brianasap wrote:

> I have searched for some examples of FB in real-world
> mission critical applications, and also for Benchmarks,
> including this ng.
>
> Thus far I have not been able to find much of any interest
> or use. I certainly do not have the resources to do my
> own Benchmark.
>
> I don't want to see that it is twice as fast or half as fast
> as yxz database. I just want to see that it can handle
> multi-user situations, is reliable, and if stressed, will
> not corrupt or only partially complete tasks. Any speed
> comparison with other databases is only of academic interest.
> The ability to do the job with reliability is my main
> concern
>
> Are there any articles that can give me this information.
>
> BTW, I am only looking (initially at least) to support (say)
> fifty users with moderate activity, using whatever server is
> required to achieve that.
>
> FB sounds great so far. I especially like the small footprint
> which I presume must be some indication of good programming
> standards. I hate bloatware. BTW I use Delphi.
>

There has been threads on this forum discussing scalablity, Aug-Sept 2004
(I believe) and February this year. You could search for posts by Dalton
Calford. I'm quoting a post here to get you started.
There is also a document, prepared by Helen B. based on posts by Dalton C.,
that discussed scaling. I'm sure someone will post the link.
Now, the post:
------------------------------------------
Hi David

What are you looking for?
If you are asking, what the limits are, and what platforms does FB support,
then that is easy to answer, but, all things are limited by the final
design of the database metadata.

You need to understand the needs of the design, then determine how those
needs are met by the software and hardware, then you must decide if the
implementation will scale to a larger needs environment without a redesign.

This is a very detailed area of design.

We have firebird processing customer calls (over 2 million phone calls a
day) in a 5 9's environment. That system is replicated in three different
cities across two provinces. A different Firebird system performs billing
functions - a very detailed process that bills based upon duration and time
of call, also centred around location called from, called to and what
services apply at the time of call for that particular customer. If you
consider the call volume, this should give you an idea as to the
capabilities of the system.
The billing database also serves the IVR(Interactive Voice Response) units
which allow a customer to dial a number to check thier current call usage
and minutes remaining. The IVR system has to query the database and
respond in under 2 seconds - impressive given the volume of data.
Our CSR's (customer service reps) link into another database that processes
orders, hookups, disconnects, and all other customer related issues.
For backup and other considerations, we have multiple history databases,
that allow us to generate a historic invoice for the past 6 years. This is
used by the CSR's to view customer calling paterns and build services
better suited to our clients (also it is required by law....)
Our web page is dynamically generated by php and firebird.
Our lines database controlling all the routers, fibre, servers etc is also
used by Firebird and is accessed by custom software on Sharp Zaurus PDA's.

So, can Firebird scale, yes.
Can any Database scale - if properly designed to handle the shortcommings
of the environment, yes.
Does Firebird ease the design burdon of developing a scalable environment -
very much so.
------------------------------------------