Although I am still busy with writing my thesis paper, I do need a distraction from time to time. Since I started getting phpOpenTracker questions again recently, I decided to (slowly) start working on phpOpenTracker 2.0 again. phpOpenTracker 2.0 will be a complete rewrite, utilizing the features of PHP 5.2 and MySQL 5.1.

The biggest problem with phpOpenTracker 1.x is that its database schema is normalized. Even simple …

MySQL announces new enterprise pricing and a record year?Digium names new CEO?Red Hat launches new channel strategy?and more?

MySQL Enterprise Unlimited Site Agreements Now Available for the Cost of a Single CPU of Oracle Enterprise, MySQL (Press Release)

MySQL AB Completes Record Year, MySQL (Press Release)

Digium Names Danny J. Windham as CEO, Digium (Press Release)

Red Hat Expands Channel Strategy with Certified Service Provider Program, Red Hat (Press Release)

…

In this episode, I go over database normalization in general and explain 1st Normal Form (1NF) in depth.

Direct play episode 7 at:
http://tinyurl.com/2fbhy2

Subscribe to the podcast by clicking:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=206806301

You can Direct download all the oursql podcasts at:
http://technocation.org/podcasts/oursql/

Links:
MySQL binaries centralized repository: http://tinyurl.com/3anjfa

SQLzoo

http://www.sqlzoo.net

Links about database normalization:
…

In part 1 of this series I examined the behavior of MySQL’s FEDERATED storage engine by running queries with the general query log enabled on the remote server. In this article I take a higher-level view. I summarize my findings from the first article, then give my thoughts on the engine’s strengths and weaknesses. How the engine works The FEDERATED engine accesses a remote table via a normal mysql client connection.

Version 1.1.4 of Zmanda Recovery Manager (ZRM) for MySQL, a robust and
intelligent solution for backup and recovery of MySQL databases is available
for download at Zmanda downloads page. Changes since 1.1.3 release: * Support for aborting backup runs
* Support for character sets and stored routines
* Bug fixes Take a look at ZRM for MySQL user documentation for more information on how to install and configure it. Find bugs and report them at bugzilla (http://forums.zmanda.com/bugzilla). Feel free to contribute to ZRM for MySQL wiki and …

Technocation, Inc has a list of where you can get MySQL binaries — official and unofficial — up at:

http://tinyurl.com/3anjfa

Phorum needs to get to the MySQL Conference. Perhaps you do, too? Or perhaps you want to help people get there? Technocation, Inc is a not-for-profit committed to helping folks get the education and networking contacts so important to IT professionals. So, they’re opening up their very first campaign!

Technocation, Inc. is a not-for-profit organization. Your contributions are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law. You may choose to donate money, goods or services. Money may be donated through PayPal at http://tinyurl.com/28fa76, and services should be arranged through e-mailing donate@technocation.org . To send payment by mail, see details at . Technocation’s EIN/Tax ID is 20-5445375
Currently, this campaign is …

I will be giving a webinar today at 10am PST/1pm EST entitled "Understanding MySQL Query Execution Performance", which is for novice to intermediate MySQL users, and covers the EXPLAIN command and analyzes various SELECT statements against the Sakila SampleDB. The slides are available here:

Understanding MySQL Query Execution Performance

Enjoy, and feel free to email me feedback and suggestions on the slide content: jay at mysql dot com.

Found a great article about Linux IO Schedulers today which is quite interesting. It goes in details about schedulers and explains in which of workloads which of schedulers is best.

The interesting thing this article points out is - there are multiple versions of each of the schedulers, while name remains the same. This means unless you really know mapping between kernel versions and scheduler versions it is very hard to evaluate benchmark results.

This could be noticed by benchmarks we've done over years. Long time ago "AS" scheduler could be several times slower than deadline for MySQL workloads such as SysBench or DBT2 when it went down to 30% difference and in the last runs we've done difference was not really significant.

This article also points out benchmarking IO schedulers you should look at more numbers than aggregate bandwidth - you also better to …

Yesterday, I wrote about some examples of disruption.  When an industry gets disrupted, there's usually a consistent pattern that emerges:

• A new entrant joins the market
• Their offering is perceived as limited and technically inferior
• The new entrant starts to gain a toehold in a few niches
• The incumbent waits and watches
• The entrant becomes "good enough"
• The niche market starts to boom
• The incumbent responds by trying to cram disruption
• The new model wins

I think the same pattern that happened with PCs disrupting minicomputers and …