Hello folks! I need recommendation for Database for a Retail Point of Sale Application either from SQL Server or MySQL. I know SQL is expensive than MySql but performance wise MySQL has upgraded itself in its 5.x version with the addition of Triggers, Stored Procs, and Foreign Keys etc.(but not yet stabilised). Apart from Price what should be the optimal choice for a POS application
It depends on the complexity of your application. MySQL 5 is still a toy compared to SQL Server. But, MySQL 5 may support everything you need for your application. I would recommend starting with MySQL 5 since it's free and then switching to SQL Server later if you find out that MySQL 5 can't do everything you need to do. Switching isn't particularly difficult as long as you wrap all your SQL functions. What language are you writing the front end in?
The application is desktop based Retail Point of Sale. To be developed in VS.Net2005 C# language. The bigger concern we have for DB is Replication Issues in MySql5.x. The price of SQL Server is obviously the major hindrance. :/
For testing/development purposes you can get SQL Server for free. So there's no upfront cost to your development of the software. If there's a college student on your team you could get the full version at a reduced cost for development. http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/sql/download/ When you sell your software you'll just need to include the price of the full version of SQL Server in the price. Or divide it between X number of copies you expect to sell. Or require that your customer already have SQL Server installed. Or if there's no chance of affording SQL Server for you or your customers then you'll just have to use MySQL 5 and hope for the best.
I have attached the file showcasing the comparison between the two DBMSs i.e. MS SQL Server 2005 AND MySQL 5.x Hope that will help the people like me to get hands on differences between the two ! Cheers P.S. should i expect profile upgrade
Keep in mind that if you plan to sell the application SQL Server offers a free edition for database less than a specific size, I think 2GB. Also PostgreSQL can be distributed with your application without source code due to its license being BSD vs. GPL.