MySQL readies preview of clustered database

Looking to boost its presence in enterprise applications, MySQL on Wednesday will make the clustered version of its open source database available in a preview version, with the production version set for release in the third quarter of 2004.

To be launched at the MySQL Users Conference & Expo in Orlando, Fla., MySQL Cluster combines the MySQL database with a clustering architecture for 99.999 percent availability for mission-critical applications, according to the company. The database features a distributed in-memory clustering architecture to boost availability and throughput, with response times of five milliseconds to 10 milliseconds and a throughput of 100,000 replicated transactions per second on a four-node cluster with two CPUs per node.

“For the application developer, [failover] is automatic. They don’t have to worry about underlying failure detection algorithms or how the database is distributed across multiple nodes,” said Zack Urlocker, MySQL vice president of marketing. 

Data can be distributed over a group of interconnected databases on multiple servers or nodes. Companies have been testing the database in a 48-node configuration, according to MySQL.

Although the clustering product offers linear scalability in line with competitive products from vendors such as Oracle and Microsoft, the company with the clustering product is attempting to compete against established vendors such as Oracle or Microsoft, Urlocker said. “We’re responding to clustering [needs] for MySQL customers,” he said. 

Oracle, for example, has advanced grid capabilities in its database and MySQL has no intention to focus on grid, Urlocker said. The goal is to make clustering mainstream with MySQL Cluster, he said.

MySQL is offering MySQL Cluster under its “dual license” business model, in which it is provided at no cost under the free software/open source GNU General Public License for open source projects and under a commercial license for software vendors and commercial customers. The commercial license will be priced at less than $5,000 per processor, MySQL said. Under the GPL license, users must publish source code for their applications.

The product runs on systems such as Linux, Microsoft Windows, Sun Solaris, and Mac OS X. Hardware platforms covered include 32- and 64-bit Intel systems, PowerPC, and Sparc.

MySQL at the conference also is announcing a partner program to boost compatibility with MySQL.