[MUD-Dev] Is database access a bottleneck?

[Derek Licciardi]

From: bradley newton haug

> Okay, I'm sorry no...

> A flat file is not faster than a database.  In some isolated cases
> it can be, like cookie recipes and files under a meg in simple
> applications.  This fact is as old as databases themselves.  I am
> of course assuming that you save the files at some point.  In
> which case there isn't a single circumstance in which flat files
> are faster, period.  

As an Oracle DBA and a SQL Server 2K DBA, I always find it
interesting when the MMO crowd turns around and says MySQL or a flat
file system is the better solution.  I like to read that as, "My
executives didn't think that the data that supports our world was
valuable enough so we cut costs."  When you think about the data
that serves UO, EQ, and the rest of them and place it next to the
list of important things to your customer base, it should be clear
that your data is THE most important piece of the architecture.  I
would bet the patch serving and file management systems of many MMOs
are smarter and far more evolved than the databases.

The company that uses an enterprise level database within their game
has advantages that the home grown databases or MySQL simply cannot
match.  How does datawarehousing techniques used to correlate and
serve mobs with meaningful AI sound?  Could we implement more robust
NPCs using databases?  I think so.(Each NPC could have access to
megs of supporting data instead of a few Ks worth) I also think that
without them you severly limit your ability to process data in real
time.  Just because MUDs used flat files doesn't mean flat files
scale well.  Databases will handle your future 50GB, 100GB, 1TB
databases in ways your genius programmers could never hope to
achieve.(even given time, people and money)

As to the original question, its not the bottleneck but it could
very well become one as the worlds get larger, more detailed, and
smarter.  Derek

ps the two posts from Kressilac are mine in case anyone is wondering
where they came from.


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