MySQL OverviewUNIXBusinessApplication

MySQL is the #1 ranked solution in top Open Source Databases and #3 ranked solution in top Relational Databases. PeerSpot users give MySQL an average rating of 8.4 out of 10. MySQL is most commonly compared to Firebird SQL: MySQL vs Firebird SQL. MySQL is popular among the large enterprise segment, accounting for 60% of users researching this solution on PeerSpot. The top industry researching this solution are professionals from a computer software company, accounting for 17% of all views.
MySQL Buyer's Guide

Download the MySQL Buyer's Guide including reviews and more. Updated: May 2023

What is MySQL?

MySQL is an open-source relational database management system (RDBMS) owned by Oracle. Before Oracle acquired the product, it was completely free for users. After the merge, the solution started offering paid services with more features, alongside a free version. MySQL can easily integrate with a wide variety of programming languages, which makes it one of the most flexible and reliable products among its competitors. This cost-effective solution helps users deliver high-performance and scalable database applications through several products. They include:

  • MySQL HeatWave: This is an in-memory query accelerator for MySQL. It is a parallel, columnar, hybrid query-processing engine with algorithms for distributed query processing. This database service is used for transactions, analytics, and machine learning (ML). It offers simplified, secure real-time analytics. It can be deployed on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), Amazon AWS, Azure, and users' data centers.

  • My SQL Enterprise Edition: This edition of the solution includes the most comprehensive set of advanced features, technical support, and management tools. The combination functions achieves security, scalability, reliability, and uptime, while reducing risk, cost, and complexity, in managing MySQL applications.

  • MySQL Standard Edition: This edition utilizes industrial-strength performance and reliability to help users deliver high-performance and scalable Open Transaction Processing (OLTP) applications.

  • MySQL Classic Edition: This is an embedded database for independent software vendors (ISVs), original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and value-added resellers (VARs), that are developing applications using the MyISAM storage engine.

  • MySQL Community Edition: This is the free version of the product, which is supported by a large active community of open-source developers.

  • MySQL Cluster CGE: This is a distributed database that combines linear scalability and high availability. It offers in-memory real-time access across partitioned and distributed databases.

  • MySQL Embedded: This product offers MySQL as an embedded database and is most widely used by ISVs, OEMs, and VARs. It is utilized for making applications, hardware, and appliances more competitive by bringing them to market faster while lowering their cost of goods sold (COGs).

My SQL Features

The characteristics of each MySQL edition differ depending on what it offers and what clients it is catered towards. But the main features of the product include the following:

  • Internals and portability: These capabilities allow MySQL to work on multiple platforms and provide transactional and non-transactional storage engines. This set of features is tested with Purify, Vilgrind, and a broad range of different compilers.

  • Data types: Due to the flexibility of the data types feature of MySQL, the product is compatible with a very wide variety of data types, including fixed-length and variable-length string types.

  • Statements and functions: This feature allows MySQL full operator and function support. It supports a wide variety of functions and allows users to refer to tables from different databases in the same statement.

  • Security: The security features of MySQL provide users with a flexible privileged password system that enables host-based verification. The product offers encryption of all password traffic when users connect to a server.

  • Scalability and limits: MySQL supports large databases with up to approximately 50 million records and up to 64 indexes per table.

  • Connectivity: The connectivity features of the product allow clients to connect to MySQL using several protocols, providing them with freedom of choice in terms of which ones to use.

  • Localization: Through this feature, the product offers availability to users in many languages. The server time zone can be changed dynamically and allows clients to specify their own time zone for their convenience.

  • Clients and tools: The product includes several client and utility programs among its capabilities.

MySQL Benefits

MySQL brings many benefits to organizations that use it for their data. The most common ones include:

  • Due to its initial open-source nature, MySQL is an easy to understand and beginner-friendly product.

  • The solution still supports an open-source version as well, which means users can download, use, and modify it based on their requirements.

  • MySQL ensures the consistency of data by storing it efficiently and minimizing redundancy.

  • This is considered one of the fastest solutions on the market, a fact which is backed by many benchmark tests.

