SQL Server Always On vs PostgreSQL Streaming Replication

Developers should learn SQL Server Always On when building mission-critical applications that require high availability, such as financial systems, e-commerce platforms, or healthcare databases, to ensure continuous operation during server failures or maintenance meets developers should learn and use postgresql streaming replication when building systems that require high availability, such as e-commerce platforms or financial applications, to minimize downtime during primary server failures. Here's our take.

SQL Server Always On

Nice Pick

Developers should learn SQL Server Always On when building mission-critical applications that require high availability, such as financial systems, e-commerce platforms, or healthcare databases, to ensure continuous operation during server failures or maintenance

Pros

• It is essential for scenarios demanding minimal downtime, data redundancy across geographic locations, and load balancing for read-heavy workloads, making it a key skill for database administrators and backend developers in enterprise environments
• Related to: sql-server, high-availability

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

PostgreSQL Streaming Replication

Developers should learn and use PostgreSQL Streaming Replication when building systems that require high availability, such as e-commerce platforms or financial applications, to minimize downtime during primary server failures

Pros

• It is also useful for offloading read queries to standby servers to improve performance in read-heavy workloads, and for creating geographically distributed backups for disaster recovery scenarios
• Related to: postgresql, write-ahead-log

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

These tools serve different purposes. SQL Server Always On is a platform while PostgreSQL Streaming Replication is a database. We picked SQL Server Always On based on overall popularity, but your choice depends on what you're building.

The Bottom Line

SQL Server Always On wins

Based on overall popularity. SQL Server Always On is more widely used, but PostgreSQL Streaming Replication excels in its own space.