In our practice we often see that MySQL performance optimization is done in a sort of “black magic” way. A common opinion is: “If there is a performance problem – then it must be a database issue, because what else could it be? And if this is a database issue, then it must involve IO problems because the reason for a slow database is always a slow IO…”  Following this logic might actually give a result, but achieving a fully successful resolution would require magic.

At Percona we use a different approach. Performance optimization should not be based on guesses, but exact measurements. In application to databases, I described previously, we use queries as units of work. And a proper measurement of these units is the first important task in …

This blog, MySQLPerformanceBlog.com, is powered by WordPress, but we never really looked into what kind of queries to MySQL are used by WordPress. So for couple months we ran a Query Analytics (part of Percona Cloud Tools) agent there, and now it is interesting to take a look on queries. Query Analytics uses reports produced by pt-query-digest, but it is quite different as it allows to see trends and dynamics of particular query, in contrast to pt-query-digest, which is just one static report.

Why looking into queries important? I gave an intro in my previous post from this series.

So Query Analytics give the report on the top queries. How to detect which query is “bad”?
One of metrics I am typically looking into is ratio of “Rows …

One of our primary focuses at Percona is performance. Let me make some statements on what is “performance.”

In doing so I will refer to two pieces of content:

• Carry Millsap’s talk “Performance Instrumentation: Beyond What You Do Now” [1]
• White Paper (by Peter and Baron) “Goal-Driven Performance Optimization” [2]

I highly recommend that you familiarize yourself with both of them.

Performance

Performance is about tasks and time.
We say that the system is performing well if it executes a task in an acceptable period of time, or that the …

I am proud to announce Percona Cloud Tools, the next generation of tools for MySQL.  I have been developing tools for MySQL for 10 years.  For the last 5 years, I have been developing Percona Toolkit (formerly “Maatkit”).  Almost 1 year ago, we began developing Percona Cloud Tools (PCT), first in-house, then in private beta, and now in public beta.

Here is the TL;DR:

Percona Cloud Tools is a web service, hosted by Percona.  There is a single cloud tool (a web app) called ”Query Analytics”, based on pt-query-digest, so one could say it’s “continuous slow log analysis through the web, as a service”.  Of course, the web enables us to do more and make things easier. …