PostgreSQL:
Taking E-Business Up a Notch
By Ned Lilly
Database management systems are central to Web-based businesses, constituting an $11.1 billion market in 1999, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC). Large proprietary vendors currently rule the marketplace, with Oracle, IBM, and Microsoft capturing more than 70 percent of sales last year. But open-source database systems are steadily growing more powerful, exhibiting performance and functionality that will soon equal that of the proprietary giants. Each of the three leading open-source database programs—PostgreSQL, InterBase, and MySQL—has an established user base and is well suited to specific business computing tasks. But PostgreSQL is arguably the most advanced relational database of the open-source options, and the best positioned to challenge the supremacy of the commercial leaders.
The Major Players
As Web-based companies begin to need more full-featured, powerful, and flexible technology systems, many are looking more closely at open-source options. From their operating systems and Web servers to their database management systems, a growing number of businesses find that open-source applications are not only ideally suited to
e-commerce, but also provide welcome alternatives to the exorbitant licensing fees and slow development cycles that typify proprietary
applications.
Of the open-source database options, PostgreSQL is the most robust, object-relational database management system. PostgreSQL, also known as Postgres, has been open source since its inception and evolves quickly due to the committed, active community of developers behind it.