  • MySQL is very flexible and supports a large number of embedded applications.

  • The solution is compatible with many operating systems.

  • This product offers clients the option to roll back transactions, as well as commit, and crash recovery.

Reviews from Real Users

According to a database engineer at a retailer with more than 10,000 employees, MySQL is a great open-source product that offers great scalability and compatibility.

Yong S., a solutions specialist, system integration, appreciates this product because it has different licensing options and is easy to set up.

MySQL Customers

Facebook, Tumblr, Scholastic, MTV Networks, Wikipedia, Verizon Wireless, Sage Group, Glassfish Open Message Queue, and RightNow Technologies.

MySQL Video

MySQL Pricing Advice

What users are saying about MySQL pricing:
  • "We are using the licensed version of MySQL."
  • "It's free."
  • "I think that MySQL is a premium product."
  • "We're using the open-source version right now, which is free. I do see some value in some of the more enterprise functions. We're using the open-source version right now, and I was interested in the MySQL Enterprise version really for the tools that they provide, but we decided not to make the purchase."
  • MySQL Reviews

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    Database Engineer at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
    Real User
    Top 20
    A great open-source product that offers great scalability and compatibility
    Pros and Cons
    • "MySQL is open-source. There are a lot of open-source communities trying to come up with their own patches, and to come up with their own features, which help MySQL develop faster than traditional databases like Oracle, which is closed source."
    • "They should come up with a better solution than the NDB cluster for better scaling. If they could come up with a better solution for write scaling, apart from the NDB cluster, which is supported by all open source communities, that would be great. Although the NDB cluster, I believe, is an open-source tool, it's not widely supported as a solution."

    What is our primary use case?

    It's been used as a primary relational database for most applications. It's scalable and could easily be maintained and could be migrated to any Cloud-based Database as a Service solutions which are compatible with MySQL.e.g. AWS RDS MySQL, AWS RDS Aurora, Google SQL. 

    How has it helped my organization?

    It has improved scalability, easy-maintenance. It is open-source and is easy to use. 

    What is most valuable?

    MySQL is open-source. There are a lot of open-source communities trying to come up with their own patches, and to come up with their own features, which help MySQL develop faster than traditional databases like Oracle, which is closed source.

    The solution is also compatible with a lot of other databases, like Percona, and it's compatible with MariaDB. It's also compatible with a lot of other shared database solutions.

    Since MySQL is mostly used as a relational database in a lot of organizations, a lot of other solutions are being merged with MySQL and it's a rather easy process.

    Unlike a lot of closed source services, the new features are solely based on customer feedback. The customer feedback of open source is way larger than the closed source application.

    What needs improvement?

    The developers of MySQL, which are Oracle MySQL, Percona, and MariaDB, seem to not be focusing much on object-oriented replication. Basically, replication is based on a text level of replication. There is a text level replication in Oracle, that is so similar it can be implemented in MySQL, however, it needs to pull a lot of resources. They have altered their approach for replication. Still, more focus on object-oriented replication would be good. 

    They should come up with a better solution than the NDB cluster for better scaling. If they could come up with a better solution for write scaling, apart from the NDB cluster, which is supported by all open source communities, that would be great. Although the NDB cluster, is an open-source tool, it's not widely supported as a solution.

    The latest 8.0 version has come up with whole new features. 

    Buyer's Guide
    MySQL
    May 2023
    Learn what your peers think about MySQL. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2023.
    708,544 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I've been working on Relational Database MySQL throughout my career, i.e. for 14 years. This relational database MySQL is evolved from its MyISAM only engine to InnoDB and is now compatible with other database engines too. e.g. NDB, Galera. 

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    MySQL is reliable. If you are talking about it in terms of relational databases, MySQL is pretty stable. If you want to go ahead with a quite secure database like any PCI database or a customer-related database or even financial data, it's still feasible to migrate to MySQL. 

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    There are a lot of features provided by Oracle MySQL, Percona, and MariaDB. They all have their own replication cluster. Percona has XtraDB, MariaDB has GaleraDB, Oracle MySQL has its own cluster as well. MySQL replication is common in all three MySQL flavors. MySQL replication is an excellent read-scalable feature, which has also evolved a lot from its earliest versions to the latest 8.0 version.

