So im a postgres noob with no background. few ?'s

[Wildebeest]

Hey
some simple, but im guessing dumb questions
Postgres is open-source software used to allow PT3 to function ive found out
to add my new PT3 database to my spade-eye, i told postgres to not want a password (using what derek said in another post, i changed it to 'trust' in a config file)
Is a postgres database stored online and not on hard-disk? where is it stored?
Is my database...secure online? does it need a username and password? can others access it? can others edit it?

thanks,
Will

[Wildebeest]

actually i solved it myself using derek's replies to others
so thanks again derek haha
all i had to do is tell postgres to trust me, then i created a username and password...without needing a password, then i tell the database it needs a password again, and i have one
was pretty interesting

[prajna]

Two great questions here I wanted to take the time to answer:

Is a postgres database stored online and not on hard-disk? where is it stored?

Your database is stored locally on YOUR hard drive. In fact, if you installed this using the default settings, your database is located in c:/Program Files/postgreSQL/8.x/data/base/.

Is my database...secure online? does it need a username and password? can others access it? can others edit it?

Your data is semi secure as is. The data is encrypted to the database (no one could just grab a copy of your database and read its contents), and the server will not respond to anyone except your local computer (I can't query it directly from any other computer). How secure is this? How secure do you keep the rest of your computer?

The only way to gain access to your postgresql server without having to know the password is to be on your computer and query the database. Anywhere else, well, the server will ignore them because you told the server to only talk to your computer. A hacker, if they really wanted your data would have to setup some sort of bot on your computer to then mine the data out of your server and send it back to him (where ever he is)... Much too much work for the reward.

Now, if you have a database which is networked (ie, you are hitting it from more than one computer, especially if the computer is OUTSIDE your local network), then security needs to be tight. DO NOT SET ANYONE TO TRUST in that situation as its just not a good idea. I am one of these people because I will sometimes be away from home, but wanna play poker on the laptop, so I have it hit the server from wherever and so I have access to stats and can update stats too while playing.

In a situation like described above, I do not use the default password for postgresql, and I have other usernames setup for access so that postgres is only used to maintenance the server itself. Hope this helps.

~ Thomas
[Pokertracker support]

[prajna]

all i had to do is tell postgres to trust me, then i created a username and password...without needing a password, then i tell the database it needs a password again, and i have one
was pretty interesting

When I first started playing w/postgresql, I did this exact steps first to reset the password as well. Postgresql is a very nice and very stable sql server.

~ Thomas
[Pokertracker support]

[Wildebeest]

ty
now im thinking about trying to share one database across two computers (networked)

[Peligroso]

ty
now im thinking about trying to share one database across two computers (networked)

Just to make sure that you know about this guide