[Zope] ZEO app architecture options

[Jimmie Houchin]

Hello,

In light of ZEO becoming open source, I'm still extremely excited, I
want to revisit some questions I threw out in a previous thread about
Zope's scalability.

Can I architect a website like this using different Zope Storage Servers
for the various directories or 'would be' tables in an RDBMS? Yes, I
understand the impact of the OS filesystem concerning ZODB size.

Say for example I have a large database. Like this:

ZAuto
ZAuto/parts/
ZAuto/manufacturers/
ZAuto/distributors/
ZAuto/distributors/...(orders, address, preferences, etc.)
ZAuto/resellers/...(orders, address, preferences, etc.)
...

Let's say that ZAuto/parts is a 5+gb directory which is reasonably
stable updated monthly.
ZAuto/manufacturers isn't as large but is also stable with periodic
updates.
ZAuto/distributors and ZAuto/resellers are much more dynamic with
changes and additions.

ZAuto/parts could be optimized for search performance. It only needs to
be backed up periodically when bulk changes are made. It will relatively
almost never need packed. It could sit on it's own drive, own machine,
etc.

It would be nice to be able to partition the database into
stable/volatile files. Since the stable partition is also the largest,
it seems this would also help performance of the more dynamic section.


Also, when comments are made about Zope's ZODB or ZSS not being
appropriate for heavy write apps, does this refer to apps doing
"updates" on objects or doing "inserts" or both using SQL terminology?

Would structuring an app like above help in write situations?

I am trying to determine the desirability or necessity of an RDBMS for
my idea. I like keeping it in Zope if reasonable and ZEO can definitely
help. If need be I'll go to an RDBMS for certain data.

Thanks for any help or clues.

Jimmie Houchin