General

mysql-proxy defaults to round-robin load balancing. There are fancy tricks around to get mysql-proxy to balance connections based on how many idle connections there are in a proxy-based connection pool.

But there is no code that I found that would simply load balance based on "always go to ...

In Spotting the Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, Frank Mash writes about a specific person who is spreading fear, uncertainty and doubt about MySQL.

Now, this always gets me, especially with MySQL. For how long will MySQL be the bastard stepchild of the database world? Because really, it's been a ...

The answers to the last pop quiz are up: http://www.pythian.com/blogs/868/pop-quiz-mysql-cluster

So here's another pop quiz. Given the following:

Welcome to the MySQL monitor. Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 16450949 to server version: 4.1.14-standard-log

Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the buffer.

mysql> ...

Recently I acquired Sesame Street Volume 1, and on the third DVD in the set I came across one of my favorite Sesame Street songs: "Who are the people in your neighborhood?"

Here's a sample of one such skit, if you are not familiar with it, or if you want ...

I was asked this question recently, and I thought it was a great little tidbit of knowledge to pass along. The short answer is "no". The slightly longer answer was written up by Jan Kneschke when dealing with a forum post about proxy + connection pooling.

From http://forums.mysql.com/read.php?146,169265,169700

The clear-text ...

Ah, the perils of working in a shared, client environment. One client has us using a login that is not exclusive to us. I prefer using bash; the client is set to use zsh. This is not a problem in and of itself.

However, there is a section ...

While doing a standard audit for a new client, I recommended a few changes to get better performance. Because I had several changes, I used the documentation at

http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/server-system-variables.html

and found that innodb_flush_log_at_trx_commit is a dynamic variable. I was surprised, because most operations dealing with file sizes and operations ...

If you have a 12-server MySQL Cluster with:
1 Management Node
3 SQL Nodes
2 Data Node Groups, 4 Data Nodes per group
And each machine is configured to allocate 1G of memory for its function, how much data (data + indexes) can you store in total in your cluster?
You can guess, but you get bonus points if you [...]

This is the first place I am announcing this: The Pythian Group has made me a Team Lead. I am extremely honored and somewhat humbled by this, and I am determined to do a good job. I started officially on Monday, March 3rd, and my first week went pretty well.
On [...]

I was recently asked a question by someone who had attended my Shmoocon talk entitled “Why are Databases So Hard to Secure?”. PDF slides are available (1.34 Mb). I was going to put this into a more formal structure, but the conversational nature works really well. I would love to see comments [...]

Open Source means that the source code is open. There are many inferences that can be made from this, and many stereotypes that can be applied, but in the end, all it means is that you can read the source code as well as use the binaries.
I am not a developer. I fully [...]

This is a public service announcement, and while databases should not have a problem as this Sunday we “spring ahead”, some people might be confused as to why systems were “dead” for an hour, and show no activity/sales/whatever.
This Sunday, March 9th, most locales in Canada and the US start to “save daylight” by “springing ahead” [...]

On Monday, March 10th, Sun makes a stop in Boston on its world tour of “Mashup Meetups”.
If you can’t make it in person, join us on the live ustream videocast at: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/oursql-the-mysql-database-videocast
Currently there’s a promo for your viewing pleasure at (see “Video Clips”). I am very excited about this new videocast for the [...]

Well, in the “notes from the front line” part of this post….
I have been a MySQL DBA at The Pythian Group for three months (and 2 days) now. At most companies that is the probationary period, and I am still here, so that is a good sign…..
So, after three months, how do I like [...]

In summary:
Who: you, me, MySQL/Sun
What: MySQL User Group with free swag, food, and a short workshop to boot.
When: 7-9 pm, Monday March 10th
Where: MIT Building E-51, room 372
Why: why the heck not! Because Sun just bought MySQL, and because there’s a user group each month.
How: RSVP optional but requested [...]