Since there was another thread on auto-incrementing keys I thought I would throw out a discussion question on new DB design.
If you are doing a new database would you use an auto-incrementing primary key or GUID for a unique identifier as a primary key ?
There seem to be reasons for both if you google this topic on the web.
Couple initial thoughts.
Auto-incrementing number as primary key
Auto-incrementing key for:
-Easy to set up and next number just happens
Potential con:
-It seems that renumbering or collissions can possibly occur when replicating or copying tables which seems like it could mess up table joins to related files.
-If you use the key value in a URL link without obfuscation or encryption, your app could potentially be easily hacked by modifying URL entries.
GUID/UUID as key
Using GUID/UUID for:
-Appears to be unique across systems
-Should be replicable without key collisions
-Harder to hijack an app URL with the key in it.
Potential con:
-Not sequential and 32 bytes so supposedly can cause indexing performance issues. (At least purportedly on SQL Server)
-More disk space
-Harder to debug app code or data issues because of long key values.
Looking forward to your insight.
Regards,
Richard Schoen | Director of Document Management Technologies, HelpSystems
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