The following checklist was compiled in recent classes. Usage is simple: Check the listed things , and consider the actions on the right.

It's not commented, just use it as a cheat sheet. Check: Max_Used_Connections Action: Max_Connnections Check: Threads_% Action: Thread_Cache_Size Check: Opened_Tables, Open_Tables Action: Table_Cache Check: Created_Tmp_Tables, Created_Tmp_Disk_Tables Action: Tmp_Table_Size Check: Sort_% Action: Sort_Buffer Check: QCache_%, Com_Select Action: Query_Cache_% Check: Table_Locks_% Action: MyISAM -> InnoDB Check: Key_% Action: Key_Buffer_Size Check: SHOW INNODB STATUS Action: Innodb_Buffer_Pool_Size Check: PROCEDURE ANALYSE() Action: ALTER TABLE Check: (Slow) Query Log Action: EXPLAIN

I will be involved in two sessions at the MySQL Users Conference and Expo 2007.

• The Blackhole and Federated Storage Engines: The Coolest Kids on the Block, a four-hands presentation with Kai Voigt
• Lightning Rounds with Top MySQL Community Contributors where I will be the moderator among a group of valued contributors who will tell their experience with MySQL.

This year conference is going to be more user-oriented than ever before. Many sessions by MySQL employees will be co-presented by …

Zend becomes even more interesting every day. PHP, the programming language that powers more than twenty-two million Web sites [Note: 22M is "a lot" :-) ] and boasts over 4.5 million developers, has long been on the rise. But Zend, like XenSource (virtualization) and others that build companies around open source projects, has long been searching for the right formula to maintain maximum openness in its community while still earning a solid return.

With the release of Zend Core 2.0, I believe the company has taken a big step in this direction.

As the company announced today,

Zend Core [is] the first fully tested, supported and enhanced version of PHP. Zend Core is based on the …

People will ask this question again and again when they run at the solidDB Storage Engine. The difference means, of course, the difference against InnoDB--the seminal transactional storage for MySQL. It is natural one would think, at first, that solidDB is just a clone of InnoDB because it does the same job of maintaining a transactional table engine under a unified SQL interface. That is true--and must be true--to some extent. However, when you scratch the surface, you may find some pleasant surprises. For example, built-in in solidDB is online backup producing snapshot-consistent backups in a non-blocking fashion. You may find a snapshot-consistent checkpoint a nice feature too. It gives you the freedom to move around the database files (after server shutdown) without the need to care about log files. There are also two concurrency control methods called "optimistic" and "pessimistic".

It is also good to prepare for more. The Solid's …

I've been designing an algorithm to resolve data differences between MySQL tables, specifically so I can 'patch' a replication slave that has gotten slightly out of sync without completely re-initializing it. I intend to create a tool that can identify which rows are different and bring them into sync. I would like your thoughts on this.

Mandy and I were working together on some accounting for Foo Associates earlier today. We were scratching down notes in an old notebook when I ran across some old bits and pieces from my days at MySQL - random lists of tasks, flight schedules, doodlings and this little snippet of text under the hotel address for OSCON 2002:

Flying into Salt Lake City is amazing. The terrain looks unfinished, like the surface of a moon recently given life. The Great Salt Lake spreads out past the horizon and, when low enough, you can see the weird and wonderful patterns formed by salt, evaporation and algae spreading out like plumes of gas boiling off a star.

Later, driving past the lake with an acquaintance, I remember being nearly equally amazed at the “dead sea creature in the hot sun” smell that rolls off of it.

…

Cupertino, Calif.- March 6, 2007 - Zend Technologies, the PHP company, today announced a new version of Zend Core?, the industry?s leading PHP distribution. Zend Core 2.0 is based on PHP 5.2.1 and complements PHP with enhancements to improve development, deepen database support, enhance Windows integration and provide enterprise-class support. Zend Core is available for free and can be downloaded at www.zend.com/core.

I somehow introduced a syntax error into MySQL Table Checksum in the 1.0.1 release and didn't notice till just now. I've replaced the file in the Sourceforge release, but it may take a few hours for it to propagate to all mirrors. My apologies.

Despite Jeremy Cole's stinginess in his replies to my last speaker spotlight entry ( ) I'm continuing my efforts this round with Zak Greant, who will be leading a session for MySQL newbies at the conference called "MySQL Sandalcamp: A Relaxed Introduction to MySQL". This hour-long session is aimed at beginners who want to learn the basics of creating and querying tables, setting up a user, etc.

One of the coolest blokes I've had the privelege of meeting, Zak is one of those personalities who leave an instant impression on you (if you meet him, check out his wedding "ring" ... it's actually a tattoo...). Anyway, …

There's a good article at Linux.com that profiles MySQL database guru Brian Aker and his background in achieving high scalability of systems.  Brian is also one of the speakers at the upcoming MySQL Conference & Expo in Santa Clara April 23-26. Brian will be covering several tutorials and sessions on MySQL 5.1, storage engines and replication.  (Note: Tutorials tend to sell out early, so if you want to make sure you can attend these, you should register by March 14.)

• Linux.com: Portrait: Brian Aker - …