At Percona, we constantly search for ways to make query processing more performant. Our activities include continuous monitoring of Percona Server for MySQL performance by doing performance regression tests. We also challenge Percona Server for MySQL with newly designed tests and analyze bottlenecks for possible improvements. Among our activities in this area is monitoring what […]

Semantic Search with SQL Simplicity and Operational Control

Introduction

Vector search is redefining how we work with unstructured and semantic data. Until recently, integrating it into traditional relational databases like MySQL required external services, extra infrastructure, or awkward workarounds. That changes with the MyVector plugin — a native vector indexing and search extension purpose-built for MySQL.

Whether you’re enhancing search for user-generated content, improving recommendation systems, or building AI-driven assistants, MyVector makes it possible to store, index, and search vector embeddings directly inside MySQL — with full support for SQL syntax, indexing, and filtering.

What Is MyVector?

The MyVector plugin adds native support …

Let's have a look at the new MySQL Optimizer: Hypergraph

During the last MySQL & HeatWave Summit, Wim Coekaerts announced that a new optimizer is available and is already enabled in MySQL HeatWave. Let’s have a quick look at it and how to use it. The first step is to verify that Hypergraph is available: The statement won’t return any error if the Hypergraph Optimizer […]

Uninterrupted IT is vital. MySQL Reference Architectures for High Availability offers blueprints to ensure your MySQL databases are always available, minimizing costly downtime. From Bronze to Platinum, these tiers provide tailored solutions for on-premises, cloud, or hybrid environments.

Setting up an InnoDB Cluster requires three key components: Group Replication, MySQL Shell, and MySQL Router. In the previous post, we covered the process of building a 3-node InnoDB Cluster. In this post, we shift our focus to configuring MySQL Router and validating failover functionality. Environment overview We are using three InnoDB Cluster nodes along […]

In this blog post, we will describe typical usage scenarios for dictionary operations in the Data Masking Component, which is available in Percona Server for MySQL as an open source alternative to Oracle’s enterprise version. In particular, we will consider the following functions. gen_dictionary() – a function that returns a random term from a dictionary. gen_blocklist() – […]

MySQL Enterprise Monitor, aka MEM, retired in January 2025, after almost 20 years of exemplary service! What’s next? Of course, plenty of alternatives exist, open source, proprietary, and on the cloud. For MySQL customers, we provide two alternatives: This post focuses on the latter, as there is no apparent reason to deploy an Oracle Database […]

Every year new cohorts of programmers, DBAs, managers, and more learn MySQL. After MySQL and HeatWave Summit 2025 a few weeks ago, I realized what job needs to be done for these people and how I could help them make progress: revamping this website to focus on “the path”.

Context

This is why you need to learn about MySQL server metrics, especially InnoDB metrics:

MySQL metrics are closely related to MySQL performance—that’s obvious. After all, the purpose of metrics in any system is to measure and report how the system is operating. What’s not obvious is how they are related. It’s not unreasonable if you currently see MySQL metrics as a black box with metrics inside that, in some way, indicate something about MySQL.

That view is not unreasonable (or uncommon) because MySQL metrics are often discussed but never taught. Even in my career with MySQL, I have never read or heard an exposition of MySQL metrics—and I have worked with people who created them. The lack of pedagogy for MySQL metrics is due to a false presumption that metrics do not require understanding or interpretation because their meaning is self-evident. That presumption has a semblance of truth when considering a …