Oracle + Open Source

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

webcast – DRBD & MySQL High Availability

Sean Hull — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 13:00:53 +0000

I recently presented a webcast hosted by O’Reilly and Webex. In it I take you on a step-by-step installation of DRBD and MySQL. I start by using Sun’s Virtualbox to create to virtual machines running CentOS. I then explain how to configure them with virtual external drives to use for DRBD. I next configure the network interfaces to support routed packets into and out of the boxes. Then I install various packages with yum, configure drbd and finally install MySQL as the last step. You can follow along at the command line and do it yourself on a Windows, Mac or Linux box.

DBJ – Heartbeat Setup

Sean Hull — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:00:52 +0000

In the last of our three part series on MySQL high availability we discuss the Linux Heartbeat project, and how it can be used to automate failover between two MySQL databases.

Heartbeat exposes a virtual IP address for use by the database, and manages it as well. In the event that one server becomes unavailable, Heartbeat will revoke primary control of DRBD from that node, hand over the IP address to the alternate node, mount the DRBD device, and start MySQL. MySQL’s InnoDB engine will then perform crash recovery, rollback uncommitted transactions, and startup.

Read the full article at Database Journal – DRBD & MySQL, Heartbeat Setup

Open Insights 64 – What You Value

Sean Hull — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 00:16:10 +0000

Our 64th newsletter issue is just out. In it we discuss different perspectives, and how they shape what we value as important. Understanding how each person, each client, each party at the table sees things, and values things differently is the first step in being able to deliver and speak directly to their needs.

View – newsletter 64 – What You Value

open insights 63 – Slow To Credit

Sean Hull — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 13:00:37 +0000

Everyone has experienced the phenomenon of dealing with their savings or checking account banks. When they deposit a check, the bank is quick to credit, while when they write a check, they are slow to debit. This is a phenomenon of accounting, ie take in money as quickly as possible, but dole it out as slowly as possible. At root it is at the heart of cash flow. In this month’s newsletter we discuss some of the challenges inherent in business as belts are tightened and budgets constrict.

Newsletter Issue 63 – Slow To Credit

DBJ: DRBD & Virtualbox Setup

Sean Hull — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 13:00:33 +0000

In part two of our article on DRBD and High Availability, we take you step-by-step through setting up Sun’s Virtualbox software, creating a couple of VMs, and then installing CentOS on those. These two virtual Linux boxes then serve as two nodes in our DRBD mirrored disk setup which we use as a platform to install MySQL.

DRBD, MySQL and the Virtualbox Setup – Database Journal

Keep on the lookout for our third part in the series next month. In that issue we’ll explain how the Linux Heartbeat project can be used to control the whole setup, and provide automatic failover in the event that one node goes down.

DBJ: DRBD Makes Excellent Low-cost HA Soln for MySQL

Sean Hull — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 23:49:35 +0000

With all the trouble keeping MySQLs built-in replication running, some folks are looking for alternatives. DRBD provides a distributed block level device, which can provide the sort of database mirroring we need, below the filesystem. That makes it transparent to MySQL, but nevertheless a great complimentary solution. In this article we’ll discuss the pros and cons, and then part two will take you step by step through a basic setup.

Read the article on Database Journal – DRBD and MySQL – Excellent Low-cost HA Solution

Open Insights 62 – Context

Sean Hull — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:00:13 +0000

In our last newsletter of the decade we discuss the importance of context. Whether it is in user interface design such as priorities in the iphone and feature development, or the numbering of apartments in a new building complex, the perspective or context within which designers, architects and engineers see things, is often quite different from the day-t0-day experiences of so-called end-users. Stepping into their shoes, and being able to see things from their perspective, ie your customers perspective, is an ever present challenge in business.

Newsletter Issue 62 – Context

webcast – DRBD and MySQL

Sean Hull — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:31:45 +0000

I’ve teamed up with O’Reilly once again to do another webcast this coming January. In it, I’ll provide a step-by-step live tutorial of setting up DRBD with MySQL on a couple of virtual servers. After the live demo there will be time for Q&A as well, so hope you all can tune in.

DBJ: More MySQL Scaling

Sean Hull — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:00:40 +0000

In this second part of our piece on scaling, we talk about running more instances of MySQL either on a single server or multiple servers, to get faster overall response for your queries. This will require some work with your application making decisions about where it will find its data or where it should make changes, but with some work you can drastically improve overall response for your applications.

Bigger and Better MySQL – DatabaseJournal.com

Open Insights 61 – Medicine of Austerity

Sean Hull — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:00:49 +0000

In our latest newsletter we discuss what economists are dubbing the “medicine of austerity” aka paying the piper or tightening your belt. And we think that this medicine will surely include open source technologies.

Open Insights 61 – Medicine of Austerity

DBJ: Scaling Faster & Stronger MySQL

Sean Hull — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:00:39 +0000

Sometimes terms like scaling are – as the brits like to say – bandied about, without everyone agreeing on what they mean. That’s because scaling is an insiders term, a technical term thought to carry great weight, but nevertheless often misunderstood.So I wanted to write an article about this interesting and important topic, while sticking to terms that everyone *can* agree on. This is the first in a two part series where I discuss various ways to make your database scale. But I talk in terms of faster, stronger, bigger and better because I think we can all agree that’s what we’re really trying to achieve! Database Journal: Faster & Stronger MySQL

Open Insights 60 – Principal Agent

Sean Hull — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:00:06 +0000

Issue 60 marks our newsletter’s five year anniversary. How time flies!

This month we talk about the very prescient topic of the principal agent problem. If you’ve ever been to the mechanic and wondered about what problem your car really has, and whether the mechanic might be inflating the story to his own advantage, then this issue is for you.

Issue 60 – Principal Agent Problem

Open Insights 59 – Invisibility of Skills

Sean Hull — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:00:43 +0000

Our newsletter this month hits upon the topic of skills. How often are skills not obvious upon first observation of someone? We illustrate this point first by looking at some martial arts classes and then some resumes!

Issue 59 – Invisibility of Skills

DBJ: 7 Ways To Crash a Database

Sean Hull — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 13:00:13 +0000

With a tongue in cheek, humorous tone, we turn the tables upside down on database best practices, illustrating all of the things you shouldn’t do, and what might happen if you ignore those important tasks.

7 Ways To Crash A Database