The latest from the MySQL community

My colleague Miguel wrote about ways to audit login attempts in MySQL over 13 years ago, and this is still a relevant subject. I decided to refresh this topic to include some important changes since then.

Very often, it is important to track login attempts to our databases due to security reasons as well as to catch application misconfigurations. I’ll focus here on the most convenient ways to log authentication attempts. While auditing all client connections is usually pointless on busy production systems, when even thousands of new client sessions may be authenticating per second, let’s concentrate especially on the failed ones.

The Error Log

All MySQL and MariaDB variants have an easy way of logging failed authentication attempts in the standard error log via elevated log verbosity. To enable it, in older MySQL versions up …

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.

MySQL HeatWave Service on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) provides built-in telemetry and logging capabilities that help organizations monitor database activity, troubleshoot issues, and maintain operational health. These logs are valuable not only for operations and performance tuning, but also for governance and regulatory compliance, where audit logging can be essential for tracking database activity and […]

Oracle was proud to sponsor and participate in TEDAI San Francisco, a sold-out event that brought together over 1,200 attendees from across industries to explore, debate, and celebrate the transformative potential of artificial intelligence. Through a mix of key panels, a 48-hour hackathon, and thought leadership engagement, Oracle showcased its commitment to responsible AI innovation […]

Introduction

Many MySQL setups begin life with a familiar incantation:

Copy Copied!

innodb_buffer_pool_size = 70% of RAM

…and then nothing changes.

That’s not tuning. That’s a starting guess.

Real tuning starts when the workload pushes back.

Visual Overview

The InnoDB buffer pool is where database performance is quietly decided. It determines whether your workload hums along in memory or drags itself across disk. If you’re not actively observing and tuning it, you’re leaving performance on the table.

This guide walks through how to monitor, understand, and tune the buffer pool using real signals instead of guesswork.

What the Buffer Pool Really Is

The buffer pool isn’t just “memory for MySQL.” It’s a living system under constant pressure:

• A cache of data and indexes
• A write staging area …