MySQL Newsletter July 2009

Articles in this newsletter:

Events

Live Webinar: Managing MySQL in Virtual Environments with VMWare (July 28, 2009)
Live Webinar: MySQL at Ticketmaster - Scaling for Huge On-Sales! (August 4, 2009)
Live Webinar: Growing Small and Mid-Sized Businesses Fast on MySQL (August 13, 2009)

Training, Consulting, & Certification

Partners

Live Webinar: MySQL Backups - Zmanda Recovery Manager for MySQL (July 23, 2009)
White Paper: Deploying Higher Level Building Blocks for Web 2.0 and Cloud Computing Datacenters

Highlights

Article: The New MySQL Server Release Model

Robin Schumacher

When I joined MySQL back in June of 2005, one of the first "MySQL Truths" I learned and repeated often when discussing MySQL with others was "release early, release often." If you've been using MySQL for any length of time, you know what that statement means.

Read the Article »

Twitter: Follow us on Twitter for the Latest MySQL Information

With the increasing popularity of social networking and micro-blogging services, now there is a central place on Twitter where you can receive the latest MySQL updates, including new product releases, upcoming webinars, technical articles, newly-released white papers and other useful information. Follow us on Twitter to receive the updates automatically!

Follow MySQL on Twitter »

Meet MySQL Experts at the Free and Open Source Conference (August 22 - 23, Germany)

FrOSCon, the Free and Open Source Conference, will take place for the fourth time on August 22nd and 23rd in the University of Applied Sciences Bonn-Rhein-Sieg in St. Augustin, Germany. Come and meet with MySQL experts during the MySQL sessions and at the Sun Microsystem's booth.

Parallel to FrOSCon, there will be "OpenSQL Camp", a subconference about open source database technology. This track will provide two days of sessions covering a wide range of topics aimed at database developers, end users and DBAs. Call for papers closes on July 19th, so submit your topic soon.

Learn More about FrOSCon »

Learn More about OpenSQL Camp »

White Paper: Guide to MySQL for Microsoft Windows

For many years, Microsoft Windows has been the most popular development platform and second most popular production platform for organizations developing MySQL applications. For some, this fact may come as a surprise given MySQL's ubiquity as the "M" in the open source Linux, Apache, PHP, Perl and Python (LAMP) stack. However, as we will discover over the course of this paper, MySQL on Windows continues to be a popular choice for independent software vendors, original equipment manufacturers, hosting providers and organizations developing custom web, departmental and enterprise applications.

Read this White Paper » (http://www.mysql.com/why-mysql/white-papers/mysql_wp_onwindows.php)

White Paper: An SMB Guide to Developing an Open Source Strategy

Not only is open source ready for the world's largest enterprises, it's ideal for small- and medium-sized businesses (SMB's) as well. With many SMB's expanding their operations on a limited budget, the open source option delivers a scalable, reliable and high performance platform that keeps total cost of ownership extremely low. Many SMB's are realizing significant cost savings by using open source products to power web sites, business-critical enterprise applications and packaged software. This paper is your guide to developing an open source strategy.

Read this White Paper » (http://www.mysql.com/why-mysql/white-papers/mysql_wp_smb_lamp.php)

Live Webinar: For ISVs - Using Microsoft ADO.NET Entity Framework with MySQL

Tuesday, August 11, 2009 - 10:00am PDT

The Entity Framework is a new technology that was developed by Microsoft and delivered as part of .NET 3.5 SP1. This framework abstracts the relational schema of the database and presents it as a conceptual schema. This is particularly beneficial for ISVs because by working with a conceptual schema, the commercial application developer avoids having to write complicated joins to connect all the related items of data, greatly reducing development time, resources and therefore, COGS. ISV developers can access their data using ORM-like classes, LinQ syntax, or with a new SQL syntax named EntitySQL, all of which further reduce COGS.

New Product Releases

New Release of MySQL Community Server 5.1.36 (GA)

MySQL Community Server 5.1.36, a new version of the popular Open Source Database Management System, has been released. MySQL 5.1.36 is recommended for use on production systems.

View the complete list of changes »

Download Now »

New Release of MySQL Community Server 5.4.1 (Beta)

MySQL Server 5.4.1-beta, a new version of the popular Open Source Database Management System, has been released. MySQL 5.4 is based on MySQL 5.1 but includes small, high-impact changes to address scalability and performance issues in MySQL Server. These changes exploit advances in hardware and CPU design and enable better utilization of existing hardware.

