MariaDB is an open-source relational database made by the original developers of MySQL, supported by the MariaDB Foundation and a community of developers. The community states recent additional capabilities as including clustering with Galera Cluster 4, compatibility with Oracle Database, and Temporal Data Tables, allowing one to query the data as it stood at any point in the past.
A de minimis incentive was given to thank the reviewer for their time. The incentive was not used to bias or drive a particular response, nor was the incentive contingent on a positive endorsement. More Info
Verified User
Director in Information Technology (1-10 employees employees)
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We use MariaDB whenever we need a database server compatible with MySQL Server, and do not wish to use Oracle MySQL Server. MariaDB largely has been an excellent choice, particularly when there are documented bugs with Oracle MySQL Server that prevent us from using it in a specific environment or application. Due to its branched codebase and rapid development cycle, MariaDB does not replicate various bugs or performance issues that MySQL Server can exhibit in specific scenarios.
Pros
Rapid Release Cycle
MySQL Compatibility
Speed and Performance
Cons
Upgrades can be problematic in specific environments
Upgrades are a manual process
Documentation is difficult to find
Return on Investment
For specific environments we have been able save money by downscaling VMs due to MariaDB's lower footprint compared to MySQL for some of our web applications.
As MariaDB is MySQL compatible, we have saved money by not retooling our data layers when using MariaDB for applications that support MySQL.
We have had a marginal increase in maintenance and administration costs due to differences in MariaDB's update cycle and its manual upgrade process compared to MySQL.
Usability
Alternatives Considered
MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle Database, FirebirdSQL, SQLite and PostgreSQL
Other Software Used
Microsoft Visual Studio, ReSharper, MongoDB, MySQL
A de minimis incentive was given to thank the reviewer for their time. The incentive was not used to bias or drive a particular response, nor was the incentive contingent on a positive endorsement. More Info
A de minimis incentive was given to thank the reviewer for their time. The incentive was not used to bias or drive a particular response, nor was the incentive contingent on a positive endorsement. More Info
A de minimis incentive was given to thank the reviewer for their time. The incentive was not used to bias or drive a particular response, nor was the incentive contingent on a positive endorsement. More Info
Database Administrator in Information Technology at FNI (51-200 employees employees)
Pros
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.
Cons
Complications from the single, global shared ibdata1 (which may be considered more an InnoDB limitation).
Backups and restores, especially if you do partial (per db) backups. Actually the backups work very well but the restores are not pleasant.
Certain weaknesses in Galera. Because of the way it works it doesn't handle very large single transactions very well (I understand that has improved in recent releases, but that was after we moved away from Galera), and there are altogether too many ways to stall an entire Galera cluster - you will find them.
Return on Investment
MariaDB has saved us enormously on licensing compared to our previous DB software vendor.
In service, it has enabled us (speaking as the internal DB team here) to provide better service to the other teams in the company as well as our customers, with less staff.
The level of hardware required for adequate performance, in our environment, has been much lower. Those savings have been substantial, above and beyond savings on licensing and DBA staffing levels.
A de minimis incentive was given to thank the reviewer for their time. The incentive was not used to bias or drive a particular response, nor was the incentive contingent on a positive endorsement. More Info
Aerospace IT Specialist in Corporate at CommunicAVIA Pte Ltd (1-10 employees employees)
Pros
Aria engine support, the improved MyISAM, it deliver faster performance with less required buffer than InnoDB, also almost a maintenance free table that less fragmented, no need to optimize so often.
Based on out experience, having smaller memory requirement.
With proper setup, it is fast.
Cons
It will nice to have Aria engine be able to perform concurrent SELECT and INSERT/UPDATE like in InnoDB.
Return on Investment
None directly, only simplify the complexities as the engineers like it.
Alternatives Considered
Percona Server for MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server and MySQL
Other Software Used
Percona Server for MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server
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