What is it?
Gartner's November 2008 report
"The Growing Maturity of Open-Source Database Management
Systems" found "a 50% increase from 2007 to 2008 in the usage of
open source DBMSs in production" -although Gartner cautioned that
the study only included organizations that currently used some form
of open-source product.
Sun missed this qualification when it quoted Gartner's report in
the launch of MySQL 5.1 in December. But big analysts have become a
lot more positive towards open source databases. The main reason is
the involvement of IT corporations, putting a protective barrier
between users and the open source originators, with their hardy DIY
approach to delivering and fixing code.
Gartner says the major open source DBMSs are now available for
installation as packages, without involving the source code, and
include tools to help support administrators and managers.
Meanwhile large software suppliers, including SAP, are ready to
certify open source databases for their applications.
Gartner still has reservations: open source DBMSs should be used
"primarily for non-mission-critical applications and those that do
not require high availability". However, they add, "If the
technical capabilities of the staff are strong, use of an
open-source DBMS in mission-critical environments is possible
now".
Where did it originate?
MySQL, first released in 1995, was a pioneer of the dual licence
which enables open source and commercial versions of a product to
co-exist. The for-profit company MySQL AB was set up to provide
software and services, while a free "community" version remains
available. Sun took MySQL AB over in 2008.
What's it for?
MySQL is available in a "full function" community version, a
subscription-only enterprise version, and a commercially licenced
embedded version. In recent years, MySQL has rapidly acquired the
features of an enterprise DBMS, including high-availability options
such as failover and clustering. Sun is now adding tools such as
query analyzers, which enterprise DBMS users have come to
expect.
MySQL AB claims the average time from software download to full
installation is less than 15 minutes. There is an integral suite of
self-management features, and graphical tools for DBAs.
MySQL has an extensive range of drivers for other databases and
languages such as PHP, Perl, Java and the .net family, and plug-ins
are available to embed MySQL into applications. There is a
migration suite for moving schemas and data from Oracle, SQL Server
and others.
What makes it special?
MySQL is now supported by DBMS management tools from major
suppliers such as BMC and Embarcadero.
How difficult is it to master?
The official MySQL for Beginners course takes four days. With
SQL or DBA experience, it should be possible to use online
tutorials to become productive in a day or two.
Where is it used?
MySQL AB says MySQL is scalable from 1Mbyte embedded databases
to data warehouses. Many of the claimed 50,000 downloads a day are
likely to be used in small scale developments with the Lamp (Linux,
Apache, MySQL and Perl/Python/PHP) and other stacks. Within
enterprises, MySQL is mostly used for non-mission critical systems,
although big Web 2.0 operations such as Google, Yahoo and Facebook
are based on it.
What systems does it run on?
Most flavours of Linux and Unix, Windows and Mac OSX.
Rates of Pay
Rates for developers depend on languages offered. MySQL DBAs
earn £30,000 to £40,000.
Training
Start with Sun's aptly named
"Getting Started with MySQL"and
the MySQL tutorial, or search for free independent online
tutorials.