    The NDB cluster, which has been supported and developed by Oracle, and is based on MySQL, is different than all of the other MySQL replication cluster solutions. It's both read and write scalable. All other cluster features work well for read scaling. NDB cluster is the only cluster feature recorded by Oracle MySQL, which is write scalable as well as re-scalable.

    How are customer service and support?

    The solution seems to have plenty of technical support due to the fact that there are three companies who are product owners, and therefore there are three companies who are supporting MySQL. They are: Oracle, Percona, and MariaDB. They're doing pretty well. 

    There are a lot of companies also that support their customers. This is the good thing about any software which is open-source. A lot of open source communities come up with their own features and they try to patch up with the original source. 

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup has evolved a lot. It's pretty straight forward whether you're using Mac, Windows, Linux, etc. You can set it up on almost every operating system. 

    It's supported by the open-source community, and they have plenty of documentation online that users can reference for assistance. If you are working in almost any operating system and you have any questions related to the installation, you'll find the documentation you need.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    I am not sure, what the licensing costs are for the solution. From my experience, there is no straightforward cost. You can get that cost from the Oracle website about the Oracle MySQL licensing costs, however, it's not a straightforward price quote for everyone.

    If you are an existing customer, you can negotiate and you can get a better quote. The pricing on the website may be for new customers. That said, you can still negotiate. The same is true for Percona and MariaDB as well. 

    What other advice do I have?

    We are using MySQL 5.6, 5.7, and MySQL 8.0. 

    In terms of advice, I'd say when implementing MySQL, if a company has been using any previous relational database, like Oracle, Microsoft SQL or DB2, the easiest way to migrate from any database is from Oracle to MySQL. There'll be some challenges from Microsoft SQL, as well as from DB2 to MySQL. Any existing application which is working with the Oracle database as a backend database, DB2 database as a backend database, or Microsoft as the backend database, should still work fine with MySQL, with minimal code changes. 

    MySQL is a product supported by a lot of applications and a lot of organizations. Almost every client and every API would be able to support MySQL. There would still need to be a lot of testing, however, I feel almost all of the applications which need a relational database for their database solution, could leverage out of MySQL. 

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Software Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
    Real User
    Top 20
    High performance, simple to use, and straightforward development
    Pros and Cons
    • "MySQL is easy to use, has fast performance, and it is comfortable for end-user to use. The schema level and structure we are using are very simple and easy to understand. Additionally, packaging tool development is straightforward and the data is presented in a way that is very simple to understand."
    • "In an upcoming release, there should be something added similar to EPL. For example, when using the flow diagram, we can create a schema. We have two useful features to add or create the table, but there should be some UI features to allow us to drag and drop to create other schemas. This would be very helpful."

    What is our primary use case?

    We are using MySQL for backend operations since we are a software backend developer. We are using this tool in our backend application for acquiring the data.

    We mainly use MySQL for our Relational Database Management System(RDBMS). We are maintaining our customer data in a defined way. We have to create various schema levels. We are presenting the customer data, such as name, mobile number, what was purchased, and what they like or dislike. Once we create the schema, a set of data, we need to maintain the unique constraints.

    For example, for customers, we'll assign a unique ID to each record, that will be a primary key. All these SQL constraints we'll use and there should no variance or replication of data isolated. When we perform any update operations, it should not affect any of the data isolated. 

    We need to take care of many things, such as consistency, isolation, and variability for constructing any database. There are a few more concepts as well, such as normalization and PL/SQL. For example, if I want to run a job at a particular time, the product will use PL/SQL. We are like implementing our coding skills to databases.

    Our operations are on-premise. However, we are in the process of moving everything to the cloud.

    How has it helped my organization?

    We have many repositories in one table that we are completing for customers' data that are store product data. There are various pieces of data and data should be in the same format. For this purpose, we are using RDBMS. The data in the repository should be able to be accessed in one place which is Oracle SQL Developer. MySQL can store data for a longer duration as compared to other data solutions, such as MariaDB, which can only store data for one day. MySQL can store data for a longer period of time, and we can have primary and secondary data as well for backup purposes.

