"stone...@excite.com" <stone...@excite.com> wrote: > > > >stone...@excite.com wrote: > >> Hey all, > >> > >> My company is designing a database in which we intend to store data > >> for several customers. We are trying to decide if, > >> > >> A: we want to store all customer data in one set of tables with > >> customer_id fields separating the data or, > >> B: storing each customers data in a separate schema. > >> > >> I'd like to get some opinions on the pros and cons of these methods > >> concerning maintainability, scalability, and performance. > > > >MHO, that would depend on what this data is and how you use it. > > Yeah, I figured you might say that. > > >Id this your company's data on your business with these customers, like > >AR/AP transactions and so forth? Or is this data you're storing for > >these companies, data thats really 'theirs', and that won't be used > >together, such as their websites that you host ? > > I'd say that the data is more 'theirs' then ours. Customers' data shouldn't > be used together but we may occasionally compare customer data. I'll also > add that each customer should have a fairly significant amount of data.
If you're concerned about future-proofing your design, consider the fact that it will be much easier to break the system apart if it outgrows a single server and needs part of it to be moved to a separate server, if the data is naturally separate (i.e., in different schemas, or even different databases) -- Bill Moran http://www.potentialtech.com -- Sent via pgsql-general mailing list (pgsql-general@postgresql.org) To make changes to your subscription: http://www.postgresql.org/mailpref/pgsql-general