I'm trying to find out what people are using for large high-traffic websites, our projects are getting larger and I don't think we can keep using access and mySql on these shared hosting environments. I'm looking for recommendations and examples?
A key determination is what kind of database transactions you expect. If most of your traffic is hitting the database with read transactions, mySql will handle an amazing load on the right box. Although I've worked on Oracle systems most of my career, I've been very impressed with how robust mySQL really is. Now, that said, if you're doing lots of updates (inserts, deletes and the like) and transactional integrity is a must, you definitely need to consider the Oracle route. Alternatively, PostgreSQL is not something I've worked with directly, but it seems to be a viable alternative to Oracle. As far as SQLServer vs. Oracle goes, I've run both databases side-by-side, and Oracle instances just don't crash. SqlServer is definitely easier to administrate, but Oracle is catching up fast. Sadly, trade-offs, trade-offs, trade-offs...
I would only recommend oracle if you're planning on doing millions upon trillions of transactions because MySQL should be able to handle it just fine for what I think you're needing. Possibly consider getting a dedicated server so that you can control every aspect of the software instead of being limited by the hosting provider's settings.
I know you're not looking for something as sophisticated (i.e. expensive) as this, but if you're into this kind of shit like I am, then this article is really cool ... talks about how an online game switched to these bad-ass solid state disks. Full article: http://www.superssd.com/success/ccpgames.htm Can't wait until one of my games is so popular that I'm going to have to look into getting one of these puppies
I'm going with mySQL on a windows dedicated server, I have read several articles about how well it performs on windows and its better for my wallet. This site will have mostly reading queries and transaction management is not too critical.
If you're on a shared hosting environment then simply get a dedicated server. Not many databases are faster than mysql, unless you're looking for more advanced features.
If you're on traditional shared hosting and your site is getting big, you need to move away onto something which isn;t dependant on other people's sites being well-written. Also if your site gets a big boost (say on digg or something) then a normal shared hosting will cut you off just as you are getting going. Definately think about either a dedicated server, or these days a clustered solution is all the go. Check out h-sphere type servers, whenever i've been on those they've always been reliable. Don;t fall for 'failover cpanel' solutions, I did once and nearly lost about 40 sites... As for mySql, it's always been good to me but I've not been super-huge with traffic.