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Currently working on a memory limited ubuntu box and wondering what SQL server to use?

I installed MySQL and it ate up A LOT of memory (almost all of it) but was able to reduce it a little bit.

Someone suggested Percona and someone else suggested SQLite. Wondering what server gives low memory usage with the basic SQL features?

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  • For what usage? SQLite for example is pretty lite on resources but is a very poor choice for many situations. Mar 21, 2011 at 3:20

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All the different SQL server platforms that I know of allow you to configure them, to limit memory use, etc. So the answer is to use one that you actually know or are prepared to learn and spend some time with in order to configure it correctly. I hope this doesn't come across as rude, but the answer is to understand the tools, not to run around hoping that you'll find one that does exactly what you want with no configuration because sooner or later it won't happen and you'll have to dive in.

I also have to ask if the memory use is causing you an actual problem, or if you're just looking at high memory use and getting worried - again any SQL server platform I know will grab all the memory they are allowed to, in order to perform as well as possible but will release it if the OS requires the memory for something else.

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SQLite will have, effectively, zero memory usage. If that's your primary concern, you can hardly do better. However, it's important to differentiate between apparent use of RAM—see linuxatemyram.com—versus actual exclusive use of RAM.

MySQL can be configured to use very little RAM, as can any other DBMS, but with any significant amount of data, your block cache will fill up quickly, even with SQLite. This will result in high apparent RAM usage. Don't panic, though; if any other program (or the OS itself) needs it, it'll become available again.

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