So you're running MySQL With innodb_file_per_table option but your ibdata1 file which holds main (or system) tablespace have grown dramatically from its starting 10MB size.
What could be the reason of this growth and what you can do about it ?

There are few things which are always stored in main tablespace - these are system tables, also known as data dictionary - table and index definitions and related stuff, double write buffer, insert buffer which temporary stores records to be inserted in the index tree and undo segment holding previous versions of changed rows.

The system tables size depends on the number and complexity of the tables you have in the system. If you have hundreds of thousands of tables it may consume gigabytes of space but for most installations we're speaking about tens of megabytes or less. Double Write Buffer is fixed size (2MB = 128 of 16KB pages) and so will not affect growth of …

We added a 500GB 7.2K SATA/300 Hitachi Deskstar E7K500 16MB disk to one of our dev servers and partitioned using fdisk and formatted the partition with etx3. When we tried mounting the same, we got the following error :

[root@xyz user]# mount -t ext3  /dev/sdb1 /mysql
mount: /dev/sdb1 already mounted or /mysql busy

lsof didn’t provide any open files that might be linked to this problem or there was any “famd” running. Finally doing the following steps to remove the logical devices from the device-mapper driver helped us fix the problem.

[root@xyz user]# dmsetup ls
ddf1_44656c6c202020201028001510281f033832b7a2f6678dab   (253, 0)
ddf1_44656c6c202020201028001510281f033832b7a2f6678dab1  (253, 1)

[root@xyz user]# dmsetup remove ddf1_44656c6c202020201028001510281f033832b7a2f6678dab1
[root@xyz user]# dmsetup ls
…

Infobright, built on MySQL, is designed for fast queries and analytics against large volumes of data. MySQL users who need improved analytic performance can learn more at one of Infobright's upcoming techical webinars:

Introduction to Infobright

Register for this webinar to learn more about Infobright technology and how to get started.

June 11 10AM PT, 1PM ET, 19:00 CET June 22 10AM ET, 16:00 CET June 29 10AM PT, 1PM ET, 19:00 CET

Migrating from Row Databases to Infobright for High Speed Analytics

June 16 10AM PT, 1PM ET, 19:00 CET

Infobright for Windows Developers

June 24 9AM PT, 12PM ET, 18:00 CET

Infobright, built on MySQL, is designed for fast queries and analytics against large volumes of data. MySQL users who need improved analytic performance can learn more at one of Infobright's upcoming techical webinars:

Introduction to Infobright

Register for this webinar to learn more about Infobright technology and how to get started.

June 11 10AM PT, 1PM ET, 19:00 CET June 22 10AM ET, 16:00 CET June 29 10AM PT, 1PM ET, 19:00 CET

Migrating from Row Databases to Infobright for High Speed Analytics

June 16 10AM PT, 1PM ET, 19:00 CET

Infobright for Windows Developers

June 24 9AM PT, 12PM ET, 18:00 CET

I wrote this post for the Zenoss community blog today, on cloud lock-in today. Rather than cross-posting I’ll just give you the lead in and you can read it there if you like.

2010 is definitely the year of the cloud, The IT world is abuzz with the benefits of cloud computing and rightfully so. Cloud computing, the logical extension of network storage and virtualization, is probably the biggest IT leap forward since pervasive use of the Internet. Despite the buzz all that glitters isn’t gold. Despite a widespread interest in cloud computing there may be some pitfalls …

InfiniDB uses Extent Maps to retrieve data. Data is stored in extents and each extent is a logical block of space that holds the same number of rows.

The Extent Map catalogs all extents and their corresponding blocks. The Extent Map also maintains minimum and maximum values for a column’s data within an extent.

The Extent Map lets InfiniDB to retrieve only the blocks needed to satisfy a query. There is another benefit – that of logical range partitioning. This is accomplished via the minimum and maximum values for each extent that are contained within the Extent Map. Extent elimination is first accomplished in InfiniDB via the column-oriented architecture (only needed columns are scanned), but the process is accelerated because of the logical horizontal partitioning that is implemented in the Extent Map. So only the needed sections of the column are read. …

Sorry all I have been very busy transitioning into my new position for the last couple of months.

I want to just give a small note – it was very good to meet a bunch of you at the conference back in April!

However, on to more serious business – I currently work for Electronic Arts, and at this point we are actually looking for Sr. MySQL DBA’s. So if you or someone you know is interested, feel free to email me directly at nwesterlund – at – ea.com . We will of course treat everything confidentially.

On a different note – the InnoDB plugin rocks in performance compared to the built-in version! I have seen test results (from my own test) ranging from 15% to 70% performance improvement! Good job there!

This Thursday (June 10th, 14:00 UTC), Darren Cassar will rerun his February 25 presentation of Securich - Security Plugin for MySQL. (Recording of the session failed in February; hopefully it will succeed this time.) According to Darren, the author of the plugin, Securich is an incredibly handy and versatile tool for managing user privileges on MySQL through the use of roles. It basically makes granting and revoking rights a piece of cake, not to mention added security it provides through password expiry and password history, the customization level it permits, the fact that it runs on any MySQL 5.0 or later and it's easily deployable on any official MySQL binary, platform independent.
More information here: …

The Pyro Group has selected the MySQL Cluster database to power their InRoam SDP (Service Delivery Platform). InRoam enables Cell C and their network partners to provide low cost, border-less mobile communications services to hundreds of thousands of football fans from around the world as they descend on South Africa for the 2010 FIFA World Cup tournament.

This new case study can be downloaded from http://www.mysql.com/why-mysql/case-studies/mysql_cs-pyro_telecoms.php

Solution Overview

• Pyro InRoam SDP is an intelligent application enabling subscribers to communicate with ease across borders
• Migrated from a Microsoft platform with SQL Server to offer greater choice and less restrictive licensing
…

Just as a quick reminder, as LinuxTag 2010 in Berlin is going into full swing: I am speaking on highly available, distributed, open source storage this Friday in room Europa I at 4pm CEST.

If you’re in Berlin, drop by! Admission is free.

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