Likelihood to Recommend For running application tests it's well suited. H2 [Database Engine] can replace the real-world database solution for them easily and removes the requirement to set up a a separate database instance just for running unit tests. For using in actual production application one needs to consider scale. H2 is suitable if application runs in single instance and database is located in same machine as a file where that application runs. This means the application shouldn't have a large user base. However it's easy to switch to an actual
MySQL instance if the need arises, it's most likely only a configuration change and doesn't require new code.
Read full review Applications where the users need [to] execute many short queries. With new storage engines such as Aria, which allows to replace MyISAM with some improvements, and XtraDB, which evolves InnoDB. To fuse the legacy features with the features available in NoSQL databases. Connection management, which allows multiplying the number of concurrent accesses. New clustering engines, such as Galera, which allow interesting possibilities for Cloud adoption. Read full review Pros Can run as an in-memory database. Simple and quick to get started with, and is light weight (only 2MB). SQL compliant so it compatible with most relational databases. Read full review Simpler learning curve. MariaDB is a cleaner, simpler system that is (IMO) easier to learn and easier to manage effectively than many other database systems. Lower hardware requirements. After migrating to MariaDB from another database software system, we find that our hardware needs have substantially decreased. MariaDB support is very responsive. It's like they actually care. On the few occasions we've run into technical issues, support has always come through with what we needed. Once it was showing me a relatively new feature the server supported that I wasn't aware of, that, once I was able to properly make use of it helped me resolve a serious production performance issue. Architectural flexibility. As an example, the ready availability of synchronous (Galera) versus asynchronous replication schemes without being locked into one of the other by enormous technical complexity or punitive licensing, allows the customer to find what really works best for their needs. Read full review Cons There's a warning in official FAQ "Is it Reliable?"-section which makes it seem like H2 is not yet a mature product. If raw SQL queries are used there maybe be differences between MySQL & H2. ORM library should be used. Support seems to be community-based only. Read full review Driver Support - Some third party applications use database drivers that cause unexplained slowness with MariaDB. This can be worked around by using the MySQL drivers, but it's not clear what causes the problem in the first place. Support - While online communities are helpful in diagnosing problems, there isn't as much professional documentation/support available for MariaDB as some of the other major database options. Data Visualization - It would be helpful if there were more built in options for analyzing statistics and generating reports. Read full review Usability MariaDB is very usable and stable to be used in production settings as an alternative to
MySQL . The shortcomings of SQL are present but well understood in the community, and if the decision were to be made again, I would choose MariaDB over
MySQL on future projects.
Read full review Support Rating We have launched several inquiries to MariaDB support and they have always responded very quickly and have not been tutoring for the duration of the incident/problem.
Likewise, they want to hold constant meetings with the client to get their opinion as well as how they can help.
I see a very human support and concerned about the customer.
Read full review Alternatives Considered While both can run as an in-memory database, H2 Database Engine was just so much easier for us to use since we primarily use the Java stack and H2 Database Engine is also built with Java.
Read full review MariaDB stacks up the the competition just fine. Due to is ture open source nature we do not have to worry about licencing and spending money on nothing. Moreover, MariaDB does everything that we need to get done. We can run data that is a million rows or many smaller projects on the same environment with little overhead. One of the best features that MariaDB has is the ability of backup or dump data to standard text sql statements. That was one of the reasons why we choose MariaDb because it makes backups or transferring data a snap
Read full review Return on Investment Doesn't take time from developers, once it's configs are set up for testing it works in everyone's development environments Easy to integrate in application, no need to setup separate database software, no maintenance No need to deal with infrastructure related issues/costs - database runs in same machine as the application that uses it. Read full review Low CAPEX if you have a team that use open source software day by day Medium OPEX if you have a team that use open source software day by day Perfect to use in academic ambient to support researchers and students Read full review ScreenShots