want to have the extreme lightweight you should provide much more information on what you plan to do. If I were you I'd stick to the easier and not really much more heavyweight solution (btw. I think I mistyped your @ in my upper comment) – Angelo Fuchs Dec 08 '11 at 21:05
  • @Angelo Well, I can say already that I'll only be using the most basic function of SQL - really. I just want to make available some Access databases. Almost everyone will connect as read-only to the database and it will only be updated with new information once a day - at least until we can migrate all the VBA code to JAVA. None of the more obscure functions would be used at all, I'm just taking the first step to organize hundreds of Access databases that are spread across the company and make it acessible to everyone with ease. Would you have a specific debian distribution for this situation? – Johnny Bigoode Dec 08 '11 at 21:09
  • @AngeloNeuschitzer, I would really ask for a distro since it seems some distro require more than 20 cds (http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/6.0.3/i386/bt-cd/) – Johnny Bigoode Dec 08 '11 at 21:16
  • @JohnnyBigoode debian stable (squeeze at the moment) will do fine and for your situation its the best. For the usecase you describe you will face next-to-sero problems swiching from MySQL to Postgres at will. Also if you want to you can also add a php myadmin for your read-only users that is a comfortable browser based mysql tool – Angelo Fuchs Dec 08 '11 at 21:17
  • @AngeloNeuschitzer Well, Thanks for the help man! I'll get started on this first thing tomorrow. – Johnny Bigoode Dec 08 '11 at 21:19
  • @JohnnyBigoode I just read you '20 cds' comment: use squeeze netinstall. that way you get a console based server with nothing on it and can install whatever you want, when you want. You will need an internet connection though (or a lot of dvds.) – Angelo Fuchs Dec 08 '11 at 21:22
  • @AngeloNeuschitzer: especially for eduction purposes PostgreSQL is the better choice. MySQL gets so many things wrong with SQL. PostgreSQL is much more consistent while being closer to the standard and implementing a lot more (standard) SQL features. –  Dec 08 '11 at 22:07
  • @a_horse_with_no_name yes but at the beginning you don't must learn the RIGHT sql, but you must learn the idea behind it. And even MySQL is 90%+ SQL 99 compatible so its not that far from standard. Also the MySQL Community is more beginner friendly then the postgres one. – Angelo Fuchs Dec 08 '11 at 23:09