    What is most valuable?

    MySQL is easy to use, has fast performance, and it is comfortable for end-user to use. The schema level and structure we are using are very simple and easy to understand. Additionally, packaging tool development is straightforward and the data is presented in a way that is very simple to understand.

    What needs improvement?

    MySQL can improve some of its functions. However, it is dependent on the use case. For example, if we are having multiple database connections in this tool, and we are performing one operation in one database, it takes a lot of time due to the reason we are selecting and processing the data. When we have a lot of data it takes a longer time. The transaction gets stuck in a queue and if we try to stop that particular transaction, it won't abort until all the selected records have been processed. This sometimes can be a lot of time and it can hold up our live processing of transactions. This product should be able to handle multiple processing at a time.

    In an upcoming release, there should be something added similar to EPL. For example, when using the flow diagram, we can create a schema. We have two useful features to add or create the table, but there should be some UI features to allow us to drag and drop to create other schemas. This would be very helpful.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using MySQL for approximately four years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    I have found the development tools to be highly stable in MySQL.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    The scalability of MySQL is very good. There are no barriers to it. It can be used and accommodated in any particular language. We can use it with Java and Python.

    We have almost everyone in my organization using the solution. We have developers and support teams all using it. If my organization has 1,000 people, almost 900 people out of them were using the service.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    I have evaluated MariaDB.

    How was the initial setup?

    We use a solution called Jenkins to help us with all the pipelines. The pipelines are all created and configured in the Jenkins. We are in a distributed server architecture and the full process can take approximately 20 minutes for one server.

    What about the implementation team?

    If we have a large amount of data we have to take care of it. If this particular data is not used over the years, we have to make maintenance decisions on it after we use it. The developer administrator and the team will be responsible.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    We are using the licensed version of MySQL.

    What other advice do I have?

    I would advise others that this is a useful tool.

    I rate MySQL an eight out of ten.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Buyer's Guide
    MySQL
    May 2023
    Learn what your peers think about MySQL. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2023.
    708,544 professionals have used our research since 2012.
    Unemployed (previous role was Solutions Specialist, System Integration)
    Real User
    Has different licensing options and is easy to set up
    Pros and Cons
    • "The initial setup for the SQL database is not complex and it even integrates into the platform. You set up the recipe and then just follow the runbook, the build book. Then it works as long as you follow the procedures."
    • "Sometimes, not because the version is not the latest version, there are some issues with it. Sometimes there's an issue with the server which creates issues with it."

    What is our primary use case?

    I use MySQL as middleware to get the extracted data from the database. I work with MySQL as an administrator to set up the whole platform. And I document the recipe for setting up the MySQL database.

    We are working with the latest version.

    What is most valuable?

    SQL is just a relational database. It is open source. It's pretty good. I have been using it for a long time.

    What needs improvement?

    Because I am the middleware guy I'm not the SQL database administrator. If I have any issue with it, I'm going to contact the right person. Sometimes, not because the version is not the latest version, there are some issues with it. Sometimes there's an issue with the server which creates issues with it. Then, when the administrator checks the status and makes notes, it works normally and the problem is fixed. With a big company you are not going to work directly with the MySQL database. We are the end user and not the administrator of the SQL database.

    For MySQL, in terms of the usage or as the end user, I don't have much to recommend, as long as the query latency meets your requirements, it will be great. Otherwise, it's the horizontal scalability and you get more parallel in the implementation in terms of the SQL database regardless of the usage. This is probably much better than the vertical in terms of scalability.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using MySQL this year.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    If you are working in the cloud platform then you do have scalability because the cloud platform is usually AWS or GCP, and they provide this kind of scalability. If you get some issues with the query and latency or something like this, that is an issue of scalability and you can just adjust the horizontal or vertical scalability to meet your requirements.

