[Zope] Newbie Questions on ZODB Scale

[Paul Winkler]

On Fri, Aug 29, 2003 at 09:33:47AM -0700, Robert B wrote:
> I have recently discovered Zope and like what I see.  I have some basic 
> questions on how the object database scales.  I come from a conventional 
> RDBMS background... DB2 and Oracle.
> 
> I would like to use the database for a content management solution, but 
> I am worried about how the database will scale and perform.
> 
> Where can I find documentation on how to administer the object database? 
>  Many of the links on http://www.zope.org on the ZODB are broken.
> 
> My concern is that, based on my cursory look, it seems that the object 
> database is stored in essentially one file on the file system. 

By default, yes, you get one FileStorage.

> What 
> happens when you outgrow that filesystem, or when you want to span disks 
>  in order to spread the load?

You look into the alternative storages:
http://cvs.zope.org/*checkout*/ZODB3/Doc/storages.html?rev=1.8

note that this document was written by the DirectoryStorage author
and is still missing some info about BerkelyStorage and much
info on APE.

Another option is DBTab which allows breaking up the zodb into
multiple "mounts". It may even be possible to use different kinds of
storage for each mount point.

> Or, if I am expecting a large amount of files stored in the database, 
> should I set up the server to store the files external to the object 
> database?

that's also possible... external content can be served through
zope via ExtFile, LocalFS, and FilesystemDirectoryView, which
offer different features / drawbacks. There are also various ways
to use a proxy server to reduce the need for zope to server large
files.  FSCacheManager is one interesting candidate:
http://www.zopezen.org/Members/zopista/News_Item.2003-08-15.5935

-- 

Paul Winkler
http://www.slinkp.com
Look! Up in the sky! It's PSUEDO FOOLICIOUS ROUST-TROUSERS!
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