by scoffer » Tue Oct 04, 2011 6:08 am
I'll throw my two cents in...
To put it simple, flat is easier to install and use and possible even a bit easier to manage.
But on the other hand...
Flat is always way heavier than mysql or other DB that runs in memory instead of HDD. This starts to be problem when there's too much reading or writing of data, HDD IO speeds cannot compete in this. With good caching you can probably keep thing running for long time but don't give your users any new features that need much writing to DB.
(I know the message itself was old but these answers are read by many newcomers and otherwise interested admins too.)