Re: Many small tables vs. Few big tables

Hans Forbrich (forbrich_at_tibalt.supernet.ab.ca) wrote:
> Douglas Sur wrote:
> >
> >
> > Given one system with many small tables versus a system with a few large
> > tables, which design is a more performance hog?
 

> Many answers to this one ... many more questions too.

Agreed. There is no simple answer to this question, but there is another spin on this besides physical database characteristics. Most performance problems relate to the way the application uses the database.

The number of tables in your schema should be proportional to the complexity of your data model. You will find performance problems arise from databases which have poor logical structure, are badly indexed, have inefficient joins or where critical SQL is poorly tuned in the application.

A database and application which are well tuned should be fairly scalable, even with large tables.

--

Greg.
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All hail the three great virtues of the programmer:
Laziness, impatience and hubris.

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