A Comparison between MySQL vs. MS SQL Server

When it comes to enterprise database systems, both MySQL and MS SQL Server are quite popular. For the uninitiated, MySQL is open source, while Microsoft owns SQL Server and offers the choice to use it for diverse enterprise requirements. If you are looking for a MySQL optimization expert, it is first important to know the difference between the two, so as to pick the right one for your specific needs. 

Here’s more on the differences:

•  Platforms and programming languages supported. Initially, SQL Server was launched for Windows only, but Microsoft has recently made SQL Server available for Mac OS X and Linux. MySQL on the other hand is open source. In terms of programming languages, both MySQL and SQL Server offer support for Java, Python, Ruby, C++, Go, and Delphi to name a few. MySQL also offers support for Eiffel and Perl among others for those who are interested.
• Storage Engine. MySQL offers support for diverse storage engines, and it is no longer compulsory to upgrade the storage engine for programmers who use previous versions. In that department, MySQL is a better choice than SQL Server. Programmers also get considerable freedom when it comes to filtering data, although developers using SQL Server can use “row-based filtering”.
• Backup. In case of MySQL, SQL statements must be extracted to get a backup of the data, which minimizes the risk of corruption, especially when the developer chooses to update from version to another. While that’s a good thing, the process can take considerable time. SQL Server, on the other side, allows developers to store and backup huge volumes of data, without extra time, so SQL Server has an edge in that department. 
• Kill queries. If you are using MySQL, you cannot kill a query when its working, and to do that, the entire process must be killed. That’s not the same with SQL Server, which allows cancelling one particular query without affecting the entire process, and this is because it relies on what’s called the “transactional engine”.
• Security. In many ways, MS SQL Server is certainly better than MySQL in terms of security. This is because it doesn’t allow any process to access or deal with the database, for which specific functions are required. Hackers can easily do these things with MySQL, but not with MS SQL Server, and that does offer an edge.
• Versions. In case of MySQL, there are two options - MySQL Enterprise Server or MySQL Community Sever. The latter is free completely, but for MySQL Enterprise Server, there are a considerable number of paid extensions. MS SQL Server does have many versions or editions, and it depends on the requirements. You can check with Microsoft to know more.

If you need help, you can always contact with a MySQL queries consultant to know further. Both MySQL and MS SQL Server are important and have diverse applications, and the features, pros and cons depend on the edition you are using. Take a look at what considered option offers before taking a call for your project.

10 Major Advantages of Using MySQL

MySQL is a powerful solution for database management. It provides an open-source and free-of-cost database along with flexible facilities.

With a professional MySql consultant, you can maximize all the following advantages of using MySQL:

1. Scalability is on-demand - The apps stay embedded deeply enough to make management highly scalable. No matter how massive a warehouse is, applications take a small footprint in a flexible manner. The scalability also becomes visible in terms of customization with respect to e-commerce businesses as well as specific database requirements.

2. Data security is top-notch - When it comes to secure database management, MySQL has earned admiration all over the world. It is utilized in highly popular applications such as WordPress, Twitter, Facebook, Drupal, and Joomla. The security provided for data is the best feature any online business would require for transactional processes.

3. Uptime works 24/7 - MySQL is assuring in terms of uptime as well. Its comprehensive solutions stay available 24/7. So, you can rely on services such as master replication, cluster servers, and others.

4. Performance level is extraordinary - There is a special framework of storage-engine, which enables easy and effective configuration. Administrators receive top-notch performance even for a huge e-commerce website. It can handle millions of queries every day and provide fast transaction processing. MySQL has a design that aligns with maximum performance requirements in terms of speed, memory caches, text indexes and more.

5. Workflow control is comprehensive - Usability level is also impressive when it comes to installation and average download time. It takes not more than half an hour to download and install. This workflow control stays top-notch in all platforms such as Macintosh, Microsoft, and UNIX.

