Last time I used MySQL Enterprise Backup to save an entire database. Now it is time to test that backup. The first step is to shutdown the MySQL server using mysqladmin.

bin# ./mysqlbackup --defaults-file=/etc/mysql/my.cnf --backup-dir=/home/dstokes/foo2 copy-back
MySQL Enterprise Backup version 3.6.0 [2011/07/01]
Copyright (c) 2003, 2011, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

INFO: Starting with following command line ...
./mysqlbackup --defaults-file=/etc/mysql/my.cnf
--backup-dir=/home/dstokes/foo2 copy-back

IMPORTANT: Please check that mysqlbackup run completes successfully.
At the end of a successful 'copy-back' run mysqlbackup
prints "mysqlbackup completed OK!".

mysqlbackup: INFO: Server repository configuration:
datadir = /usr/local/mysql/data
innodb_data_home_dir = /usr/local/mysql/data
innodb_data_file_path = …

This is the first in a series of postings on the MySQL Enterprise tools. I know most of you reading are dedicated community server users but you may have wondered ‘What do you get when you buy MySQL Enterprise server?’

Well, first of all, you can try the Enterprise Server for free for thirty days. Point your browser to Oracle Software Delivery Cloud and download. Hopefully you can following along with me as I try the various Enterprise tools starting with MySQL Enterprise Backup.

Data backups have long been a part of my professional life. My ‘first real’ job was backing up data on a DEC Tops-10 system that ran the University of San Diego. Much of my working time at night was spent loading, unloading, and monitoring reel tapes as the data from the washing machine sized disk drives was spread over magnetic oxide bonded to plastic …

By now you have probably heard about the MySQL thread pool plugin and API, but you may not have fully processed the details. Here’s the quick summary:  With the new thread pool plugin, there is now an alternative way to handle connection threads in MySQL Enterprise Edition.  With the plugin, MySQL connection threads are shared like an extraordinarily well managed timeshare in Hawaii.  When one connection is “idle”, asking nothing of and expecting nothing from the database, another connection can use that same thread for its database requests.  Threads are released by each connection as soon as the request is completed and  go back into the pool for re-use – just like the theoretical timeshare is up for grabs on the weeks you are not there.

In the older, and still default connection thread model, threads are dedicated to a single client  for the life of the connection and there are as many …

Oracle last week quietely announced the addition of new extended capabilities in MySQL Enterprise Edition, confirming the adoption of the open core licensing strategy, as we reported last November.

The news was both welcomed and derided. Rather than re-hashing previous arguments about open core licensing, what interests me more about the move is how it illustrates the different strategies adopted by Sun and Oracle for driving revenue from MySQL, and how a single project can be used to describe most of the major strategies …

I’d like to focus this blog on using MySQL in the Enterprise and kickoff with a series of posts on “Enterprise Backup” building on the new features in both MySQL Enterprise Backup (MEB) and MySQL Enterprise Monitor (MEM).  The new features in MEB 3.6 provide the capabilities to stream backups directly to another server, interface with backup media management software, and take advantage of tape encryption.  MEM 2.3.5 now has a Backup Advisor that helps monitor your backups.  In this and a subsequent  blog post, I’ll go through a progression of backups building up on a fairly straightforward vanilla single file backup with MEB as follows:

• Backing up to a Single File
• Add streaming to your Single File backup
• Stream your Single File Backup to a Media Management System
• Encrypt your Backup Tapes using your Media Management System
• Monitoring your Backup with MySQL …

Chief Corporate Architect at Oracle, been at Oracle since 1986, technology and architecture decisions, responsible for all open source at Oracle. Company-wide initiatives on standards management and security — http://en.oreilly.com/mysql2010/public/schedule/detail/12440.

Where MySQL fits within Oracle’s structure.

Oracle’s Strategy: Complete. Open. Integrated. (compare with MySQL’s strategy: Fast, Reliable, Easy to Use).

Most of the $$ spent by companies is not on software, but on integration. So Oracle makes software based on open standards that integrates well.

Most of the components talk to each other through open standards, so that customers can use other products, and standardize on the technology, which makes it much more likely that customers will continue to use Oracle.

Oracle invested …

One of MySQL’s notable projects was splitting the product into two editions: Enterprise Edition and Community Edition. This move alienated many in the community, and failed to create meaningful differentiation on either side, even with a team of people beating the community bushes for “contributions.” The net differentiation was ultimately Jeremy Cole’s SHOW PROFILES functionality, which made Community better than Enterprise. Sun put less effort into making this split work, and eventually they abandoned it.

But that could change under Oracle’s stewardship. Oracle’s promises to maintain a GPL …

CodePlex, patents and Linux code. An interesting few days for Microsoft open source.

Follow 451 CAOS Links live @caostheory on Twitter and Identi.ca
“Tracking the open source news wires, so you don’t have to.”

CodePlex, CodePlex, CodePlex!
Microsoft launched the CodePlex Foundation to facilitate open source contributions, and confirmed the departure of Sam Ramji.

Patents, Patents, Patents!
The OIN confirmed the acquisition of 22 patents formerly owned by …

I just wanted to tip my hat to the MySQL Enterprise Tools Engineering team for another great release of the Enterprise Monitor. Not to name names, but I want to give a special thanks to a team that always over delivers on a collective commitment to producing quality software. So, a mega thanks to:

Andy Bang, Sloan Childers, Darren Oldag, Eric Herman, Jan Kneschke, Kay Roepke, Mark Matthews, Bill Weber, Diego Medina, Marcos Palacios, Carsten "Pino" Segieth, Josh Sled, Keith Russell, Mark Leith, Heidi Bergh-Hoff, and Gary Whizin (and also welcome Michael Schuster!)

Yet another great job guys!

The new version, 2.1, was posted as GA early on Tuesday and it is quite possibly the best release of the Enterprise Monitor to date.

For those not familiar with the Enterprise Monitor, it is included in a MySQL Enterprise …

I just returned from a MySQL Federal Migration Boot Camp, jointly presented by Carahsoft and Sun/MySQL. It was a half-day seminar on the topic of migrating applications to MySQL, targeted to the US Government sector. Specifically, most of the audience seemed to be running Oracle, though there were some users of other systems (Microsoft SQL Server, Sybase, Informix, etc).

Ronald Bradford presented the whole thing. I thought he did a great job giving a fair and balanced look at topics such as what types of applications are good candidates for migration, what gotchas you might encounter, etc. I’m sure someone looking at migrating in earnest would benefit from a whole day’s discussion (or a more focused engagement with a consultant), but I thought it was a great way to help people figure out whether …