One thing that sometimes bugs me in MySQL is the huge amount of errata. The database is packed with features and abilities that are side-effects from "historical decisions". Decisions that were made when it wasn't planned to be an enterprise product, or changes made to ease porting applications to MySQL from other databases. Legacy, so to speak.

The timestamp data type is a good example - the timestamp manual section is a long list of exceptions and special cases. I usually re-read the manual page before using it. Another good example is the amount of date and time functions that exist in MySQL. There are way too many of them, some overlapping in function, and some just exist as aliases to other functions for compatibility. Just go over the list.

On …

Not sure during my vacation which part of the creative brain has taken over, but I’ve become rather obsessed with marketing graphics and associated words being used across the MySQL and Sun MySQL websites, (See previous examples here and here).

Here are a number of more interesting references from the front page of the www.mysql.com site.

• The MySQL website now has a MySQL/Sun logo, noting it starts with the MySQL logo first.
• MySQL & SUN Come together. Freedom & Innovation Fast, innovative, open database solution now with world class service and support (dolphin jumping at sunset)
• Unlimited Possibilities. Deploy an unlimited number of MySQL Enterprise …

Yesterday I mentioned the new The official Sun-MySQL WebSite. It interested me with the navigation, graphics and content used to describe MySQL.

Greg of One Free Voice in a comment raised a very valid question, he could not find the MySQL Reference Manual, see comments. (I should also point out Greg it is no shame to reference the MySQL manual even daily, I’m an expert in the field and I easily reference the manual multiple times a week, and for reference the single most important page for me is Option and Variable Reference. I’ve also forgotten when using multiple languages in MySQL what is OFF/ON, simple solution is in the mysql client go SELECT ON; and see it it’s 1 or 0.)

Well, I …

As already reported the deal is done (see Sun Press Release, Kaj - Ambassador to Sun comments). I’ve had a look at the Official Sun-MySQL website.

Here is a review of the interesting words and images on the new site.

• Overview - Ultimate Scalability for the Web Economy (dolphin & sunset)
• Features - It Just works (windsurfer with island view)
• Tech Specs - Celebrate the Possibilities (skydiver on snowboard)
• Perspectives - Open, Fast, and Free Just Got Better (snowboarders viewing the mountain scape)
• Support - Unbeatable Duo - Open Source and Global Support (couple showing the V symbol)
• Training - Get Trained. …

In this blog I'm sharing the results of a series of tests designed to explore the impact of various MySQL and, in particular, InnoDB tunables. Performance engineers from Sun have previously blogged on this subject - the main difference in this case is that these latest tests were based on Linux rather than Solaris.

It's worth noting that MySQL throughput doesn't scale linearly as you add large numbers of CPUs. This hasn't been a big issue to most users, since there are ways of deploying MySQL successfully on systems with only modest CPU counts. Technologies that are readily available and widely deployed include replication, which allows horizontal scale-out using query slaves, and memcached, which is very effective at reducing the load on a MySQL server. That said, scalability is likely to become more important as people increasingly deploy systems with quad-core processors, with the result that even two processor systems will need to …

In this blog I'm sharing the results of a series of tests designed to explore the impact of various MySQL and, in particular, InnoDB tunables. Performance engineers from Sun have previously blogged on this subject - the main difference in this case is that these latest tests were based on Linux rather than Solaris.

It's worth noting that MySQL throughput doesn't scale linearly as you add large numbers of CPUs. This hasn't been a big issue to most users, since there are ways of deploying MySQL successfully on systems with only modest CPU counts. Technologies that are readily available and widely deployed include replication, which allows horizontal scale-out using query slaves, and memcached, which is very effective at reducing the load on a MySQL server. That said, scalability is likely to become more important as people increasingly deploy systems with quad-core processors, with the result that even two processor systems will need to …

In this blog I'm sharing the results of a series of tests designed to explore the impact of various MySQL and, in particular, InnoDB tunables. Performance engineers from Sun have previously blogged on this subject - the main difference in this case is that these latest tests were based on Linux rather than Solaris.

It's worth noting that MySQL throughput doesn't scale linearly as you add large numbers of CPUs. This hasn't been a big issue to most users, since there are ways of deploying MySQL successfully on systems with only modest CPU counts. Technologies that are readily available and widely deployed include replication, which allows horizontal scale-out using query slaves, and memcached, which is very effective at reducing the load on a MySQL server. That said, scalability is likely to become more important as people increasingly deploy systems with quad-core processors, with the result that even two processor systems will need to …

Recently we put together a consolidation benchmark to see how an open-source stack performs against the proprietary stack from Microsoft. Solaris, MySQL, and Sun Web Server running on the open-source UltraSPARC T2 processor were pitted against a Microsoft SW stack running on a 4-socket QC Xeon server. This benchmark highlights the continued trend to incorporate MySQL open-source databases and how it works under virtualization (Solaris Zones).

The Sun SPARC Enterprise T5220 (1.4 Ghz UltraSPARC T2 processor) and Solaris Containers managing a consolidation of Open-Source Software components (MySQL Database and Sun Java System Web Server) provided 2.4 times better performance than the HP DL580 system (four Xeon quad-core processors) and a major virtualization software, Microsoft Windows 2003 Server EE, Microsoft SQLserver database and Microsoft IIS webserver.

The Sun SPARC Enterprise T5220 using the MySQL database in Solaris zones is …

Recently we put together a consolidation benchmark to see how an open-source stack performs against the proprietary stack from Microsoft. Solaris, MySQL, and Sun Web Server running on the open-source UltraSPARC T2 processor were pitted against a Microsoft SW stack running on a 4-socket QC Xeon server. This benchmark highlights the continued trend to incorporate MySQL open-source databases and how it works under virtualization (Solaris Zones).

The Sun SPARC Enterprise T5220 (1.4 Ghz UltraSPARC T2 processor) and Solaris Containers managing a consolidation of Open-Source Software components (MySQL Database and Sun Java System Web Server) provided 2.4 times better performance than the HP DL580 system (four Xeon quad-core processors) and a major virtualization software, Microsoft Windows 2003 Server EE, Microsoft SQLserver database and Microsoft IIS webserver.

The Sun SPARC Enterprise T5220 using the MySQL database in Solaris zones is …

Recently we put together a consolidation benchmark to see how an open-source stack performs against the proprietary stack from Microsoft. Solaris, MySQL, and Sun Web Server running on the open-source UltraSPARC T2 processor were pitted against a Microsoft SW stack running on a 4-socket QC Xeon server. This benchmark highlights the continued trend to incorporate MySQL open-source databases and how it works under virtualization (Solaris Zones).

The Sun SPARC Enterprise T5220 (1.4 Ghz UltraSPARC T2 processor) and Solaris Containers managing a consolidation of Open-Source Software components (MySQL Database and Sun Java System Web Server) provided 2.4 times better performance than the HP DL580 system (four Xeon quad-core processors) and a major virtualization software, Microsoft Windows 2003 Server EE, Microsoft SQLserver database and Microsoft IIS webserver.

The Sun SPARC Enterprise T5220 using the MySQL database in Solaris zones is …