What Do We Mean By “MySQL”?

Tungsten is the go-to replication and clustering solution for MySQL - powering real-world, geo-distributed business-critical applications for customers such as Adobe, Chargify, Garmin, Marketo, Riot Games, and VMware.

Sometimes we get asked by those who are not familiar with us, what we mean by “MySQL,” and this blog is meant to shed some light on this question.

The Short Answer: All Forks and Flavors

Tungsten supports what we describe as “all forks and flavors” of MySQL, that is:

• Oracle MySQL
• MariaDB
• Percona Server for MySQL

All “forks and flavors” includes the whole ice cream shop - both Community and Commercial, supported versions of MySQL, MariaDB, and Percona Server for MySQL, and all Versions of each.

However, most Tungsten customers find that the paid, Commercial versions are unnecessary, since Tungsten provides robust support and functionality, including capabilities that are not available from commercial versions of the databases (such as fully-automated continuous operations and geo-distributed active/active clusters). Note also that it does not make a difference to our subscriptions what type of MySQL you use, Commercial or not. Our subscriptions are based loosely on the number of database servers running Tungsten software, with the price growing non-linearly the greater the number of cluster nodes. In fact, pricing also does not change based on:

• the size of your database,
• the number of database schemas,
• transaction load, growth,
• number of database proxies (aka Tungsten Connectors),
• whether or not you utilize filters,
• or any other number of ways your environment may be measured.

All that matters is that you have the right clustering solution for your environment, so it’s easy to support and maintain.

That’s how Tungsten supports highly-dynamic environments for long periods of time, in a cost-effective way - maintaining availability and uptime measured in years.

The Longer Answer: A Brief History of “MySQL”

Michael Widenius is from Finland, just like our CEO and Founder, Eero Teerikorpi, and also the founder of Linux, Linus Torvalds. There is something magical about that part of the world…how else would such a place be ranked the happiest place on earth for four consecutive years?

“Vanilla” MySQL (owned by Oracle) is a free, open source database that was founded in 1995 by Michael “Monty” Widenius.

People outside the open source database community might not be aware that Michael and others from the MySQL team forked it to create MariaDB “due to concerns” about MySQL’s acquisition by Oracle Corporation in 2009. Hence, MariaDB was co-created by the same person who originally created MySQL. Another fun fact is that both MySQL and MariaDB are named after Michael’s daughters, My and Maria. (His son is named Max, which also rings a bell… ;))

Percona Server for MySQL is a drop-in replacement of MySQL initially released in 2006, that offers consulting and support services (similar to the commercial versions of MySQL from Oracle and MariaDB).

Continuent is independent of all database vendors; we have no interest to sell Support or Consulting services or add-on features or functionality. We like to keep it simple by being a one-stop-shop for MySQL replication and clustering - that’s why all subscriptions include one, enterprise-grade tier of 24/7/365 Support, averaging less than 3 minutes response-time for Urgent inquiries.

I hope this helps answer any questions you may have about what we mean by “MySQL.” For us, it doesn’t make a difference - our solutions work equally well for all forks and flavors, though in most cases the Community versions tend to provide the most value. Please reach out if you would like to learn more!

References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MySQL
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MariaDB
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Widenius
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56457295