Postgres does not have a 64 bit binary for windows server
quote
"As there is generally no reason to run with shared_buffers > 256 – 512MB on Windows, there isn't a great deal of incentive to put in the effort required for the 64 bit port"
- why is there generally no reason to run with lots of memory on windows?
- would a 64 bit linux installation be more efficient? if so, which?
this server has 8Gb memory and this number will likely increase to 12Gb. we intended to allocate almost all of the memory to postgres. for what i'm doing i can happily do without a UI.
Best Answer
http://swik.net/PostgreSQL/Planet+Postgresql/Magnus+Hagander:+PostgreSQL+vs+64-bit+windows
Postgres leaves disk caching up to the operating system, so there would be little benefit to a 64 bit build on Windows. The developers have decided to spend their time on something more productive and less painful.
But, there is some benefit, since 64 bit code is a bit faster and a bit smaller, and since the Unix version had to be made 64 bit clean for some architectures (Itanium and Alpha, particularly), that job was done a long time ago.
Personally, I'd default to running a dedicated database server on Linux. However, you will have to weigh up the cost of the Windows license against the administration skills; in my environment, everyone knows how to administer Linux boxes, whereas you may have to hire someone to do that, or learn enough (not a good idea if security is critical). Which distribution to use is mostly about what your administrator(s) are current with; in my case, that would be Ubuntu Server Edition.