New PostgreSQL Appliances

A cool development for the Postgres community is the new Turnkey Appliances for PostgreSQL:

We just released TurnKey PostgreSQL, an easy-to-use, lightweight, installable live CD of the PostgreSQL relational database engine that can run on real hardware in addition to most types of virtual machines. It features a Mac OS X-themed Web management interface and a Python configuration and installation console. It is based on Ubuntu 8.04.1 Hardy LTS, and is designed to provide users with a pre-integrated, automatically updated, turn-key operating system environment that is carefully built from the ground up with the minimum components needed to run PostgreSQL with maximum usability, efficiency, and security.

In a nutshell, this new download is an installable live CD that will run on standard servers or under virtualization in a 152mb package. It comes with a web-based console and will let anyone try out a fully functioning Postgres server with minimal effort. It should be useful in comparing multiple database platforms when judging which is the best fit for a particular project or in testing for cross-platform compatibility.

Speaking of comparisons, I also gleaned this link and found that even my own stereotypes of MySQL vs. PostgreSQL are based on old versions. While MySQL has added new features, Postgres has become much faster and there are many other convergences in this comparison. The most interesting is when you compare apples-to-apples with MySQL’s InnoDB vs. PostgreSQL, PG is often faster.