I find myself in a situation that someone else must have got stuck in at some point.
Our company runs an in house MSSQL based database, our website then sits on an external server and currently runs MySQL. The problem comes that both databases need to communicate with each other increasingly often.
Our current solution involves SSIS packages but they are tempromental and often slow. We end up very often having to drop tables on our live production server before then rebuilding them from the in house server. Of course this is leading to data inconsistencies so we try and perform these operations outside of peak hours. However, this leads to 24hr delays in some data being transferred from MySQL to MSSQL and then an additional 24hr delay in getting it back to MySQL. None of this is ideal.
What I am looking for is a solution that will allow replication between our in-house MSSQL server and any database that can sit upon a linux box and play nicely with PHP. As I said, we currently run MySQL so we have a preference to any solution that would include that but all other suggestions would be greatfully received.
I've read somewhere that PostgreSQL is a vialbe solution but I am now struggling to find where I read that. I've come accross a few tools that might help such as DBMoto and Slony-I, does anyone have any experience of either in such a situation?
Alternatively, are we simply barking up the wrong tree altogether and should we be trying to integrate MSSQL into our PHP environment?
Any thoughts or suggestions would be gratefully recieved.
Many thanks
Rob
The best solution that i know and i have used for this kind of job is SymmetricDS .
SymmetricDS is an asynchronous data replication software package that
supports multiple subscribers and bi-directional synchronization.
You can access MSSQL servers from PHP using FreeTDS and the mssql_* family of functions (or classes built thereon, or alternative freetds-using extensions). We use this for our admin application, with a Linux/PHP website talking to a MSSQL database.
This has probably been asked before but I can't find it anywhere.
I have just found out that the mssql extension has been dumped from php (I know it was a while ago I'm a bit slow).
I have a legacy app that is using it and all the mssql_query etc functions. I'm wondering what the suggested route is?
PDO?
Microsofts Driver
Move to another DB?
I'm not entirely averse to moving to mysql since everytime I have to move boxes I have huge issues getting MSSQL to work correctly with php. Is old mysql extension still supported or do I need to move to PDO anyway?
Is there an easy way to move to PDO? Any suggestions welcome.
PDO is recommended anyway to abstract to DB connections, so if you go to MySQL I'd highly recommend using it. If you're on windows environments connecting to SQL server then the MS SQLSRV library is likely a good route to take. I have used the odbc_* functions when dealing MSSQL in the past with no problems, including calling stored procs as well as my own queries.
Another DB which didn't have OS lock in would be a good move too though. MySQL is ubiquitous, however don't rule out alternatives without doing some research first.
Can any one suggest me a good framework for working with SQL Server or Oracle.
Have you looked at the SQL Server and Oracle extensions for PHP? This would be the obvious way of working with SQL Server and Oracle from PHP.
You could also try the PDO extension for PHP. It provides a consistent interface for working with different database engines. It has support for both SQL Server and Oracle.
If you are looking for a way to connect to, and modify your database with PHP, something I use and recommend is the ADOdb library ( http://adodb.sourceforge.net/ )
It allows you to abstract the database calls and use common functions for your application that are not database specific. I like this approach as I work on multiple projects that have different database requirements and it allows my code to be more portable, meaning no matter what database I am using, the code never has to change if I want to reuse it.
It also helps with code consistency across projects, and over time will help you maintain those apps more efficiently as they using a "standard" way of doing things.
I'm getting a new project some time now and wanted to use PHP for this one, as I don't have the time to get started with MVC and absolutely hate C# for Webdev.
So I was thinking of going "back to my roots" and use PHP and PDO for that. Problem is, the Databases are all SQL Server 2003 and I don't quite know how well that is covered in PDO.
Does anybody have experience with this or should I go on getting ASP.NET-MVC into my head (Which I will do anyways, but this project needs fast deployment...)
The most common problem when using PHP and MSSQL is using an old (faulty) driver. Also, have a read of the comments on the PHP MSSQL manual page.
I don't know that PDO supports MS SQL, however I have successfully used the ADODB abstraction layer against both MS SQL 2000 and 2008 without issues. Your mileage may vary...
I am developing a big application using PHP. Is MySQL or SQL Server the best one to use?
Neither. Use PostgreSQL. :)
Honestly though, PostgreSQL scales much better than MySQL. I don't know what you mean by "enterprise", but I figure scaling is important for a "big" web application, as you put it, and PostgreSQL does that very well. MySQL can't handle too many concurrent connections. (Though if that isn't an issue for you, go with MySQL for ease of use.)
MySQL and PHP work well together. I'd recommend that combination.
I'd much rather choose an open-source solution rather than rely on MS. That said, you can go with PostgreSQL as well if you need to, or your requirements gear you toward it. We would need more details to know what you truly require.
While this is a bit subjective, I would suggest going with MySQL.
The reason I say this is because traditionally you see people go with a LAMP setup. LAMP of course being Linux + Apache + MySQL + PHP
PHP has some great build in functionality for dealing with MySQL Databases, therefore it may be easier for you. Then you'll also have the ability to do some web based work with PhpMyAdmin tying a web interface to your Database
Use the one you and your team has most experience in terms of both development and administration.
If you start from scratch, I would go with PostgreSQL.
Between your choices I would go for SQL Server, especially if you are working in Windows environment.
It will depend on your application's needs. I'm not especially well researched on the differences between the various SQL engines, but as far as I know, MySQL is faster for SELECT queries (if you have a predominantly read-only type app). On the other hand, MSSQL and PostgreSQL both have better support for transactions, and perhaps also better performance if you have lots of inserts/updates happening. Also, MSSQL and PostgreSQL are said to scale better, but there are various successful applications that seem to do fine with MySQL (Facebook and Flickr as examples).
MySQL and SQL Server Express are free for production use. In my view the best advice is to try them both and decide for yourself. A lot of folks can live quite happily with a lightweight RDBMS where solutions like MySQL/Express may be appropriate.
From a purely technical point of view all of the major RDBMS vendors (Oracle, Sybase, DB2, SQL Server et al.) are significantly more capable than MySQL is currently or can reasonably be expected to be in the foreseeable future.
This does not mean you should not use MySQL for a particular job. A good analogy is continuing to use a version of Microsoft office released years ago. For most people the old version does everything they would ever want even though the newer version is "better" and has more features.
MySQL is certainly better to work with PHP. But MS is putting a huge effort in better supporting PHP on Windows platforms.
SQL Server is DEFINITELY the better choice for large enterprise solutions since there's better cluster and management support. We use MySQL for cost reasons, but i would really like some easier management and cluster support.
On the other hand it's like with computers: many features you need to compare if they suit your needs - and your purse.
If you are doing a one-man-show: Step away from SQL Server. It is only suitable for enterprises. Take MySQL or PostgreSQL.
For most IT directors a big decision is going to be which can you get the best support for in your area / online / already have in-house and which can you get the most uptime for. Ongoing costs are usually higher than deployment costs so its probably not worth worrying about license costs; unless you are into ia64 or better type systems anyway when the CPU count starts to make SQL look eye-wateringly expensive.
It's like deciding what computer to get, they are by now pretty much the same no matter what brand you pick. It's pretty much the same for databases, they all support most of the things that you need for lightweight webapplications.
I have used MySQL to all my php applications so far and had no problems whatsoever. I have wanted to test out PostgreSQL several times but never got to it, but I have heard very good things about it. I never touch MS products however, so no opinion (Not that I am allergic, I'm just stingy.).