MySQL is tried and true
Overall Satisfaction with MySQL
We use MySQL in a variety of ways both internal to Dewpoint and among our customers:
1. It is the backend utility database for a variety of tools such as Jira, Bugzilla, NoSQL tools, etc.
2. It is an application database for some web based applications.
3. It is a caching database used at local customer sites for larger applications.
4. It is a prototyping database during initial phases of development before deploying on a more expensive RDBMS such as Oracle or SQL Server.
MySQL represents a reliable and simple database that supports standard SQL with good tools and good integration points.
1. It is the backend utility database for a variety of tools such as Jira, Bugzilla, NoSQL tools, etc.
2. It is an application database for some web based applications.
3. It is a caching database used at local customer sites for larger applications.
4. It is a prototyping database during initial phases of development before deploying on a more expensive RDBMS such as Oracle or SQL Server.
MySQL represents a reliable and simple database that supports standard SQL with good tools and good integration points.
- It is incredibly simple to implement even across operating systems such as Windows and Linux.
- It is very easy to configure and manage. Setting parameters and memory profiles is very straightforward, backups are simple, and stopping, starting, and deploying are very easy.
- The different storage engines represent distinctive features sets and allow for flexible feature rich deployments within the same database.
- It follows the more extended name space used by products such as SQL Server and Sybase. This namespace is more flexible.
- MySQL simply doesn't scale as well as commercial databases. It seems to reach a performance plateau where you are then required to shard the data into different instances to get the performance you need.
- The stored procedure and programming language is too limited compared to TSQL or PL/SQL.
- Configuring the different storage engines is cumbersome to enable features like spatial queries. It would be helpful if all features could run out of the InnoDB storage engine.
- It lacks some of the higher end features of commercial databases such as flashback recovery, updateable views, etc.
- MySQL has been a vital cost reducing technology for smaller databases that do not require commercial support.
- We have successfully sold the enterprise edition to customers who wanted to beef up the capabilities of MySQL compared to the community edition without rewriting an application to use a fully commercial database such as DB2, Oracle or SQL Server
- MySQL has been extremely cost effective where we have deployed it. When compared to Oracle or MySQL, the savings has been substantial.
I have used more than 10 different SQL databases over the course of my career. Of those, the three I find myself using over and over include MySQL, Oracle and SQL Server. I have actually replaced smaller deployments of Oracle and SQL Server with MySQL as a way to reduce licensing costs, administration overhead, and operation complexity for several customers. In the right solution space, there is nothing better than MySQL.