[Imusion]

Hi,

I have a question regarding server load in respects to using flat file database vs. a mysql database.

I have a member profile thing on my site where the user can change like a background color. Basically I'm having it so the script either opens up a text files with all the members information about what colors they are using then applying them. Or my second method would be to just store that info into a mySQL database then have the script query the database everytime a user visits the page, so it will display the right colors the member has chosen.

I was wondering which method would cause a bigger load on the server, or are both ways find. I'm leaning towards the mySQL database but I'm not sure if everytime a user visits the profile page and querying the data is efficent for the server.

If anyone can give me some insight on which method is more viable or even possibly suggestions on how I would make it more efficent I would appreciate it.

[Keith]

Anytime you're calling from a database - with equally efficient code - MySQL will always be faster and less stressful than flatfile.

[FiRe]

yes and more secure, wheras you can just download "filename.txt" its a lot more difficult to download the database info unless u exploit it in someway! I understand that most ppl r reluctant to use databases as I was, but it is so easy to manage and use over flatfiles!

[Keith]

Yeah, it took me a long time to let go of flat databases and move to MySQL, which honestly was stupid on my part.

[worshiploud]

I have big issues with MySQL.

The biggest thing is that the host has to have
MySQL available.

Then if you ever move from one host to another,
the database is hard to move unless you are an expert
or pay someone to move it.

I deal with a lot of churches who get free hosting
and it is very limited. I use flat files and keep everything
in one directory. If they ever move, they just copy the
directory and move it.

As for security, if a directory has propper security scripts
installed, it will be as secure as a MySQL DB.

If designed right, it is as fast as MySQL.

I try not to use MySQL just because the things that
make it secure and fast, also make it difficult to use,
modify, backup and restore..

Just an observation.

[Keith]

What's with all the old topics being dug up lately?

MySQL library commands (as well as pgsql, oci, etc...) are just as easy/difficult as using file library commands. But file handling simply cannot beat "UPDATE this WHERE this = this", etc...

Databases are extremely easy to backup, whether you prefer a web interface, like PHPMyAdmin or PHPMyBackup, or a Windows GUI, like SQLyog Free.

The same goes for restoring. I can have a database backed up and installed on another host in under a minute. In fact I just did this last night with about 6 databases while moving my hosting from hostgator to jaguarpc. Took me all of about 5 minutes.

And let's look at it on a larger scale. Say you have 3,000 (or 300,000, or 3,000,000) items and you want to page them out to show only 25 per page. With flat files you will almost certainly have to load all items into an array, loop through them till you come to the desired results, then display them... this can be pretty slow and eat up a lot of memory. With MySQL it's done effortlessly by appending a limit/offset to the query.

Even when using a relatively small database the processing time should at least be acknowledged. With a small database, the difference in efficiency will not be noticeable below a few milliseconds... but the overhead is still there, just on a smaller scale. And that's not even bringing into account all the extra code needed for flat databases to perform the identical task with SQL.

I'm not at all saying flat files are bad, but if you try to add any type of complexity to the app it can become a huge headache in comparison to SQL.