MySQL Administrator's Bible

Keith Murphy, Sheeri K. Cabral

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN: 9780470416914
• eBook ISBN: 9781118080580
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Databases
• Index: Computer Science

With special focus on the next major release of MySQL, this resource provides a solid framework for anyone new to MySQL or transitioning from another database platform, as well as experience MySQL administrators. The high-profile author duo provides essential coverage of the fundamentals of MySQL database management—including MySQL's unique approach to basic database features and functions—as well as coverage of SQL queries, data and index types, stores procedure and functions, triggers and views, and transactions. They also present comprehensive coverage of such topics as MySQL server tuning, managing storage engines, caching, backup and recovery, managing users, index tuning, database and performance monitoring, security, and more.

Part I
First Steps with MySQL

In this Part

1. Chapter 1 Introduction to MySQL
2. Chapter 2 Installing and Upgrading MySQL Server
3. Chapter 3 Accessing MySQL

Chapter 1
Introduction to MySQL

In This Chapter

• Learning MySQL's history
• Finding the MySQL community
• Contributing to MySQL

Everyone who has been involved with IT for more than a few months has at least heard of MySQL. The acquisition of MySQL AB by Sun Microsystems brought a great deal of additional attention to MySQL's database management system (DBMS). Even so, there is often more to MySQL than many people realize. They simply do not realize the full capabilities of MySQL.

Recent versions of MySQL have brought a large feature set that covers just about every imaginable need. This includes partitions, scheduled events, prepared statements, triggers, and views. MySQL has long been used in dynamic websites and applications. Whether you program in Perl, PHP, ASP, .NET or Ruby you can integrate MySQL into your environment.

MySQL Mission—Speed, Reliability, and Ease of Use

The driving force behind MySQL has been to provide a reliable, high-performance server that is easy to set up and use. These qualities are why many Internet companies in the late 1990s chose MySQL to power their websites. These same qualities are why MySQL is making strong inroads into the internal database servers of Fortune 1000 companies that have traditionally used commercial databases. MySQL did not corner the existing database market; instead, MySQL allowed the database market to expand and grow to include people all over the world. MySQL created a niche by creating the opportunity for almost anyone to be able use a database. Had there not been an easy-to-use, fast, reliable database server such as MySQL, there would be a dearth of the user-provided content and collaborative efforts that are what we expect from the Internet. Without MySQL, there would be far fewer articles, podcasts, online ’zines, tutorials, photos, forums, videos, collaborative reference material, and search engines. The World (Wide Web) as we know it would be completely different.

MySQL is not the only free database management system; it also is not the only open source database management system. One of the largest differences is the user friendliness that pervades MySQL. The friendliness, starting with the cost—free unless embedded in another product—shines through the quick installation and setup, and pleases the new database user with SQL language extensions that are nearly intuitive. For example, the SHOW DATABASES command shows a list of databases you have permission to see.

Experienced database administrators can install, configure, and bring a MySQL server online in less than fifteen minutes. If the installation process is packaged it can be done in five minutes. We look at the installation process in more detail in Chapter 2.

The reliability of MySQL played a role in MySQL's rise to become, as stated at www.mysql.com, “the world's most popular open source database.” In addition to this reliability, MySQL operates on a wide range of hardware and operating systems from laptops to multi-core servers. Though benchmark comparisons can be slanted to benefit one server or another, the various benchmarks available show that MySQL competes with and frequently beats competing database servers.

Company Background

MySQL server has been downloaded more than 100 million times. MySQL is open source software. An admittedly simple definition of open source software is software that is freely available (including source code) with free redistribution. Source code is the source of a program—the file(s) containing the original programming language code, which can be read, discussed, and learned from, just as the words of a book can. The roots of MySQL server are found in a database system called Unireg that was developed by Michael “Monty” Widenius for a Swedish company called TcX during the 1980s. The initial release of MySQL server was created in 1995 when Monty added an SQL interface to Unireg. Shortly after, David Axmark recommended MySQL server be released under a dual licensing model, where it would be available for widespread free use but could also be used in situations that require a more restrictive licensing use (such as in embedded devices). David and Monty, together with Allan Larsson, founded MySQL AB in 1995. MySQL AB was the company that, until its acquisitio...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Table of Contents
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• About the Authors
• Credits
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Part I: First Steps with MySQL
• Part II: Developing with MySQL
• Part III: Core MySQL Administration
• Part IV: Extending Your Skills
• Appendix A: MySQL Proxy
• Appendix B: Functions and Operators
• Appendix C: Resources
• Index
• Advertisement
• End User License Agreement