Having a separate DR cluster for production databases is a modern day requirement or necessity for tech and other related businesses that rely heavily on their database systems. Setting up such a [DC -> DR] topology for Percona XtraDB Cluster (PXC), which is a virtually- synchronous cluster, can be a bit challenging in a complex Kubernetes environment.

Here, Percona Operator for MySQL comes in handy, with a minimal number of steps to configure such a topology, which ensures a remote side backup or a disaster recovery solution.

So without taking much time, let’s see how the overall setup and configurations look from a practical standpoint.

PXC Cross-Site/Disaster Recovery

DC Configuration

1) Here we have a three-node PXC cluster running on the DC side.

shell> kubectl get pods -n pxc
NAME                                               READY   STATUS …

April 19, 2026

It took three release candidates and more CI tweaks than I’d like to admit, but v1.7.0 is finally tagged GA. Here’s what actually changed and why it matters.

The thing I kept getting asked about: add_connection

Almost every multi-database user hits the same wall: you configure your connections at startup, and that’s it. Want to point Claude at a different instance mid-session? Restart the server. Not great.

add_connection fixes that. Enable it with MYSQL_MCP_EXTENDED=1 and MYSQL_MCP_ENABLE_ADD_CONNECTION=1, and Claude can register a new named connection on the fly — DSN validation, duplicate-name rejection, and a hard block on the root MySQL user all happen before the connection is accepted. Once it’s in, use_connection it works as usual.

It’s intentionally opt-in behind two flags. Allowing …

Monitoring MySQL data locks, or the tip of the iceberg This story is about recent (*) performance improvements implemented in MySQL, related to monitoring of data locks. (*) Originally written in Feb 2025. Refresher What is a data lock? When a user session connects to the MySQL database, it executes SQL queries. The query runs; […]

You read this right, symbolic links (symlinks) are unsafe in MySQL since at least 8.0.39.  As always, it is a little more complicated than that, but if you are using symbolic links and in certain conditions, you risk a crash.  I think it is important to raise awareness on this, hence this post.

My attention was brought to this via the now private Bug #120156: MySQL 8.0.39/8.0.42

Following the strong participation in the first two editions of our Public MySQL Community Discussion webinar series, we’re excited to invite you to Edition #3. These sessions are part of our ongoing commitment to increase transparency, strengthen collaboration, and make it easier for the community to provide input that helps shape the evolution of MySQL’s. […]

We understand that tackling SQL interviews can feel challenging, but with the right focus, you can master the required knowledge. Structured specifically for the 2026 job market, this comprehensive resource provides 50 real, frequently asked SQL interview questions covering everything from basic definitions and data manipulation to advanced analytical queries and performance optimisation. Section 1: SQL […]

In 2025, MySQL celebrated its 30th anniversary—and to mark the milestone, Oracle University (together with the MySQL Community team) offered free MySQL training and free certification exams from April 20 through July 31, 2025.  The goal was simple: make it easy for developers, DBAs, architects, and newcomers to build practical skills and validate them with […]

I would like to thank AWS Open Source for their support.

For some time, I am maintaining Planet for the MySQL Community, a blog / news aggregator for the MySQL Community/Ecosystem.  I am also maintaining a similar aggregator for the Valkey Community.

Maintaining blog / news aggregators is not free.  It incurs hosting, domain registration, and other costs (in addition to time,

As a MySQL consultant, I keep running into the same two problems: reviewing MySQL configurations and generating realistic test data for validation. So I built two focused MySQL tools to…

The post MySQL Tools for Performance Tuning and Test Data Generation first appeared on Change Is Inevitable.

During any MySQL major version upgrade, especially when moving from 8.0 to 8.4, it’s not just about compatibility checks. Subtle default changes can directly impact MySQL performance tuning, and if…

The post How to fix write latency in MySQL 8.4 Upgrade first appeared on Change Is Inevitable.