I was thinking this morning, how much work would it be to change the directory
structure of Postgres. 

from:

postgres/
	base/
		db1/
		db2/
		db3/
		...
	pg_xlog/

to

postgres/
	base/
		db1/
		db2/
		db3/
		...
	index/
		db1/
		db2/
		db3/
		...
	pg_xlog/

Or
postgres/
	base/
		db1/
			data/
			index/
		db2/
			data/
			index/
		db3/
			data/
			index/
		...
	pg_xlog/

This sort of arangment would allow putting indexes on separate volumes. If it
is a stupid idea, with little value or a huge amount of work, I take it back.
Seriously, however, does it make any sense?

Wed, 13 Jun 2001 08:35:16 -0400
mlw <markw@mohawksoft.com>
Indexing on a separate volume
On Wed, 13 Jun 2001, mlw wrote:

> I was thinking this morning, how much work would it be to change the directory
> structure of Postgres. 

Another useful change would be the addition of directory splitting in the
database directories. This will increase performance on operating systems
whose filesystem performance drops dramatically with a large number of
files (say, large objects) in a single directory.

Gavin


Wed, 13 Jun 2001 23:55:45 +1000 (EST)
Gavin Sherry <swm@linuxworld.com.au>
Re: Indexing on a separate volume


It is a good idea.  See the web-based TODO list under tablespaces for a
discussion.


> I was thinking this morning, how much work would it be to change the directory
> structure of Postgres. 
> 
> from:
> 
> postgres/
> 	base/
> 		db1/
> 		db2/
> 		db3/
> 		...
> 	pg_xlog/
> 
> to
> 
> postgres/
> 	base/
> 		db1/
> 		db2/
> 		db3/
> 		...
> 	index/
> 		db1/
> 		db2/
> 		db3/
> 		...
> 	pg_xlog/
> 
> Or
> postgres/
> 	base/
> 		db1/
> 			data/
> 			index/
> 		db2/
> 			data/
> 			index/
> 		db3/
> 			data/
> 			index/
> 		...
> 	pg_xlog/
> 
> This sort of arangment would allow putting indexes on separate volumes. If it
> is a stupid idea, with little value or a huge amount of work, I take it back.
> Seriously, however, does it make any sense?
> 
> ---------------------------(end of broadcast)---------------------------
> TIP 4: Don't 'kill -9' the postmaster
> 

-- 
  Bruce Momjian                        |  http://candle.pha.pa.us
  pgman@candle.pha.pa.us               |  (610) 853-3000
  +  If your life is a hard drive,     |  830 Blythe Avenue
  +  Christ can be your backup.        |  Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania 19026

Wed, 13 Jun 2001 10:01:00 -0400 (EDT)
Bruce Momjian <pgman@candle.pha.pa.us>
Re: Indexing on a separate volume
> On Wed, 13 Jun 2001, mlw wrote:
> 
> > I was thinking this morning, how much work would it be to change the directory
> > structure of Postgres. 
> 
> Another useful change would be the addition of directory splitting in the
> database directories. This will increase performance on operating systems
> whose filesystem performance drops dramatically with a large number of
> files (say, large objects) in a single directory.

Good news is that in 7.1 large objects are all in one file.  Again, see
the TODO.detail about tablespaces.

-- 
  Bruce Momjian                        |  http://candle.pha.pa.us
  pgman@candle.pha.pa.us               |  (610) 853-3000
  +  If your life is a hard drive,     |  830 Blythe Avenue
  +  Christ can be your backup.        |  Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania 19026

Wed, 13 Jun 2001 10:07:37 -0400 (EDT)
Bruce Momjian <pgman@candle.pha.pa.us>
Re: Indexing on a separate volume