Installing postgres database on mapped network drive

[eyedol]

I try to install the data-folder on my NAS that I have mapped as Z: ( Been able to run a acess database on this drive)
I have tried to install on my laptop after mapping a drive but I got the same error.

Get the "initdb: 1"-error, see below for log file.
Any ideas?

Running XP, postgres 8.3.3 installer. I changed so everyone can read/write to the drive but didnt help.

The files belonging to this database system will be owned by user "SYSTEM".
This user must also own the server process.

The database cluster will be initialized with locale English_United States.1252.
The default text search configuration will be set to "english".

creating directory Z:/postgres/data ... initdb: could not create directory "Z:/postgres": No such file or directory

[keggler]

is there a postgres folder structure on the mapped drive? if so, have you got the requisite permissions set on it?


susan

[keggler]

hmmmmm, thinking about it, i now have alarm bells ringing... it's not a good idea to have postgres datasets on a shared network drive; it could in the worst case, cause the integrity of the whole dataset structure to be compromised...

my advice is don't do it and use an alternative solution that is more in line with what postgres was designed for...


susan

[eyedol]

is there a postgres folder structure on the mapped drive? if so, have you got the requisite permissions set on it?


susan

Can you please be a little more specific? I've created a standard folder named postgres.. that's all. Hoped the install would take care of the rest.

my advice is don't do it and use an alternative solution that is more in line with what postgres was designed for...

And what would the alternative solution be? I would like to acess the database from both my desktop and pc seperately.

[keggler]

the issues are not with postgres per se but with the reliability of your NFS setup. On top of the not-infinite reliability of disk drive hardware you now have to stack risk of failure of the NAS machine itself and misconfiguration problems (eg, ill-chosen mount options). this leaves the database datasets wide open to corruption and loss of integrity.

just use a plain vanilla network; host your database datasets on a reliable drive, and configure the postgres on the server to access the client via an IP...


susan

[eyedol]

Thanks for your time and effort Susan.

Well then I need to have both pcs running when I want to access the db from my laptop, right? I used to have this setup but I was not satisfied. It's partly coz of this I bought the NAS.

Besides, I run a raid1 setup so the disks is not really a problem. The NAS could ofc fail but then I can mount one of the disks in my pc and recover the files.

Would be very grateful if someone could help me with this.

[keggler]

so what happens when the NAS fails, corrupts the database, the RAiD1 mirrors the corruption to the other drive? you mount the drive in your pc and then...


susan

[eyedol]

Well I think the risk that my disk in my pc fails is higher than the NAS fails.. besides, why couldn't I take backups of the db from time to time..

I've been running this config with a freaking access database for a while now and now you tell me it's not possible with postgres? (which is supposed to be so much better in every aspect)

Please let me decide and help me instead.

[keggler]

fair enough if you take the backups; i didn't say it wasn't possible, just that i wouldn't recommend it - take a bit of time to google postgres and network drives and see what the rest of the postgres community think...

at the end of the day, it's your decision, if you have the confidence in your NAS, do it - but like it would be unreasonable to expect help recovering any corrupt data you might get in this forum if you went that route after being advised not to, IMHO...


susan

[eyedol]

fair enough if you take the backups; i didn't say it wasn't possible, just that i wouldn't recommend it - take a bit of time to google postgres and network drives and see what the rest of the postgres community think...

at the end of the day, it's your decision, if you have the confidence in your NAS, do it - but like it would be unreasonable to expect help recovering any corrupt data you might get in this forum if you went that route after being advised not to, IMHO...


susan

mm sure. But that doesnt matter really when I don't get any help how to set it up, does it. Pretty hard to get a corrupt database when I don't have one.