Oracle + Open Source

DBJ: Maatkit & Tcpdumps for Query Analysis

Sean Hull — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 13:07:24 +0000

MySQL has a great facility called the slow query log. It allows you to filter out the most expensive requests against your database. You may not have enabled it, however, and perhaps don’t want to restart your database. In cases like these, a quicker way to capture queries is through tcpdumps of the port MySQL runs on.

Maatkit’s mk-query-digest has a tcpdump mode which can magically analyze this traffic for you, and produce a spectacular report of your top resource intensive queries. In this Database Journal article we give it a once over.

Database Journal – Troubleshooting MySQL with Maatkit & Tcpdumps

DBJ – MySQL Hotbackups with Xtrabackup

Sean Hull — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 13:00:28 +0000

The open-source xtrabackup tool from Percona brings much needed hot backup functionality to MySQL deployments. In this database journal article we discuss logical, cold, and hot backups, then explain how to use xtrabackup on your MyISAM, InnoDB, and XtraDB tables to create at-the-ready backups. We then take you through the step-by-step process to restore them, and even the process of point-in-time recovery too.

Database Journal – Hotbackups with Percona’s Xtrabackup

DBJ – MySQL Character Sets

Sean Hull — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 17:00:39 +0000

In our latest article at Database Journal we talk about Character Sets in MySQL. What are they? How do they affect searching? How do they affect data that is inserted or updated? How can I set and control the for an application or globally in my database? And what pre-tell is collation? We answer all these questions and more.

Database Journal – Understanding MySQL Character Sets

DBJ: MySQL Benchmarking

Sean Hull — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 17:00:58 +0000

Benchmarking is liking running your system through it’s paces. You don’t know how fast your software and hardware are until you’ve put some pressure on them. Benchmarking tools allow you to do just that. We use sysbench to look at the operating system and mysqlslap to run queries in the MySQL database.

Database Journal – MySQL Server Benchmarking 101

DBJ: Inside MySQL Binary Logs

Sean Hull — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 13:00:53 +0000

MySQL’s binary logs are an important part of a properly functioning database. They facility point-in-time recovery, and allow replication to operation. We dig into these files, and look at what’s inside them, and how they work.

An Inside Look at the MySQL Binary Log Files

DBJ – Mult-master MySQL Improves Manageability

Sean Hull — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 13:00:32 +0000

Multi-master MySQL, with the MMM management software brings a whole host of new features, and manageability to your MySQL deployments. Run backups, alter tables, perform upgrades all without slowing down your production users.

DBJ: Introduction to Multi-Master MySQL

Sean Hull — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 15:00:10 +0000

This month on Database Journal we talk about multi-master MySQL using circular replication to achieve high availability.

iHeavy Insights 69 – Fewer Moving Parts

Sean Hull — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 13:00:57 +0000

In this month’s newsletter we talk about the advantages that come from simplicity in design. This holds true for extreme sports like sky diving or rock climbing, as much as it holds for user interface designs on smartphones like the iphone, or internet infrastructure and operations.

DBJ: More Maatkit

Sean Hull — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 13:00:05 +0000

In this month’s article we discuss Maatkit again, following up on our previous article last month. There are a whole host of backup and administrative tools including some to dump in parallel, search for tables, search for queries based on criteria and more.

Even More Maatkit at Database Journal

DBJ – Wonders of Maatkit for MySQL

Sean Hull — Tue, 18 May 2010 13:00:38 +0000

If you’re new to the MySQL DBA role, you’ll be excited to learn about the Maatkit toolset. It provides a whole host of valuable functionality and fills many of the DBAs day-to-day needs.

DatabaseJournal – Wonders of Maatkit

iHeavy Insights 67 – Golden Rule In Business

Sean Hull — Sat, 01 May 2010 13:00:13 +0000

If you’ve ever worked with someone who is more on the abrasive side, you probably know how unpleasant it can make business. The truth is when it comes to the people you work with everyday, it’s important to be a great person to work with. This doesn’t mean not speaking your mind, but it means doing so in a way that doesn’t step on toes. A pleasure doing business with you – carries more weight than we might often think.

Newsletter 67 – Golden Rule In Business

DBJ – Exotic Storage Engines for MySQL

Sean Hull — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 13:00:23 +0000

In our March DBJ article we talked about some of the storage engines to choose from with MySQL. With it’s plugin storage engine architecture, you have a range of options. In our April article we continue to discuss a further selection of storage engines, and what features they offer to the DBA and database architect.

Database Journal – Exotic Storage Engines

iHeavy Insights 66 – Needs & Wants

Sean Hull — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 13:00:24 +0000

Customers and consultants often have wildly different views of a business solution. Consultants may see the devil in the details, how all the gears line up, and what each piece does. The customer very clearly sees their business needs. The trick is for the consultant to be able to translate needs to wants, and articulate that solution in a way that expresses the value to the business. All that, and without getting tripped up on complex jargon, and too much technical detail.

iHeavy Insights 66 – Needs and Wants

Surveying MySQL’s Popular Storage Engines

Sean Hull — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:00:35 +0000

In this month’s Database Journal piece we look at the spectrum of MySQL storage engines available, and examine what some of their strengths and weaknesses are.

View the article here: Survey of MySQL Storage Engines

iHeavy Insights 65 – How Many Hats

Sean Hull — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 13:00:42 +0000

What’s your strongest suit? You may have heard the question before. It’s a simple and seemingly innocuous question, however by labeling and simplifying our skillset, we subtly pigeonhole our expertise unnecessarily. Perhaps a better question might be “How many hats can you wear?”, or “Are you a jack of all trades?”.

This month’s newsletter ponders this topic to present a different perspective on subject matter expertise.

iHeavy Insights 65 – How Many Hats?