The width of the memory bus is likely to be larger with a 64-bit machine than a 32-bit machine, and that is a big factor for database applications. But peak memory bandwidth numbers published by manufacturers are not as useful as actual measured benchmarks for your type of problem.
PostgreSQL is great for scientific databases. In the past, many database systems were good at simple business applications, but almost none were good for scientific applications.
douglas
Fred Moyer wrote:
I don't think you're out of touch - I think the people I'm trying to convince are. The crux of the problem I am dealing with is putting forth a robust argument for scaling PostgreSQL with 64 bit machines for increasing database sizes - Opteron was a natural choice because it is an inexpensive 64-bit machine. The MySQL argument was put forth by non-technical people who are have not thoroughly evaluated the differences between the two and have been swayed by marketing arguments.
I guess what I am looking for here are real-world scenarios where PostgreSQL has been scaled using 64-bit. I as the technical person know the performance and scalability differences between running large datasets on 64 bit versus 32 bit machines and can put forth technical reasons for scaling Postgres as such - real world examples of it would validate my arguments.
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