3 ms·

If you OOM, it's gonna crash.

• Volundr 4y ago
  Sure but data corruption? Data integrity on powerloss or other crash is a core feature of pretty much any RDMS, and OOM is actually probably one of the safer ways a database can crash (any disk caches still get flushed so no unpredictability around what is actually persistented)
  • lizztheblizz 4y ago
    Article author here. I fully endorse Aaron's correction and appreciate the call-out. For context: I initially wrote this paragraph to include more flavor and history around crash recovery challenges with relational databases, implying that while your data might be safe, it is still 100% preferable, even today, to avoid crashes by accurately sizing AND limiting the database to live within its means. Crash recovery can still take a certain amount of time, and when people are weighing whether to bring their app up faster or maintain their data integrity, taking a shortcut in a high pressure situation is sadly not unheard of. Alas, in my editing, I opted to spend less time in the weeds there, and without the proper context, the use of the term "data corruption" lost all meaning, and no longer belonged in that sentence. Totally fair correction.