Php/MySQL to ASP.NET/SQL Server, Suggest if its worth the trouble.

Question

We have been using PHP/MySQL for our web application which has been growing a lot, the database is around 4-5GB and one of the table is 2GB sometimes, hence slowing down whenever any queries to that table is called.

Should we just try to optimize, or are we using MySQL above its limit? Will switching our web app to .NET/SQL Server resolve the issues?

Answer 1

You're going to get a lot of very passionate responses to this.

PHP is, from a code and performance standpoint, very similar to classic ASP. ASP.NET v1 was , according to many, many benchmarks available via your favorite search engine, 3x-5x faster than classic ASP. Draw your own conclusions.

I feel that MSSQL is a superior database solution. If you're stuck with open source, at least look at Postgres. It's less popular but very powerful.

To answer your real question: performance is a function of your toolset and platform choice, but also of developer skill and project structure. I've seen far more projects that could benefit from some healthy refactoring and optimization than I have that are limited by the platform in which they are written. It is rarely worthwhile to rewrite a large application in a completely different language. Instead, I would focus on improving your existing codebase, and looking for ways to incrementally upgrade to a platform like ASP.NET.

Answer 2

Also keep in mind that switching will require you to jump to IIS Windows server and there will be more cost involved most likely. There are a lot of considerations here when thinking about a switch like this.

I say if the application calls for it, work it out.

Answer 3

You certainly aren't using MySQL above it's limit. But you should consider benchmarking your database queries on MSSQL to see if you notice a huge improvement.

There are many factors involved here, your code base, database optimisations & changes to table structure, server spec.... they all contribute independently.

Are there any particularly slow queries or is it running slow accross the application? Can any caching be implemented here? Do you have propper indexes?