Im currently using lots of small files as a "database" on the backend
on my website. however the server load is gradually creeping up and im
going to re-write my application,

I need advise on using the recno db structure. Its the only one that
allows arbitrary lengths of records. Ok, I need this. so that narrows
it down.

Now, I need to store bits of info about each visitor in a record, and
these records can grow over time, and I will also need to "trim" these
now and again and delete them. also the IP address of the surfer will
be the key. Is this suited to recno?

I dont want to waste my time programming this only to find out later
that its not suitable.

i could choose something like the btree and use a fixed-length for each
record. of course then id have to limit the amount of info for the
surfers that visit a lot and id be wasting a lot of space for the
surfers that jusst visit once or twice.

Finally, I know disk fragmentation can occour but thats life, however I
suppose my main question is can "fragmentation" occour in a recno
database? I can always copy my files onto a new server.

Thanks in advance for any useful info

* nodger:

Normal B-trees also do not impose significant limits on the record
size (besides the 2 GB limit, which also affects Recno databases).

No, you should use B-trees.

thanks, that sounds like good advice. I didn't know about this 2Gb
limit. any way of increasing it?

* nodger:

Do you really need keys or values larger than two gigabytes? This is
not a limit on database size.

sorry, I thought you meant the entire database