MySQL At University Of Nottingham - 2018 MySQL Days
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James Hetherington discusses the University of Nottingham's experiences with MySQL over time. They initially ran standalone MySQL databases across various systems before consolidating to centralized "database hosting" services using MySQL 5.0 in 2007. In 2012, they moved a key application to Moodle on MySQL. This worked well initially but had performance issues. Working with Oracle support improved the situation. They now use MySQL Enterprise editions with features like replication, monitoring, and clustering to power critical applications and services at scale. Moving forward, they aim to upgrade more systems to newer MySQL versions and explore additional MySQL and Oracle technologies and cloud platforms.
MySQL At University Of Nottingham - 2018 MySQL Days
- 2. Introduction 1. University of Nottingham background 2. Local Hosting Services 3. Global Service Provision 4. Oracle Commercial Offerings 1. Oracle Support 2. Enterprise Server options 3. MySQL Enterprise Monitor 5. MySQL Cluster / NDB 6. Next Steps 7. Questions and close
- 3. Background – Key Facts • Ranked in the UK and European top 30 and in the top 1 per cent of all universities worldwide • Russel Group member – one of 24 ‘leading UK universities which are committed to maintaining the very best research, an outstanding teaching and learning experience and unrivalled links with business and the public sector’ • Significant local economic impact • 44.5K students, UK and overseas • 6.8K staff members
- 4. n stopping there……. Background - Systems Libraries, Research and Learning Services: • Research Applications • Research Data Management • Collaboration • Lecture Capture • High Performance Computing • Business Intelligence • Student Experience Core Systems:
- 5. Local ‘database hosting’ services 2007 September – ‘Research’ and ‘Corporate’ hosts created. Pre 2007 – multiple stand alone physical databases created primarily by Schools. • Solaris host • MySQL 5.0.45 • SAN storage • Centos host • MySQL 5.0.2 • nfs storage A success! But … • Little central focus given • Ownership of DBs transient • No quality control of application or DBs • The years pass …
- 6. Global Service Provision 2012 – Key Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) service moved from WebCT on Oracle to Moodle on MySQL • Solaris hosts with RSF failover • MySQL 5.5 Community Server • SAN storage • NFS storage • Initial application setup trouble free • Poor application scalability • Erratic application performance • Employed DBA contractors, who refined key tuneables • Issues with server resources and disks on shared hosts • Engaged with Oracle Consultancy, then increased engagement with Oracle Support • Moodle application preferred • General preference for Open Source • Dislike of Oracle database from both Microsoft and Open Source lobbies • Confidence in MySQL • Feeling of better fit for Moodle Did it “just work”?
- 7. Global Service Provision VLE Database architecture from 2014 onwards • Physical Dell Ubuntu boxes • 32 core • 128 GB RAM • Internal spinning and SSD disks • Enterprise Server MySQL 5.6.x with Enterprise Thread Pool and Enterprise Audit • tmpdir to ramdisk • Master Slave replication, between data centres. • Initially with Corosync / Heartbeat / Pacemaker failover management • Monitored by MySQL Enterprise Manager • Other non DB architectural features needed to meet scaling needs of Service
- 8. Oracle Support • Require 24x7 Support on key services • Prefer to deal with vendors of specific product • Enterprise Server (plugins and hot fixes) • MySQL Enterprise Monitor • My Oracle Support • Consultative Support • Cost Effective Verdict?
- 9. MySQL Enterprise Manager • Easy to install • Non invasive on production services • Pre-loaded with best practice based alerts • Time Series graphs • Query Analyzer • Can look back into the past
- 10. MySQL Cluster / NDB 2015 - Online Assessments service Previous architecture: Solaris Zone, with RSF and SAN storage Needed to be: • Robust • Performant • Scalable • Fully supported (hardware, OS, database, apache) • Quickly implemented
- 11. MySQL Cluster / NDB Online Assessments service New architecture: Centos VMs split over 2 sites
- 12. MySQL Cluster / NDB Commercial MySQL Cluster: • Met requirements - reliable / scalable • 24x7 Support • Likely to need Oracle Support • MySQL Cluster Manager • Can patch with seconds of downtime Be aware: • Different technology from normal MySQL • Needs solid administrators • Needs solid network infrastructure with low latency • Short transactions by PK essential • Loading/restoring SQL data very slow, can appear to crash • Need to script backups, OOM rating and stats gathering Verdict?
- 13. Next Steps • MySQL Enterprise Backup • VLE service to 5.7.x DB • Assessments to Cluster 7.5.x/MySQL 5.7.x • Hosting Services to MySQL 5.7.x • MySQL Router / MySQL Group Replication • Trial Cloud platforms • Security • Transparent Data Encryption • Encryption • Enterprise Firewall When we get the time!
- 14. Questions?