    But the company I was working with was a very big company. It's more than several thousand people and they usually have a lot of data that they are going to store in the MySQL database. They gather the data from the SQL database and then transfer it like ETL and you get data from all the different distributed systems and then put them into the centralized MySQL database. After that you're going to visualize this kind of data so that you can use the Power BI or that kind of tool to generate reports or to create a dashboard for the system. This company had its platform on-premises, but right now they are moving these technologies to cloud. That's why I'm talking about the scalability in two different ways cloud and on-prem.

    How are customer service and support?

    For technical support, I'm the end user so I extract data or visualize the data from the SQL database. I didn't get too into the daily maintenance of the database.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup for the SQL database is not complex and it even integrates into the platform. You set up the recipe and then just follow the build book. Then it works as long as you follow the procedures.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    Regarding the price, because it's the open source they have different licenses. Even for open source there's a license for the enterprise. I don't think it is expensive. Also for the scalability in the cloud, the price is based on the usage, such as, how much data you transfer.

    What other advice do I have?

    For the best usage right now, the trend is to move the platform from on-premise to cloud. Then, you you really have the best flexibility to scale down or scale up based on your usage. You can make full use of the resources and then pay for whatever you use. Because if you have it on-premise you always pay the same price no matter how much usage you have. So one of my suggestions is if you plan to set up the platform for MySQL, it would be best to go directly to the cloud solution.

    On a scale of one to ten, in terms of the usage for the middleware team and the end user of the SQL database, I would say it's around an eight at least. I cannot say from a  database administration perspective.

    To determine what would allow me to give it a 10, I would first have to get more experience using it on the cloud version.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    CharlesBrewer - PeerSpot reviewer
    Managing Director at NaMax Limited
    Real User
    Top 10
    A reliable, free, and easy-to-use solution
    Pros and Cons
    • "For starters, it's free, which is always nice, and it's also pretty straightforward to use. It's a nice conventional database."
    • "The workbench could be improved. In particular, error messages can be improved, which are horrific and completely unhelpful. I'd like to see improved parsing of errors. When you write SQL and it crashes, it usually is something completely irrelevant and not helpful. I've started to use GPT 3.5 for finding out how to do things. I got to do something a bit different, and that I found to be very useful. If there was some way to tie it into one of the new AI tools, that would probably be a good idea."

    What is our primary use case?

    Mostly, we're using it as a database behind a machine learning application.

    What is most valuable?

    For starters, it's free, which is always nice, and it's also pretty straightforward to use. It's a nice conventional database. We don't need the sort of flexibility that you get with most SQL databases and stuff like that, so we are happy with a good old-fashioned relational database. It's totally good for that.

    It works. It's reliable. We haven't done any configuration management for probably about two years, but as far as I remember, that was pretty straightforward as well. It's doing what it needs to do as far as we're concerned.

    What needs improvement?

    The workbench could be improved. In particular, error messages can be improved, which are horrific and completely unhelpful. I'd like to see improved parsing of errors. When you write SQL and it crashes, it usually is something completely irrelevant and not helpful. I've started to use GPT 3.5 for finding out how to do things. I got to do something a bit different, and that I found to be very useful. If there was some way to tie it into one of the new AI tools, that would probably be a good idea. There were a couple of things that I've found difficult to do in the past, and I remember they were fiddly. I set them into ChatGPT, which is GPT 3.5, and it gave first-class answers.

    I find it clunky. It just doesn't feel very modern. It feels as if you have to go through multiple steps to get to places, and it's not clear, but operationally, I find it fine.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I've been using this solution for about five years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    It's reliable. I never lost any data, which you anyways shouldn't. I'd rate it a ten out of ten in terms of stability because we never had the slightest problem. We are not in a challenging environment, but I haven't had any problems.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    We've had absolutely no limitations. However, we haven't got enormous data. It's not very vast, so scalability hasn't been an issue. At our level, it's not even a question. It's absolutely perfect. I'd rate it an eight out of ten in terms of scalability, which I describe as very good

    How are customer service and support?

