Open Source Database Magazine

Two days ago Amazon announced the release of a new product, the “Relational Database Service”. Essentially, MySQL 5.1 on a AMI with no access to the server other than through the mysql client API. They are posing it as a network database appliance. I would propose that it’s a start but not the end game.

While I think it’s a great move on Amazon’s part there are some flaws. The limits on access pose a large challenge. I can’t see log files or the my.cnf. I have to depend on others for performance tuning and backups. I don’t particularly care for that.

Along ith the new RDS Amazon recently announced new “high-memory” instances (up to 68.4 GB of RAM) and price cuts that will take place beginning November the 1st. The increased memory makes these server instances even more practical.

I like the Amazon products. Amazon has a history of  both adding new cloud services and continuing to polishing the ones they already have. There is a good chance that with some tweaks (such as the ability to perform replication) this could be a great service. I don’t think it will ever completely replace “traditional” servers but there is a definite place for them. I could see using them immediately for developers and even some  testing. Even so, I would be inclined to continue using a standard Linux distro AMI and setting up my own database servers.

No matter your brand of database, you should be paying attention the happenings in the cloud services space. Over the next 3 – 5 years 90% or more of you will be using a service such as Amazon’s on a regular basis to perform some or all of  your daily DBA or developer tasks. You need to understand both the advantages and the limitations of such services.

Jeremy Zawodny wrote a good overview of some of the current crop of open source “NoSQL” database options here.

OS Database Magazine will be visiting the No:SQL{East} Conference which runs October 28th – 30th. Your editor will be on hand Wednesday night and Thursday taking in some talks and interviewing people for the podcast. If you are in the Southeast come join the fun in Atlanta at Georgia Tech. Send me an email if you want to catch up.

Hey everyone,

I have had an absolutely overwhelming response to my posts about call for articles for the OSDB Mag Fall issue. So much response that for the first time I am going to have to defer some articles until the next issue in January.

However, there is one small piece to the puzzle that I am still missing. I would really like to include a feature-length article ( 6 – 8 pages) on Drizzle since the planned Bell milestone is fast approaching. The article can cover the history of Drizzle, its purpose and future plans. You can walk through the setup of Drizzle and how to interact with it.  There is plenty of material to cover for 6 – 8 pages. I really need someone from the Drizzle community to step forward for this article. It is a great opportunity to reach a large audience who have not necessarily had any contact with Drizzle. Even modest fame and a little fortune  Details on the recent changes in OSDB Magazine can be found in this post.

This article would be a great complement to the podcast interview I did with Brian Aker kicking off the OSDB podcast back in July.

I can be reached at editor@osdbzine.net. I need to hear from you as soon as possible as the articles need to be finished by the end of the month.

thanks,

keith

July brought the first issue of Open Source Database Magazine and it was a resounding success. Our download count has skyrocketed. I was blown away when I checked my stats after the first two days of release and there were almost three times as many downloads as I had ever had of any of the previous issues of MySQL Magazine. Thanks to those who participated by contributing articles; I couldn’t have done it without you. The feedback I have received is that the change in direction has been embraced by the open source database community.

I published the first OSDB podcast a few days after the release of the magazine. Even though it was my first attempt at podcasting I thought it went well. There are still some technical rough edges I am working on, but the discussion with Brian Aker was just incredible. If you haven’t heard it yet, you are missing a treat. The next podcast which will be released around mid-November will feature Josh Berkus of Postgres fame.

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