Are questions about implementation details of a database on topic?

Question

Specific question on Stack Overflow: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/15468735/overview-of-how-mongodb-uses-its-various-threads

In short, the OP is asking about what MongoDB uses it's threads for and how to tune this. I was conflicted about referring the OP to Server Fault or here for related questions.

Part of the question related to the first point on the faq, but questions about how a particular database works wasn't mentioned at all on the faq.

So, are questions about how a database is implemented on topic here?

Answer 1

I believe the community here will always nerd out over the internal mechanisms of how databases work.

The referenced question asks two main points: (I'm looking at the meta of the Q)

• In depth tuning and how-to
• Why does the engine do things the way it does

I think because those are the two nutshell of the question, that those Q are HIGHLY ontopic here.

Bear in mind we're also looking at (in the future) things like TSQL SPIDs, and how query analyzers work and how query pre-caching works.

All the internals of databases, no matter their "officialness" should be on-topic here.

Answer 2

Yes, understanding database internals is what separates the men from the boys in this racket. Discussions of database internals are absolutely on-topic.

q.v. The various works about SQL Server internals (e.g. the third Guru's Guide) and various books on Oracle.

A thorough understanding of the underlying mechanism is quite hard to achieve with modern DBMS platforms as they are amongst the most complex pieces of software in existence. Knowing the internals is often needed to troubleshoot issues or design software or platform configurations to optimise the system performance.

Database internals are absolutely on-topic here.