    I've never contacted them, but technical support within the environment itself isn't good. I'd rate it a three out of ten, but now if I can use my own technical support with GPT 3.5, it comes up to about an eight out of ten. It's a kind of hybrid support.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    We weren't using a similar solution previously. We would prototype from things like Excel or straight-off .TXT files. I had some experience and so did my business partner, and we just decided this looked like the right answer.

    How was the initial setup?

    That was pretty straightforward as I remember. It was a while ago now, but I don't remember any difficulties at all. I'd rate it a nine out of ten in terms of the ease of setup. 

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    It's free.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    We did look at MongoDB, but it wasn't what we needed, so we decided we go with something a little more conventionally established, and MySQL absolutely fitted the bill. We didn't need anything else. We got some colleagues who used Oracle, but it's expensive and quite difficult to use. 

    What other advice do I have?

    If you don't have any unusual requirements or absolutely vast databases, it's ideal. We certainly have no problems at all. It just works.

    Overall, I'd rate it a nine out of ten. Nothing is perfect, but it's as good as we could have asked for.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    Flag as inappropriate
    PeerSpot user
    Ahmed-Ramy - PeerSpot reviewer
    CEO at TMentors
    Real User
    Top 5
    Open-source and easy to implement but needs a lot of updating
    Pros and Cons
    • "It's a mature solution that's been around for decades."
    • "It isn't as reliable as an SQL Server."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use the product for database management, as a database engine.

    What is most valuable?

    We use it for different projects, mainly when we have lots of data and the customer can't afford to pay the license of SQL Server, which is not a cheap one.

    That's the main reason you use MySQL or Postgres or other databases. It's less expensive. 

    The solution is stable.

    The scalability is very good.

    It's a mature solution that's been around for decades.

    It is very easy to set up the product.

    What needs improvement?

    The support in MySQL is horrible.

    It isn't as reliable as an SQL Server.

    I don't see MySQL being improved at all, like in the last 10 years. It has been at the same level for a long time.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    Its stability is quite good. There are no bugs or glitches. it doesn't crash or freeze. 

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    The solution is scalable, however, sometimes you might have issues. You need to have the knowledge to make sure that you can scale. That said, there are a lot of used MySQL implementations all around the world, which shows that it's a proven product. It has been there for more than 20 years or so.

    How are customer service and support?

    The support is not ideal. It could be better. It runs under Oracle, and Oracle support is not the best company when it comes to supporting - especially since MySQL used to be a free, open-source solution, and remains free. Oracle doesn't have this approach in its DNA. It's an enterprise and they're not into open-source ways of working. That's why sometimes we move from MySQL to Postgres, which is similar yet has the support in the community.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    I've also used Postgre and SQL Server.

    This product is not as solid as SQL Server. It's not like it's a lesser quality thing, however, it's not as reliable as SQL Server. The engine is a whole different engine. SQL Server is a full-featured database engine, and MySQL is based on what we call a file-based database. It's like flat files as a database engine, so it's an underdog, if you can call it that, when it comes to database engines. That said, it works fine.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup is not that complex. It's simple and straightforward for the most part.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    The solution is open-source. We don't pay for it.

    There are options to get professional support from Oracle and, for that, the pricing really comes up, therefore, it's not competitive anymore. For that reason, it might be even wiser to get Oracle Database than get MySQL and pay for the premium support.

    What other advice do I have?

    We are just end-users. However, we are happy to work with them.

    With Microsoft, we are a customer, partner, and vendor. We aren't partners with Oracle. 

    I would rate the solution at a six out of ten.

    They just need to assign a great team to MySQL, basically, and Oracle should just leave them alone to improve the product as the product hasn't been improved in the last 10 years. Since Oracle acquired it, it has been in decline. They need to do a lot, not in terms of features. In terms of the mindset.

    I would recommend Postgres which is similar to MySQL, over this product. Even the clients are coming to us with such requests. They will flat-out tell us: "we hear that MySQL is having issues and we don't want to deal with Oracle and all that kind of stuff, so let's use Postgres." It's easy to migrate over. It's almost seamless, which makes it a very attractive option.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Deepak Sahu - PeerSpot reviewer
    Consultant at Dell Technologies
    Real User
    A powerful tool that can perform multiple analyses and reveal hidden insights in datasets to its users
    Pros and Cons
    • "MySQL is a scalable tool. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten...The solution's technical support is good. I rate the technical support a nine out of ten."
    • "There should be an arrangement for end-users to get trained to use the tool...Improvement-wise, a graphical interface could be added for new users, eliminating the need to memorize the complex syntax."

