What is our primary use case?
We work only in the healthcare sector, so all our use cases are for health and schedule-related applications.
What is most valuable?
MySQL is a centralized RDBMS in itself, and you don't have the overkill of having the full Oracle or Microsoft SQL Server. It's ideal, and it helps with the developer console. It has three versions for developers. It's a very good tool for open source.
The backup and recovery process with Oracle MySQL Cloud Service is good. You just have to configure it correctly.
What needs improvement?
MySQL should have some kind of native query browser. If it could come with a built-in connector, then the relationship... We are just able to fix it. Right now, we have to install it separately. So a bit not too comfortable.
But t that is true with any other database as well. Even if it is Azure MySQL or the others, we need to have SQL Management Studio to connect to them. All the databases are pretty much the same. If you do a comparative analysis, MySQL provides the same features.
For how long have I used the solution?
I used it for a very short time, like six months or so, on one particular project.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a stable product. I didn't face any bugs, glitches, or issues with stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
For small to medium-scale applications, we can easily use MySQL.
For larger enterprise applications, you have the enterprise version, a paid version you can pay for and use. But, for open source, we can still manage or scale up to medium-scale applications.
How are customer service and support?
The customer service and support are good.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have used MongoDB, MySQL, and Oracle.
MongoDB is entirely different. It's a NoSQL platform database, so it's totally different. It is a little bit hard to work with. The way it is organized and structured is different.
But between Microsoft Azure MySQL and Oracle, they are pretty similar.
- Cost: Microsoft is not a preferred platform. Their licensing is very complex and expensive. Oracle is much better.
- AI: In terms of data analytics and AI, Microsoft is better. Certain complex transformations are easier to do in MSSQL. So, if you have to analyze data from a lot of different data sources, it becomes much easier.
However, the usage of the particular product depends on the project. Personally, I would like to work on MySQL. But in certain cases where the application scale is very large, and custom models from certain regions of the globe prefer Microsoft, then we have to go with MSSQL. But technically, there is not much difference.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was very easy. It took hardly anything and was deployed within minutes.
What about the implementation team?
One person is enough to install and maintain it.
What was our ROI?
There is ROI. Development in terms of certain complex studies will take a little more effort in Oracle technologies, like MySQL.
Many queries and transformations are much easier in MSSQL, so development time is much shorter in Microsoft technologies.
But over the long run, the return on investment in Oracle MySQL is much higher than Microsoft.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Oracle has a better licensing model compared to its competitors.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, I would rate the solution a nine out of ten.
I have no recommendation. It's the architect's call to consider the application they are building, its objective, the kind of analytics or dashboards they need to provide, and the nature of data they need to store.
If the stack is open source or the application is small to medium, then it is much better to go with a MySQL database.