View the complete list of changes »

Download Now »

New Release of MySQL Workbench 5.1.16 (GA)

We're proud to announce the first General Availability build of our database development tool MySQL Workbench. Version 5.1.16 is now available on our download servers. On our final run towards GA release of version 5.1 we managed to close 13 bugs and a couple of small issues still found in our previous release.

View the complete list of changes »

Download Now »

New Release of MySQL Connector/Net 6.0.4 (GA)

MySQL Connector/Net 6.0.4, a new version of the all-managed .NET driver for MySQL has been released. This is the first post-GA release of the new 6.0 connector and includes several bug fixes from the initial GA release. This release is approved for use in all scenarios and officially supports MySQL servers 4.1 and higher.

View the complete list of changes »

Download Now »

Hints & Tips

White Paper: MySQL Storage Engine Comparison Guide

The MySQL Server is unique among database management systems in that it offers the ability to use many different types of database engines via its storage engine architecture. Not only are these engines developed by MySQL/Sun, but a number come from MySQL partners and ISV's as well. The end result is a very flexible and innovative environment that offers many benefits including higher performance and more efficient usage of hardware resources.

Read the White Paper » (http://www.mysql.com/why-mysql/white-papers/mysql_wp_storage_engine_guide.php)

White Paper: A Practical Guide to Migrating From Microsoft SQL Server to MySQL

This paper provides insight into what is needed for considering a move from Microsoft SQL Server to MySQL, and presents a number of options that help make the transition easy. Both the business and technical sides of migrating to MySQL will be dealt with, so whether you are a manager or a seasoned DBA, you will find the needed answers to questions that revolve around migrating to the world's most popular open source database - MySQL.

Read this White Paper » (http://www.mysql.com/why-mysql/white-papers/mysql_wp_mssql2mysql.php)

White Paper: A Guide for Migrating From Microsoft Access to MySQL

With the rapid growth of Open Source and MySQL in the database market, many corporations, government agencies, educational institutions, and others have begun to migrate away from traditional and expensive desktop and large-scale proprietary databases to more cost effective solutions.

In particular, many MySQL customers are migrating from Microsoft Access because they have reached the conclusion that the combination of enhanced scalability (both in terms of concurrent userload and overall data volume), cost-savings, platform freedom, and feature set of MySQL make for a compelling business case to offload some or all their Access applications to the MySQL database server.

Read this White Paper » (http://www.mysql.com/why-mysql/white-papers/mysql_wp_migrate-from-access.php)

White Paper: Developing Database Applications Using MySQL Connector/C++

This tutorial will show you the essential steps to build and install the new, elegant MySQL Connector/C++ driver, with simple examples to connect, insert, and retrieve data from a MySQL database. Application developers who are new to MySQL Connector/C++ but not to C++ programming and the MySQL database, are the target audience of this tutorial. Because the focus is on database connectivity from a C++ application, this document assumes that some kind of MySQL database is already up and accessible from the client machine.

Read this White Paper »

White Paper: Open Source Adoption in Telecommunications Service Delivery Infrastructure

Reducing cost, accelerating time to market and enhancing subscriber experience are key drivers for investment by Communications Service Providers (CSPs) today, and open source technologies are playing a transformational role in enabling CSPs to meet these strategic goals.

Get the latest research from IDC and MySQL and learn where and why CSPs and technology providers are adopting open source technologies to power the next generation of network service infrastructure.

Read this White Paper » (http://www.mysql.com/why-mysql/white-papers/mysql_wp_idcempower.php)

White Paper: Deploying FreeRADIUS with MySQL Cluster

This guide documents a best-practice approach to configuring and testing a FreeRADIUS server deployed with the MySQL Cluster database storage engine serving as the back-end data store for user and accounting data. Deployment topologies and configurations are presented, enabling users to quickly and simply replicate the solution in their own environment.

Read this White Paper » (http://www.mysql.com/why-mysql/white-papers/mysql_wp_deploying_FreeRADIUS.php)

White Paper: Delivering Scalable & Highly Available Authentication & Accounting Services

This white paper discusses the concepts of current data storage solutions for Authentication, Authorization and Accounting (AAA) environments and their potential limitations as network use grows and services become more dynamic.

The paper then presents an alternative deployment scenario based on the FreeRADIUS Server and MySQL Cluster serving as the back-end AAA database, providing an infrastructure for high growth and availability, with low complexity. A sizing study and user case study are presented to demonstrate how the solution performs in real-world AAA environments.