6. Transactional support is reliable - When you want a robust database for transactions, MySQL is definitely one of the best choices available out there. It gives you exceptional features such as multi-version transaction, durable support for transactions, and row-level unrestricted locking. It is isolated, consistent and completely atomic. As a result, you obtain a great data integrity. 

7. Open source gives flexibility - With trusted software and secure processing, MySQL leaves no chances of confusion or worries regarding the open source. The flexibility of having this open source solution actually reduces required efforts in terms of maintenance, upgrades and debugging.

8. Ownership cost stays low - The low cost of MySQL is also a great reason why enterprises decide to migrate to MySQL. Management is easy, which saves from a lot of troubleshooting time. The performance helps in keeping the cost pretty low.

9. It is pretty simple to use - From installation to implementing solutions, MySQL is extremely simple to use. You just need to understand the basics of this language and it all goes smoothly.

10. Professional support is always available - The popularity of MySQL has also increased the availability of professionals who can help you manage your database. You can easily find an experienced mysql database expert, developers, and other experts online.

So, are you ready to leverage MySQL for your business? Find professionals to further ensure your database performance.

Need for Speed - Top 10 MySQL performance tuning tips

Memory allocations, consumption of system resource, execution plan queries, monitoring and reviewing all of it becomes a part of tuning for any and every MySQL database expert. Listed below are ten tips that will certainly help approach tuning in a more sorted way.

1.       Identifying the workload profile: In case the server lingers for long while execution, it’s better to identify the particular queries that cost the longest time.Grouping the similar queries that are being executed and returning a sorted list of tasks along with the respective response times is basically what the profiling tools do. Thereby, making it easier to slim down on the time-consuming queries.

2.       Fundamental resources: Network, disk, CPU, and memory are the resources that need to be taken care of for a dB server to perform optimally. While monitoring the troubleshooting issues, it’s important to find out if the resources are overloaded or if there is any lag. Another important part pertains to the choice of hardware components, wherein speed and memory both have to be taken care of.

3.       Observe and filter results: Observing the desired results in order to find out ways to acquire it that are cheaper on the resources is a good tuning practice. The imprecise work on a given dataset leaves you with a subset for the precise work. Therefore, try finding ways tolessenintensive resource utilization.

4.       Queries using limit/offset: For huge datasets, queries using ‘offset’ and ‘limit’ can work up the server initially. Instead, it’s better to select another row more than is needed, so that the final row can be made to link the beginning of the next dataset to be fetched. 

5.       Avoid queues: In certain cases, the status of resources is so set that somehow there’s a queue of processes created. Queues take a toll on the speed since processes are serialized instead of being executed in parallel. Avoiding queues helps in MySQL performance improvement.

6.       Scalability traps: Crosstalk and serialization cause tremendous lag. Those parallel processes that have a dependency on one another end up limiting the scalability. Also, if a parallelprocess has to halt for another priority serial process, again the process itself engenders scalability issues.

7.       Monitoring and alerting: Preferably metrics should be captured as much as possible for future reference. The thresholds like buffer hit ratios vary for each server and workload, so fixing a standard for the alert is not much preferable. The alert issue is an edgy one and it has to be dealt with incisively.    

8.       Less focus on configuration: While the tuning tools can’t serve the requirements of some specific cases, getting more into the configuration may also be in vain at certain times. Fixing the fundamental resource allocation and addressing the memory and disk issues, are at times all you need.

9.       Indexing has to be right:Proper indexing helps find adjacent rows grouped together. Also, indexing helps reduce sorting time by helping the server read rows in the required order. The feature of covering index is another good tuning practice.

1.   Peer reviews: This one’s a remedy for anything you get stuck in. With proper MySQL-related resources’ network, certain issues can be well addressed.

Due to the huge data under consideration, the innumerable lag issues and SQL bottlenecks, the need to improve system performance and optimizing resource utilization has become inevitable. This,in turn,renders a smoother end-user experience.