How does PostgreSQL's scaling compare to MongoDB?

Question

I know a fair about about how amazingly scalable MongoDB is, particularly with its auto-sharding, and the ability to hot-add servers to a cluster.

However, I haven't found much data about PostgreSQL's scalability. I know it has tablespaces, much like other RDBMSs. Can it auto-grow these (like sharding)? Or is it a manual process like in SQL Server?

Does anyone know where I can get more data on this?

What are your requirments? Your comparing a family mini-van to a bus here. And asking which one gets from point a to b faster. Well that depends if you are carrying 120 people. That depends on how safe of a ride you want for the people in the vehicle. It depends on how much gas you want to spend on a trip. My point being is such a high level question has no real valid answer for this question because there are too many IF'S. Also MongoDB and PostgreSQL have been designed for different goals. Though some things cross over in both most things do not. — Kuberchaun
– Kuberchaun, Commented Nov 6, 2010 at 1:29
@StarShip3000 I understand your comment. I am merely asking a technical question. My requirements are irrelevant, really. I just want to know how PostgreSQL, on a technical level, compares to MongoDB in terms of scaling. I know MongoDB isn't ACID (hence safety). I know it's an average of 7X faster than PostgreSQL (with no transactions, we'd expect that). But I also know MongoDB will auto-shard. I am asking in PostgreSQL has any such auto growth skills. — IamIC
– IamIC, Commented Nov 6, 2010 at 16:57
Postgresql table spaces are not pre-sized like in SQL Server. PostgreSQL table spaces will auto grow unresricted, until the file system under it runs out of space. — Kuberchaun
– Kuberchaun, Commented Nov 7, 2010 at 15:21
And I take it tables can be clustered across multiple storage devices? — IamIC
– IamIC, Commented Nov 8, 2010 at 10:19
"I know it's an average of 7X faster than PostgreSQL" Thats a bold statement. And werry wrong. I know insert speed is more or less the same when you turn of fsync and use async request to PostgreSQL. — Björn Blomqvist
– Björn Blomqvist, Commented Mar 4, 2012 at 11:58

Frank Heikens · Accepted Answer · 2010-11-05 17:37:18Z

9

Check this presentation from Skype about their cluster. It should be able to handle a billion users.

answered Nov 5, 2010 at 17:37

Frank Heikens

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