    What is most valuable?

    MySQL can handle multiple rules of a database within seconds and extract required information for the business case, especially with well-optimized queries.

    What needs improvement?

    There should be an arrangement for end-users to get trained to use the tool. End-users don't know many things which MySQL offers to its users. So, there is a need for the end-users to upgrade themselves. Also, the tool is already good the way it is currently owing to its features like multithreading which helps with the queries quickly. In short, if one goes for the complex part, if one uses it for a very specialized case, then that person needs to write a very complex query involving multiple tables, multiple joints, and multiple conditions based on whatever scenario one uses.

    Improvement-wise, a graphical interface could be added for new users, eliminating the need to memorize the complex syntax.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have used MySQL for five and a half years in my company, but I have used the tool for around ten years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    MySQL is a stable tool. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    MySQL is a scalable tool. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten. My whole company directly or indirectly uses the tool since we are involved in analytics. My company is an enterprise-sized one.

    How are customer service and support?

    The solution's technical support is good. I rate the technical support a nine out of ten.

    How would you rate customer service and support?

    Positive

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    Since everyone in the industry we are a part of uses MySQL servers, we have also used the same.

    How was the initial setup?

    The solution's initial setup depends upon the use cases. If you're using it for a simple thing, it's a simple process. But, my problems and statements are quite complex, and I use them to get information, like how the customers perform based on cohort analysis. Also, my use cases are complex, so I have to write complex queries. Overall, the setup process depends upon the scenario.

    The installation process is not difficult since it gets pre-installed in all the machines after it is done once. Since the installation process is neither very easy nor difficult, I can rate it somewhere around seven out of ten.

    The IT Department handled the deployment process in my current company. Based on my experience deploying the solution in my previous company, its deployment was not difficult. Since everything was already deployed in my current company, we are using the tool as front-end users. When planning to start using the solution, we need to launch SQL server before using it. Also, based on whatever datasets are there, we need to get the permissions for those data sets, after which we are good to go.

    MySQL requires maintenance, while the IT department handles the maintenance of SQL server. I am not involved in managing the upgrading part of the tool. Every year, MySQL keeps releasing new versions with new functionalities.

    What other advice do I have?

    My suggestion to those planning to use the solution is to learn about it and utilize it for their specific scenarios. It is a powerful tool that can perform multiple analyses and reveal hidden insights within multi-million or billion-row datasets that may not be immediately visible to the human eye. The tool also offers many use cases for machine learning. I encourage users to plan and explore the tool to discover its full potential. I rate the overall product a nine out of ten.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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    PeerSpot user
    Technical Director at Metrofibre Networx
    Real User
    Top 20
    An easy-to-install solution that is used for customer management authentication
    Pros and Cons
    • "I rate the solution's stability a ten out of ten since it has been running flawlessly."
    • "The licensing cost of the solution is expensive, which MySQL needs to consider improving."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use MySQL for customer management authentication in our company.

    What is most valuable?

    The use of MySQL is really dictated by the software we use. So we have put software that dictates the use of MySQL and MongoDB. We think we've found the goal of the company related to strengthening its business systems.

    What needs improvement?

    Since we started the development, like, three years ago, it's just been improving, so there are no areas that need to improve. It is easy to use.

    The licensing cost of the solution is expensive, which MySQL needs to consider improving.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using MySQL for three years. It's based on the call systems or based on the console.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    I rate the solution's stability a ten out of ten since it has been running flawlessly.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    It works well. So, I rate its scalability a ten out of ten. Our company is managing hundreds to thousands of clients, but we use MySQL for different projects. So, around 50 users work on it.

    In terms of increasing the solution's usage, I think we've done enough, like, stabilizing MySQL.

