VMWare VM - The Default Platform for MySQL

The MySQL Market Continues to Grow
I am continuing to see the continued growth of MySQL not only in the SMB market but in Fortune 500 accounts.    I recently asked a large customer what their distribution of databases is and they responded with:

• 2000 Oracle databases
• 4000 SQL Server databases
• 6000 MySQL databases

MySQL the Internet Database Platform

Since taking over MySQL, Oracle has added significant functionality, scalability and increased performance to the MySQL product.   MySQL is still the largest open source database in the world and by far the leading Internet database as well.  There is estimated 16 million plus MySQL databases in the world, as well as 50,000 - 60,000 downloads a day showing the MySQL market is not slowing down. 

The VMware VM Platform Offers Increased Enterprise Capability to MySQL

A key best practice for MySQL is putting it in a VMware VM.  Every new MySQL database should be created in a VMware VM.  A VMware VM will take MySQL to new levels of stability, agility, availability and enterprise functionality.  A VMware VM brings all of the advantages of virtualization to MySQL.  Reasons why a VMWare VM needs to be the defacto-standard x86 platform for MySQL databases:

• Virtualization features provide increased availability and agility:
• vMotion - ability to move a live MySQL database environment to a new physical host with zero downtime or impact to current transactions.
• Storage vMotion - ability to move the storage of a live MySQL database server to a different storage array (Fiber Channel, iSCSI or NFS) with zero downtime or impact to current transactions.
• High Availability - If a physical host goes down, the VM running MySQL will automatically start up in a new physical host in a VMware cluster.  This increases uptime without complexity or additional cost.
• Cloning - Ability to create an exact clone of the MySQL database and the environment running MySQL.
• Templates - A golden image of a MySQL environment that can be used to create a new MySQL database and environment in a few minutes.  
• All the enterprise functionality of a VMware VM provides a strong infrastructure for MySQL and the only impact is a 2 - 6% impact on performance.  Dependent on the environment, databases can also run faster in a VM than a physical server. 
• The VMware VM is the most stable x86 platform to run MySQL on.  To this day there are still no known errors in the Oracle knowledge base due to a VMware VM.   No other x86 platform can state this.
• With the VMware being a consistent x86 platform, it takes all the issues of running IBM, Dell, HP, etc. hardware out of the equation.  Allowing the base software, drivers, adapters, etc.  to achieve a level of standardization not possible with physical servers.
• The consistent platform of a VMware VM can reduce the nickel and dime tickets by 20-30%.
• Reduce the cost of ownership around MySQL.
• Significantly faster provisioning and response times.

Virtualization offers enterprise level functionality to MySQL that magnifies the advantages of running MySQL.   Currently today, no other virtual infrastructure comes close to offering the maturity, stability, feature/functionality or enterprise class expertise as a VMware VM. 

In today's environment, it's no longer good enough to be a DBA that can tune or backup a database. DBAs that are aligned with the business and understand how to improve the database infrastructure with virtualization and cloud capabilities are worth their weight in gold.