Read this White Paper » (http://www.mysql.com/why-mysql/white-papers/mysql_wp_ha_auth_account.php)

PlanetMySQL Blog Posts

The following blog posts are from PlanetMySQL. PlanetMySQL is an aggregation of blogs and news from MySQL developers, users and employees. It is an excellent source of all things about MySQL, including technical tips and best practices.

Visit PlanetMySQL »

Submit Your Blog Feed »

PlanetMySQL Blog: My first MySQL Cluster running on Windows

Andrew Morgan

I figured that it was time to check out how to install, configure, run and use MySQL Cluster on Windows. To keep things simple, this first Cluster will all run on a single host but includes these nodes: 1 Management node (ndb_mgmd), 2 Data nodes (ndbd), and 3 MySQL Server (API) nodes (mysqld).

Read the PlanetMySQL BlogPost »

PlanetMySQL Blog: Verifying MySQL Replication in action

Ronald Bradford

There is a very simple test to show MySQL replication in action and to also better understand the basics of MySQL Replication. With a configured MySQL environment we can run the following test on your MySQL master, and monitor the MySQL slave.

Read the PlanetMySQL BlogPost »

PlanetMySQL Blog: Remote MySQL replication setup with Gearman and MySQL Sandbox

Giuseppe Maxia

A few months ago, Brian Aker invited me to have a look at Gearman, saying that I could find interesting combinations with MySQL Proxy. I did not forget, and I kept thinking about interesting ways of using it. The first idea that I managed to apply is not related to Proxy, but to a practical problem that I have been keeping in reserve for years, i.e. installing replication systems from remote, without effort.

Read the PlanetMySQL BlogPost »

PlanetMySQL Blog: How to upgrade from MySQL Cluster 6.3 to 7.0

Johan Andersson

In order to upgrade from 6.3 to 7.0 you must follow these rules: 1. It is only possible to upgrade from 6.3 to at least 7.0.6! 2. You cannot upgrade from 6.3 to the multi-threaded binary of 7.0.6 in one go. You have to upgrade from 'ndbd' (6.3) --> 'ndbd' (7.0.6). Then you can do 'ndbd' (7.0.6) --> 'ndbmtd' (7.0.6).

Read the PlanetMySQL BlogPost »

PlanetMySQL Blog: Hiding MySQL passwords in the General Query Log

Geert Vanderkelen

There are situations where the General Query Log has to be kept running. One problem here is that when creating MySQL users and setting passwords, it will be logged in clear text. There is a bug/feature request handling this. Here is my workaround using MySQL 5.1 (and higher).

Read the PlanetMySQL BlogPost »

PlanetMySQL Blog: Improved Indices for MySQL Reference Manual

Martin 'MC' Brown

I continue to try and find new ways to make it easier for people to get into the right place in the documentation for the information you are looking for.

This week, I've added some experimental custom indexes. These use information from the ID mapping process that we use in lots of parts of the documentation to do some interesting stuff.

Read the PlanetMySQL BlogPost »

PlanetMySQL Blog: MySQL Performance on Sun Storage 7000

David Lutz

If you saw Don MacAskill's keynote (The Smugmug Tale) at the recent MySQL Conference and Expo, you know that he had lots of positive things to say about his experience running MySQL on the Sun Storage 7410 at Smugmug. The 7410 marks the current high end of the Sun Storage 7000 Unified Storage line of network attached storage devices. For the past few months, I have been investigating MySQL database performance on the entry level and mid-range models, to see whether they might provide similar benefits to smaller MySQL sites. I have to admit that I was more than a little surprised at just how well things performed, even on the entry level 7110. For the whole story, read on...

Read the PlanetMySQL BlogPost »

PlanetMySQL Blog: MySQL - Refactoring a Stored Function

Roland Bouman

I was just reading PlanetMySQL and noticed Mike Hillyer's recent post on a user-friendly age function for MySQL. Basically, this function accepts two DATETIME values and returns an indication of the time between the two dates in the form of a human-readable string. Just for fun, I decided to try and refactor it, and I'm writing this to share the results.

Read the PlanetMySQL BlogPost »

PlanetMySQL Blog: Time To Upgrade - MySQL Workbench 5.1 Is Here on Windows, Mac OS & Linux

Michael G. Zinner

We just announced the latest MySQL Workbench 5.1 release, 5.1.16. This release was labeled GA, which means that everybody using Workbench 5.0 or an earlier version of Workbench 5.1 is recommended update to Workbench 5.1.16.

We are now putting our main focus on the Workbench 5.1 branch and will continue to provide rapid update releases during the next months.

