PostgreSQL, more commonly known as Postgres, is an open source relational database management system (RDBMS or DBMS) that is the default DBMS for the Chado database schema. See Databases and GMOD for other choices, and for an introduction to database terms. This page is in an introduction to Postgres for GMOD users.
Several GMOD components can use database management systems. Postgres’s primary role in GMOD is to be the DBMS for the Chado database schema. Chado was developed with Postgres as its target DBMS and Chado off the shelf will work best with Postgres.
Postgres can also be used to back Galaxy.
How much do you need to know about Postgres to use Chado? You need to know:
A wealth of information on Postgres is available at the Postgres web site. These pages are particularly helpful:
Postgres changes with every new release and some of those changes are required for certain GMOD components to work, and some interfere with the workings of other GMOD components.
Add list or matrix of known requirements/interactions.
MySQL is more popular than Postgres. Why would you ever want to pick Postgres instead of MySQL?
The trade-off between MySQL and Postgres is, allowing some oversimplification, simplicity on one hand versus more features on the other hand. With either platform you will get good performance, excellent documentation, and well-supported software. Postgres was picked for Chado because of its rich feature set.
Postgres will be a bit harder for the novice but it is only required if you want to install Chado.