Internet databases. Help!

I have built several databases for school projects, but now i have been asked to build a website which uses a database. Basicaly it's for a small holiday company which wants to make it possible for people to book online. There are around 200 properties at present, but looking to expand.


Which database would be a good choice? There are many databases out there, all saying they are the best, but which one would you recommend? and why that database over others? The cost is no problem, it has to be suitable for the present requirements, and future expansion.

Well, first we have to ask you some questions:

1. What database systems have you worked with so far?

2. What operating system are you most comfortable with?

3. What programming/scripting environments do you want to work with?

4. Are you interested in exploring new operating systems and environments?

5. Do you want something quick and easy, or do you want to spend time learning to do it the right way ?

A College the only dB we used was MS Access which would be a wast of time for a website like this!, but i have worked with MySQL and MS SQL Server at home.
Scripting languages i know are PHP and ASP, but also have a little knowledge of ASP.NET.
Operating systems are Linux and Windows.
The time and cost spent really are not that important. I want the best combination of dB, OS, and scripting langage for the job.
If i dont know it i'd learn it. High performance and stability is what im looking for.

If you are familiar with Linux and PHP, then the two most common choices at present are MySQL and PostgreSQL. While MySQL is fast and stable, it does not have even a fraction of the capability PostgreSQL has for handling serious business logic. So, it really depends on the "seriousness" of the solution you want. I would suggest that if your application involves handling money (which it looks like it does) then PostgreSQL is a far better choice. It supports enterprise-level database features such as contraints, triggers, stored procedures, views, and much more, which are at present not available in MySQL. (actually, even Access has more logical capability than MySQL, since it supports views (i.e. saved queries) and procedures (i.e. functions)).

However, PostgreSQL does have a bigger learning curve. I personally have absolutely no regrets at having spent the time to learn PostgreSQL, because that is knowlege that transfers very well to other enterprise systems, such as Oracle. PostgreSQL adheres much more closely to ANSI standard SQL than MySQL. Unfortunately, some things learned in MySQL must be "unlearned" when you start working with enterprise-level systems.

There is one other open-source database system you might find interesting, which also has very capable ANSI-standard features: http://firebird.sourceforge.net. Firebird is actually the open-source version of Interbase, and has recently gained in popularity. Also, Firebird works well on Windows, so it would be a natural choice if you wanted to use ASP on a Windows server.