In a MySQL hosting replication setup, the parameter Seconds_Behind_Master (SBM), as displayed by the SHOW SLAVE STATUS command, is commonly used as an indication of the current replication lag of the slave. In this blog post, we examine how to understand and interpret this value in various situations.

Possible Values of  Seconds Behind Master

The value of SBM, as explained in the  MySQL documentation, depends on the state of the MySQL slave in general, and the states of MySQL slave SQL_THREAD and IO_THREAD in particular. While IO_THREAD connects with the master and reads the updates, SQL_THREAD applies these updates on the slave. Let’s examine the possible values of SBM during different states of the MySQL Slave.

When SBM Value is Null

• SBM is …

Since April 19th, when MySQL 8.0 became Generally Available (GA), the MySQL community has been abuzz with excitement over all of the new features and improvements. Many of new features were improvements to performance or monitoring, while others were specifically related to replication. We reviewed Replication Performance Enhancements in MySQL 8 recently. Today’s blog will describe how to set up a basic master-slave configuration with MySQL, using two servers on a single machine.

Replication Defined

MySQL replication is a process in which data from one MySQL database server (the master) is copied automatically to one or more MySQL database servers (the slaves). In the case of multiple slaves, these are usually referred to as a slave cluster. Replication should not to be confused with backup operations. Whereas the aim of backups is to protect the data and/or data structure, the role of replication is typically to spread …

Read the original article at Autoscaling MySQL on Amazon EC2

Autoscaling your webserver tier is typically straightforward. Image your apache server with source code or without, then sync down files from S3 upon spinup. Roll that image into the autoscale configuration and you’re all set.


With the database tier though, things can be a bit tricky. The typical configuration we see is to have a single master database where your application writes. But scaling out or horizontally on Amazon EC2 should be as easy as adding more slaves, right? Why not automate that process?

Below we’ve set out to answer some of the questions you’re likely to face when setting up slaves against your master. We’ve included …