Understanding the DBMS Products
PSQL is available in different versions. The major differences between the versions are price, multiuser features, and the licensing model used.
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PSQL Workgroup is the least expensive, but it provides support only for small workgroup environments.
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PSQL Server is designed for maximum scalability in high-volume, mission critical database applications where there is a dedicated database server. The Server engine quickly becomes most economical as you increase the number of users.
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PSQL Vx Server engine has the same capabilities as PSQL Server, and its license model is designed to support service bureau, software-as-a-service, or other multiplexed environments.
The database engine in all of the versions is fully compatible with any PSQL database, and was designed with a common architecture. To upgrade from Workgroup to Server typically requires no changes to your application or to your database. Simply install the new version and you are ready to go. Because PSQL Vx Server uses a different license model, it requires a full installation. You cannot upgrade PSQL Server or Workgroup to PSQL Vx Server.
PSQL Workgroup
PSQL Workgroup offers a peer-to-peer network setup designed for stand-alone single-user installations up to small workgroups. The Workgroup engine is the only engine that offers multiuser access to PSQL data located on a computer where no database engine is installed.
A major difference between Workgroup and Server is the Gateway feature of Workgroup. When there is no database engine running on the computer where the data is located, normally the first database engine to connect to that data handles all requests from other engines to access that data. This feature can be configured so that the same Workgroup engine always services that data, or the Gateway designation can be allowed to “float” based on which Workgroup engine connects to the data first during any given work day.
The Workgroup product uses the concurrent user licensing model. See License Models.
PSQL Server
PSQL Server offers a full client/server architecture providing excellent performance and scalability for up to thousands of concurrent users. The Server engine can be monitored and configured remotely. No additional license is required for use with hypervisor features such as live migration, failover, fault tolerance (FT), high availability (HA), and disaster recovery.
The Server engine must be located on the same computer as the data files it is intended to access.
PSQL Server uses the concurrent user licensing model. See License Models.
PSQL Vx Server
PSQL Vx Server has the same capabilities as PSQL Server, except that its license model supports service bureau, software-as-a-service, or other environments with multiplexed clients. PSQL Vx Server has no restrictions on hosting, connection pooling, Internet or intranet use.
PSQL Vx Server uses the capacity-based licensing model. See License Models.
Because PSQL Vx Server is built on technology used for PSQL Server, it shares most of the database functionality and documentation of PSQL Server. Throughout the PSQL documentation, all topics for PSQL Server also apply to PSQL Vx Server unless differences are explicitly cited.
Crystal Reports for PSQL
Crystal Reports is an optional product that provides rich capabilities for creating and formatting reports based on PSQL databases. Reports can be customized in thousands of ways and published as HTML, Microsoft Word document, Microsoft Excel document, or other formats.
For more information about Crystal Reports, contact your sales representative or visit the Actian PSQL website.