Has anyone used Geonames without webservice?

Just wondering is anyone has used the geonames database with cake but with own database, not thru webservices?

 

I know it’s a monster database in size but I do not like the idea of using a service that’s not on my own server. If it goes down then it affects my site so just curious if anyone has implemented it?

 

I have the db setup and basic model / controller to test out queries, but my way takes much longer than the webservices version so just curious if anyone has had any success?

 

Thanks,

 

Dave