Read the PlanetMySQL BlogPost »

Events

Live Webinar: Managing MySQL in Virtual Environments with VMWare

Tuesday, July 28, 2009 - 10:00am PDT

Join us for an overview of how to deploy and manage MySQL in virtual environments using the market leader in virtualization, VMWare. In this presentation Mike Frank, Sun Microsystems and Gaeton Castelein, VMware will demonstrate how and when to virtualize databases and provide criteria for choosing the right virtualization products. Also covered will be the associated best practices for running MySQL in a virtualized environment, plus a look at performance comparisons and benchmarks between physical servers and the VMware platform.

Read the White Paper "Virtualization for MySQL on VMware: Best Practices and Performance Guide" » (http://www.mysql.com/why-mysql/white-papers/mysql_wp_VMware_BestPraticesandPerfGuidev7.php)

Live Webinar: MySQL at Ticketmaster - Scaling for Huge On-Sales!

Tuesday, August 4, 2009 - 10:00am PDT

Ticketmaster.com (www.ticketmaster.com) is one of the largest e-commerce sites on the Internet and MySQL is the core piece that enables Ticketmaster.com to sell 141 million tickets in 2008. Join this informative webinar where Ed Presz, Senior Director of Database Engineering at Ticketmaster Entertainment, discusses how the decision was made to migrate from Microsoft SQL Server to MySQL in 2002, and how MySQL grows with the business and rapidly scales the website to meet the ever growing demand for tickets. In addition, the MySQL architecture and performance-tuning tips at Ticketmaster.com will also be shared during the presentation. Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc. is headquartered in West Hollywood, California (NASDAQ:TKTM).

Live Webinar: Growing Small and Mid-Sized Businesses Fast on MySQL

Thursday, August 13, 2009 - 10:00am PDT

MySQL is a proven business-critical database that provides incredible scale and performance at a significantly lower total cost of ownership. At the same time, MySQL is also easy to deploy, easy to use, and requires low administration which makes it ideal for small and mid-sized businesses.

Join this webinar to learn how organizations like Clickability leveraged the benefits of MySQL Enterprise to rapidly scale their small businesses into successful enterprises. You'll also learn what MySQL offers and how it can be used to build a scalable, reliable and high performance platform in your fast-growing business.

More free MySQL webinars are scheduled and added between each Newsletter edition, so visit our website often for the most updated information.

View the full list of webinars »

Training, Consulting, and Certification

Training: MySQL for Developers (5 Days)

Irvine, Sao Paulo, Kuala Lumpur, Calgary

With an Authorized MySQL instructor and hands-on exercises you will learn how to develop applications with all the new features of MySQL 5.1.

This instructor-led course is designed for students planning on developing applications that make use of MySQL 5.0 and 5.1. This course covers essential SQL statements for data design, querying, and programming. In addition, it will prepare you for the MySQL Developer certification.

Consulting: MySQL Performance Tuning & Optimization (3+ Days)

Sun's MySQL consultants rely on their expertise in web applications, data warehouses, clustering, and embedded systems in providing this service. A dedicated MySQL consultant will work closely with you explaining and implementing architecture and performance tuning optimization in the following areas - MySQL internals, query optimization, index tuning, caching and buffer tuning, hot spot and bottleneck identification, and storage engine selection.

Learn More » (http://www.mysql.com/consulting/packaged/performance.html)

Partners

Live Webinar: MySQL Backups - Zmanda Recovery Manager for MySQL

Thursday, July 23, 2009 - 10:00am PDT

Zmanda's MySQL Backup and Recovery Solution is the only comprehensive backup solution that addresses the unique needs of MySQL databases - such as highly scalable backups in very high transaction environments, and support for multiple storage engines. Zmanda Recovery Manager (ZRM) for MySQL now features Visual Log Analyzer to quickly discover point-of-recovery.

This presentation from experts in open-source backup and recovery of MySQL will demonstrate Zmanda Recovery Manager. We will walk through management and visualization tools for managing all backup activities of a MySQL DBA.

White Paper: Deploying Higher Level Building Blocks for Web 2.0 and Cloud Computing Datacenters

Today's data-intensive Web 2.0 and cloud computing datacenters face soaring costs and workloads. Even the latest advances in flash memory and multi-core processors have failed to address these scaling challenges. This paper examines how next-generation internet datacenter appliances leverage these technology advances to cut costs, simplify management, and effectively scale MySQL.

Read this White Paper » (http://solutions.mysql.com/solutions/white-papers/partner_wp_schooner_technology.php)