MariaDB vs PostgreSQL – What’s the Difference? (Pros and Cons)
SQL databases have been significant in advancing the storing and access of data. Structured data could be stored and accessed very simply at scale using these SQL databases, which accelerated enterprise operations. SQL databases served as the backbone of the online operations, as data was accessible at many stages. This made it critical for databases to work optimally to ensure that corporate activities run smoothly. To maintain a high-performing database, skilled DBAs are contacted and recruited regularly to do database performance optimization. With a plethora of diverse options available on the market, it is also critical to select the database that fits best for your business requirements. MariaDB vs PostgreSQL are two such SQL databases. In this post, we’ll compare the two databases and determine which one is better suited to your enterprise’s data.
What is MariaDB? - Pros and Cons
As a MySQL compatible drop-in replacement, MariaDB is an open-source relational database management system (RDBMS). On the 29th of October of 2009, the MariaDB Foundation published the inaugural version. There are a lot of new features in MariaDB, making it faster and more user-friendly than MySQL. The goal of MariaDB’s development was to be backwards compatible with MySQL while also replacing a number of essential parts. In order to store data, the system makes use of a storage engine called Aria. Checkout our guide on installing MariaDB Windows in the cloud.
MariaDB’s popularity as a database system can be attributed to a wide range of factors. One of its best attributes is how fast it is. There are tens of thousands of tables and billions of rows of data that MariaDB can handle with ease. Small businesses and individuals will find it useful for managing small amounts of data quickly and smoothly.
Text manipulation and formatting, business and statistical calculations, recording historical information, and special features such as GPS mapping are all included in MariaDB’s built-in functionalities.
MariaDB Use Cases
MariaDB can be used for standalone applications ranging from enterprise transactional and analytical systems to mobile devices embedded with other software, in addition to online use. MariaDB can be used on-premises or in the cloud.
MariaDB has the scale-out solutions you need when your site or application encounters big traffic spikes or rapid company development, thanks to its performance focus and threading model.
The storage engine, which manages queries and interfaces between a user’s SQL statements and the database’s back-end storage, is the most important piece of software in any database management system.
MariaDB provides a number of storage engines, each with its own set of benefits. Some of them are transaction-safe storage engines that allow data to be rolled back.
A Galera cluster add-on allows MariaDB to run many database servers simultaneously for improved performance and high availability. In many ways, MariaDB is like other systems in that it integrates seamlessly. MariaDB’s new encryption features and integration have elevated it to the status of a leading database. You can also read about installing MariaDB cloud on Linux
Many large companies, Linux distributions, and other platforms make use of MariaDB. Alibaba, Facebook, Google, Tencent, HP, Virgin Mobile, WordPress.com, and Wikipedia are just a few of the companies that use MariaDB.
MariaDB Pros
- Backward compatibility
- More storage engines
- Open-source
- Easy Installation
- Big Data support
- Columnar storage support for analytics
- Better Scaling features
- Supports replication of multiple sources
- Supports JSON features
- Supports Virtual Columns
- Eliminates Joins
MariaDB Cons
- It doesn’t offer a Password complexity plugin
- It doesn’t support Mem-cached interface
- It doesn’t offer Optimizer trace.
- Still not fully compatible with MySQL and requires some recoding while migrating from MySQL
- Protracted use of DB can make the central IDX log file quite large, which can make the database slow.
- Not efficient caching.
What is PostgreSQL? - Pros and Cons
PostgreSQL is a robust, open-source relational database management system. Due to its high stability, it delivers excellent performance with minimal maintenance. PostgreSQL was the first relational database management system (RDBMS) to include the multi-version concurrency control (MVCC) functionality.
A key feature of PostgreSQL’s object-relational database management system is the ease with which new data sources and extensions can be easily integrated into the system. PostgreSQL supports both reading and writing at fast rates. It enables PostgreSQL to process and adjust numerous read and write threads concurrently by providing concurrency without read/write locks.
The most frequently mentioned advantages of PostgreSQL is the efficiency of its central algorithm, which means it outperforms many databases marketed as more advanced. This is especially useful when working with large datasets, where I/O processes can become a bottleneck.
PostgreSQL’s scalability and great performance make it an excellent choice for large, complex database applications that require fast read and write speeds. PostgreSQL server has few performance constraints when properly configured. Many companies have created PostgreSQL-based products and solutions. Apple, Fujitsu, Red Hat, Cisco, Juniper Network, Instagram, and others are among the companies mentioned.
PostgreSQL Pros
- Open-source software
- Large Community to offer support
- SQL Standard Compliant
- Supports MVCC (Multi-Version Concurrency Control
- Supports dynamic websites and web apps development easily.
- Supports write-ahead logging.
- A fault-tolerant DB.
- Supports GIS (Geographic Information System) and Geolocation properties.
- Easy learning curve
- Low maintenance
PostgreSQL Cons
- As compared to other DB has a lower read speed.
- Not-so easy horizontal scaling
- It does not support column re-ordering
- Not suitable for humongous Data storage.
- Consumes more processing power and hardware resources. Each time PostgreSQL establishes a connection, it creates a new process with its own memory allocation, necessitating a large amount of memory on systems with many client connections.
- Data compression is not efficient.
- It does not support schema versioning
MariaDB vs PostgreSQL - Comparison Table
MariaDB
PostgreSQL
Parent Organization
MariaDB Corporation Ab, MariaDB Foundation
PostgreSQL Global Development Group
DB Type
RDBMS
RDBMS
First Release
29 October 2009
8 July 1996
Built-in
C, C++, Perl, Bash
C
License
GPLv2, LGPLv2.1
PostgreSQL License
Operating System Supported
Linux, Windows, macOS
macOS, Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD
Repository
https://github.com/MariaDB/server
https://git.postgresql.org/gitweb/?p=postgresql.git
Turnaround Time
slower
Faster
Data Type
Flexible. Autocorrects non-conformant data.
Strict. Will throw error if non-conformant data type is inserted.
Materialized Views
No
Yes
Partial Indexes
No
Yes
Partitioning
Yes
Yes
JSON Support
No direct support.
Yes
DB Size
small
big
In-memory features
Yes
No
Replication Strategy
- Master-master replication
- Master-slave replication.
Master-master replication
Partinioning Strategy
- Horizontal partitioning
- sharding with Spider storage engine and Galera cluster.
Done with range, list and hash.
Secondary Data Model
- Document store
- Graph DBMS.
Document store
Server-side scripting support
Yes
Yes, through user defined functions
MariaDB vs PostgreSQL Final Thoughts
Both MariaDB and PostgreSQL are well-known databases with a large developer community. It is critical to select a database that best meets your business requirements. Both open-source platforms have played critical roles in the enterprise data management landscape, albeit having their own set of advantages and disadvantages. Business requirements frequently play a significant impact in determining which database to use. It is always necessary to get expert advice from attentive DBAs who can recommend the best solution. With all of the above advantages and disadvantages in mind, it is up to a DBA to make the best decision, understanding the key business requirements and assigning priorities accordingly. PostgreSQL is a good choice if you want extensive functionality and speed. On the other hand, if you need database support for your website, apps, or multimedia platforms, database capacity is important. It’s usually a good idea to seek advice from a knowledgeable DBA before making a decision.