    How are customer service and support?

    Our company has contacted the technical support of MySQL. It was very easy to get connected to them. However, it cost us a fortune. For SMBs in South Africa, a thousand or ten thousand dollars an hour is a lot of money. It was expensive, but it was worth it.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    We have previously used a solution for location and mapping-related stuff. Our choice to move to MySQL was dictated by software. So, we use different programs for applications.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup is straightforward. The deployment process takes a few seconds.

    What about the implementation team?

    We had to seek the help of some consultants to implement the product since there was some difficult stuff. But that was long ago. Nowadays, we avoid seeking help from consultants since it has become pretty simple. So, better experienced and well-trained people would do it for us. It's not a problem.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    I believe we have a few cluster solutions. I think that MySQL is a premium product. But I don't manage that part.

    What other advice do I have?

    The solution's documentation and support are awesome. Also, its speed has increased in the last few years. So, we have never had any issues with it. If there were any errors, then they were human errors.

    Today with many other options, we stick with MySQL and recommend it to others. There are so many other things that are more suitable for different purposes, and I will have to do research to know more about them. MySQL has been around for a decade, so something cannot go wrong. Its big support communities make it easy to resolve problems since there is always somebody who can help.

    I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    Private Cloud
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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    Principal Software Engineer at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
    Real User
    Free, stable, and full-featured
    Pros and Cons
    • "It is free, which is probably its most valuable feature. It is a pretty full-featured relational database. It really does everything we need it to do."
    • "The availability of tools could be improved in the MySQL open-source platform. They can provide more analytical tools. I haven't had any particularly difficult issues to troubleshoot on MySQL, but in the past, on Microsoft SQL Server, I had to troubleshoot some difficult issues, and better tools were in place to see what was going on in real-time on the server. So, that's the bit that is lacking on the MySQL open-source platform."

    What is our primary use case?

    We're on a software development team. We develop applications.

    We're currently running version 5.7 of MySQL, and we are going to be upgrading to version 8 this year.

    MySQL server currently is in a co-location center. We've got a hosting provider that takes care of that for us. We are looking at moving it into AWS, but that won't happen this year. We do have a smaller MySQL RDS instance in AWS right now, but it is pretty minimal. 

    What is most valuable?

    It is free, which is probably its most valuable feature. It is a pretty full-featured relational database. It really does everything we need it to do. 

    What needs improvement?

    The availability of tools could be improved in the MySQL open-source platform. They can provide more analytical tools. I haven't had any particularly difficult issues to troubleshoot on MySQL, but in the past, on Microsoft SQL Server, I had to troubleshoot some difficult issues, and better tools were in place to see what was going on in real-time on the server. So, that's the bit that is lacking on the MySQL open-source platform.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using MySQL for seven years in my current company, and I have probably used it for another two or three years in a previous company.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    It is very stable.

    How are customer service and support?

    I haven't dealt with them.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    We're using the open-source version right now, which is free. I do see some value in some of the more enterprise functions. We're using the open-source version right now, and I was interested in the MySQL Enterprise version really for the tools that they provide, but we decided not to make the purchase.

    What other advice do I have?

    There are certain things that it doesn't do as well as SQL Server. There are certain things that you can do to swamp the server, such as it is just not very responsive to more complicated joins and things like that. Unfortunately, you have to try to learn what those things are, but there are certain things like correlated sub-queries and more complicated approaches that it doesn't support, and you can hang the server in doing that. So, even though it has standardized the SQL queries and other things, there are some things that it doesn't perform particularly well, such as more complicated joined scenarios. We join several tables at a time, but we tend to do that on well-known indices, primary keys, and things like that, but if you're doing something more sophisticated than that, it becomes more challenging. These things that I've mentioned are written up by people, and once you learn those things, you develop techniques to work around them. You take different approaches to solve the problem for those things. You have to do that anyway as a developer. You don't just write code and throw it out there on a production server. You certainly need a totally separate test environment and all that.

    I would rate MySQL an eight out of 10.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free MySQL Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
    Updated: May 2023
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free MySQL Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.