mysql or txt to store data

[mcshen]

i have some randome data to display on my website. which method should i use? mysql or txt? which one is faster and uses less system resources.

thank you.

[maxpup979]

I want a car. Which one is best?

It depends on the situation. Cases can be made for either text files, or DBs, depending on the situation.

[m_tt]

Don't compare a viper to a honda... use mysql.

[Sxooter]

Wow, you really didn't get it, did you?

Some things a dodge viper is great at (spinning out, cornering like the large, overpowered, under finessed highway gobbler it is, breaking down, guzzling gas, making your mechanic rich, having tires that cost more each than a complete set including custom rims for a honda, making up for a small penis, you get the idea) but it doesn't always beat the Honda in every catagory.

Maybe it's best to have one of each, and use the right tool for the job. Huh, that would be a novel plan, wouldn't it?

My suggestion is store the FILES you wanna display randomly in the file system, and store the names of the files and any other info (weighting data etc...) in the database.

And I'd recommend getting a real database, not a toy, so go for it and install something like Postgresql or Interbase. Why drive a Viper when you can have a GT-40. Now that's a car. Even if it is a Ford. Eat a Viper with half it's cylinders tied behind it's back it will!

[m_tt]

Originally posted by Sxooter
And I'd recommend getting a real database, not a toy, so go for it and install something like Postgresql or Interbase.

I've never tried Interbase but PostgreSQL is a huge downgrade. It has some nice features that MySQL doesn't (yet) but I highly recommend MySQL over PostgreSQL ANY DAY OF THE WEEK.

[Sxooter]

Back up your words. Why is Postgresql a "downgrade"? Because it has constraints? Triggers? Stored Procs? functional indexes? Write ahead logging that GUARANTEES your data integrity in emergency power down situations? Because it doesn't run as root, therefore doesn't have a a root exploit fix every couple of months? Because it can handle hundreds of updates at the same time while handling hundreds of selects? Because three versions back MySQL was still faster?

I think you're talking crap outta yer ass mister, and you have nothing to back up your words but emotion.

[FrozNic]

haha k, the point of the post isn't to compare and contrast gay d-b's! i've used mysql and access. that's it, i'm not a novice, i don't pretend to know how to control the world. to compare text files against posting to a db, here's your concerns.

how secure do you want your data? if you throw data in a text file inside your root web folder, anyone can browse your data (given no security measures on those files) hence pulling from www.whatever.com/textfile.txt is going to make it so anyone can read that file. whereas, storing that file in a non-readable place EXCEPT by the webserver. then this would be an ideal security measure! posting in c:\news\textfile.txt and storing the filenames in the dbase would surely ascertain your security. HOWEVER, i simply suggest throwing in chunks of data into a dbase and pulling it out whenever. security wise. i think probly both methods are the same. just depends on how gritty you want to get into mysql. file manipulation is pretty easy with php but editing text files can be a real pain sometimes. but i suppose a simple news site or simple data, would be just fine for the above idea. it's kind of whatever you'd like to do, as long as you do it right for security reasons. mysql is less hassle for more security but whatever you want!

haha k, the point of the post isn't to compare and contrast gay d-b's! i've used mysql and access. that's it, i'm not a novice, i don't pretend to know how to control the world. to compare text files against posting to a db, here's your concerns.

how secure do you want your data? if you throw data in a text file inside your root web folder, anyone can browse your data (given no security measures on those files) hence pulling from www.whatever.com/textfile.txt is going to make it so anyone can read that file. whereas, storing that file in a non-readable place EXCEPT by the webserver. then this would be an ideal security measure! posting in c:\news\textfile.txt and storing the filenames in the dbase would surely ascertain your security. HOWEVER, i simply suggest throwing in chunks of data into a dbase and pulling it out whenever. security wise. i think probly both methods are the same. just depends on how gritty you want to get into mysql. file manipulation is pretty easy with php but editing text files can be a real pain sometimes. but i suppose a simple news site or simple data, would be just fine for the above idea. it's kind of whatever you'd like to do, as long as you do it right for security reasons. mysql is less hassle for more security but whatever you want!

and to answer your 2 other questions...

speed i suppose is going to be about the same, and i believe both can handle multiple threads in great abundance, but, there is a limit with mysql i know, i believe it's something like 50 or 200 i can't remember for sure, and i'm not sure about file threads in windows or any other os'. i think it's safe to say, you probly won't have 200 concurrent users trying to pull something out of the db in 5 milliseconds all at the same time.

system resource wise, i think that running threads to the db is going to be faster, and it won't bog down your system, as opposed to multiple reads/writes to a file or mulitple files.

[Sxooter]

Exactly FrozNic, exactly.

Sorry to mattc that my post came across so angrily, but it pisses me off when some says that X is always better than Y for everything.

It almost never occurs that one piece of software can solve all the problems in it's general field better than all other examples. The only time that happens is when the field is old and narrowly defined.

Text files are a great way of serving random ad or page data. Apache does all the caching for you, and all you need to do is store a directory list of what the filenames are. I.e. you can have a table like this:

create table ad_info (
  file text,
  client int references clients (client_id),
  id serial
);
insert into table values ('ads/ad1.html',1);
insert into table values ('ads/ad2.html',3);
insert into table values ('ads/ad5.html',6);
insert into table values ('ads/ad4.html',3);
insert into table values ('ads/ad3.html',9);
insert into table values ('ads/ad33.html',102938);

And then you just punch it through with a short program like the online PHP docs' example for serving pdfs:

<?php
$conn = #you connect string here#;
$weighted_client_id = some_formula_you_cooked_up_late_at_night();
$query = "Select * from values where client = $weighted_client_id order by random() limit 1";
$fn = result($conn,0,'filename');
$path = "/your/absolute/path/to/the/ads/";
$filename = $path.$fn
$len = filesize($filename);
header("Content-type: application/pdf");
header("Content-Length: $len");
header("Content-Disposition: inline; filename=foo.pdf");
readfile($filename);
?>

The advantage here is that apache and the kernel will cache the files that are accessed most, while your database will only be using it's cache to keep track of a the values table, which itself is probably only a few hundred k at max.

There are some issues that come up with running load balanced servers that favor one side or the other (database versus file system) but if you're not likely to need to load balance, then you may well find that storing files as files and storing only references in the database provides much better scalability. Test it to be sure, I know I have. :-)

[Sxooter]

Oh, another thing you can do is skip the database altogether. If you're talking <10,000 files to choose from randomly and show, it's real easy to do in php. For small numbers of files (<100 lines) it doesn't matter how you do it, it's hard to make something slow. Here's a brain dead simple implementation:

<?php
$list_o_files = "/hidden/list_o_files.txt";
$fp = fopen($list_o_files,"r");
$body = fread($fp,filesize($list_o_files));
fclose($fp);
$lines = split("\n",$body);
$count = count($lines);
/* initialize the random thingie here...  */
$num = rand(0,$count-1);  # I think we need to chop off one, not sure... :-)
$filename = lines[$num];

/* Insert code from previous post here to display the file */

?>

[mcshen]

cool stuff!
thx.

[jerdo]

I beg to differ Xshooter. The latest app I'm working solves all problems, not just computer related ones but all the worlds troubles. Only problem is that it's in alpha and I found a bug that actual might have opened a portal to hell. Oh well I can always release it as is and then leak an internal memo that I'm going to increase security and stability in my products and release 7 patches a week. That should help my company become the largest software company in the world, no?

[FrozNic]

LOL, 7 a week eh? just send em the backup folder everynight and you'll be set 😉 hey, they're new versions of the software even if all you did was change one line to bold text 😃

[Sxooter]

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