In contrast to many other databases, such as Oracle, PostgreSQL is designed to run even on very slow machines that provide only a few megabytes of memory. This does not mean that PostgreSQL does not perform well on strong machines. Depending on the machine you want to run PostgreSQL on, the database system can be tuned very effectively to reach maximum performance. The minimum amount of memory available cannot be evaluated because it is hardware- and compiler-dependent. Different compilers generate different code on every system, and therefore the core binaries that the database has to keep in memory are not always the same size . In general, the more memory you have, the faster your system will work and the more queries can be run simultaneously . There is also no minimum clock frequency your processor has to provide. The faster your processor is, the more performance can be achieved (depending on the quality of your compiler, of course). PostgreSQL is available for a variety of different microprocessors and for a lot of operating systems, such as Linux, Solaris, and Microsoft Windows. PostgreSQL has been written in C, so the source code is portable. Table 2.1 lists all the systems PostgreSQL has been tested with. " Tested " means that PostgreSQL can be compiled successfully and that all regression tests can be executed without any problems. Table 2.1 is taken from the PostgreSQL Web site. Table 2.1. Systems with Which PostgreSQL Has Been Tested
Some platforms are not officially supported by the PostgreSQL developers team. However, it has been reported that some platforms not listed in the table are capable of running PostgreSQL. In some cases, there is no official guarantee that the latest version of PostgreSQL can be run; but the fact that previous versions of PostgreSQL worked indicates that you have a good chance to run PostgreSQL on one of them. These platforms are listed in Table 2.2 (also taken from the PostgreSQL developers Web site). The column labeled Version tells you which version of PostgreSQL has already been run on the platforms listed in this table. Table 2.2. Platforms on Which to Run PostgreSQL
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