Karim Nassar wrote:
>Context: I have a two disk server that is about to become dedicated to
>postgresql (it's a sun v40z running gentoo linux).
>
>What's "theoretically better"?
>
>1) OS and pg_xlog on one disk, rest of postgresql on the other? (if I
> understand the above correctly)
>2) Everything striped Raid 0?
>
How lucky are you feeling? If you don't mind doubling your chances of
data loss (a bit worse than that because recovery is nearly impossible),
go ahead and use RAID 0 (which of course is not RAID by definition).
The WAL on a separate disk is your best bet if the problem is slow updates.
If prevention of data loss is a consideration, RAID 1 (mirroring) is the
answer.
