High Performance MySQL: Optimization, Backups, and Replication [Paperback]

Baron Schwartz (Author), Peter Zaitsev (Author), Vadim Tkachenko (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 30, 2012 | ISBN-10: 1449314287 | ISBN-13: 978-1449314286 | Edition: Third Edition

How can you bring out MySQL’s full power? With High Performance MySQL, you’ll learn advanced techniques for everything from designing schemas, indexes, and queries to tuning your MySQL server, operating system, and hardware to their fullest potential. This guide also teaches you safe and practical ways to scale applications through replication, load balancing, high availability, and failover.

Updated to reflect recent advances in MySQL and InnoDB performance, features, and tools, this third edition not only offers specific examples of how MySQL works, it also teaches you why this system works as it does, with illustrative stories and case studies that demonstrate MySQL’s principles in action. With this book, you’ll learn how to think in MySQL.

• Learn the effects of new features in MySQL 5.5, including stored procedures, partitioned databases, triggers, and views
• Implement improvements in replication, high availability, and clustering
• Achieve high performance when running MySQL in the cloud
• Optimize advanced querying features, such as full-text searches
• Take advantage of modern multi-core CPUs and solid-state disks
• Explore backup and recovery strategies—including new tools for hot online backups

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Baron Schwartz is Chief Performance Architect at Percona. He creates tools and techniques to make MySQL easier to use and more dependable,and speaks regularly at conferences worldwide. He lives in Virginia with his family.

Peter managed the High Performance Group within MySQL until 2006, when he founded Percona. Peter has a Master's Degree in Computer Science and is an expert in database kernels, computer hardware, and application scaling. He serves as CEO of Percona, while keeping touch with his technical roots by continuing to do consulting for key customers.

Vadim Tkachenko is the CTO and co-founder of Percona, and an author on the MySQLPerformanceBlog.com and SSDPerformanceBlog.com blogs. Vadim leads Percona's development group, which produces the Percona Server, Percona XtraDB Cluster, and Percona XtraBackup.

Product Details

• Paperback: 828 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; Third Edition edition (March 30, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1449314287
• ISBN-13: 978-1449314286
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 1.7 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23,188 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #1 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Software Design, Testing & Engineering > Performance Optimization
  • #5 in Books > Computers & Technology > Databases > MySQL
  • #17 in Books > Computers & Technology > Databases > SQL

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This is THE MySQL performance book. Period. April 1, 2012

By Ignacio A. Ruiz Reyes

Format:Paperback

Every chapter is very well crafted, with a precise balance between theory and practice, and full of invaluable nuggets, sometimes transcending the MySQL arena and applicable to any database! Such cases are Chapter-Benchmarking MySQL and Chapter 3-Profiling Server Performance, very solid foundations for the reading ahead.

All over the text, authors propose tools, examples of use and proven diagnostic techniques, that will greatly improve your performance firefighter skills and enhance your knowledge of MySQL internals. Nevertheless, what gives this book the five star is taking into consideration the physical part of database structures in play when speaking about performance, which is something most authors don't include; plus treatment on MySQL high availability and cloud features, which we'll increasingly see on customers.

There is something that kind of bugged me at times and was references to a specific commercial MySQL offering and tools, but after taking a look to that company web-site, found that is a great contributor to the MySQL community and you can actually use the tools!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding MySQL Reference Book July 12, 2012

By Dan McKinnon VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

'High Performance MySQL: Optimization, Backups, and Replication' is a nearly 800 page reference books that shines for doing exactly what the title says. Topics included are:

- benchmarking
- optimizing schemas
- indexing
- optimizing queries
- optimizing the server
- replication
- backup/recovery

Wonderfully written and the kind of reference material that you don't find lots of days nowadays in the computer book market. For anyone that is a MySQL developer or admin, you will be very wise to pick up this great book!!

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars In-Depth Review of an In-Depth Book August 11, 2012

By Joy King

Format:Paperback

All-in-all this is an invaluable tool for the MySQL database developer and is highly recommended. A must for the reference shelf of any serious DBA, it is also suitable to use as a textbook for advanced programming classes in MySQL. Easy to understand and well-written.

This book appears to be the result of the accumulative experiences of three premiere experts in the field of database administration - MySQL style. It is written is such a way that a MySQL application developer can self-teach himself numerous ways to optimize application performance and the system operating performance as well. They do this by training you to understand the internal workings of MySQL. Very in-depth, yet written so that one that is beginning database development (i.e. knows something about MySQL) can easily understand and be appreciate of the teachings contained throughout this book, many of which are actual case studies that any Database Administrator can use to gain expertise in monitoring his/her own database.

The first half of the book is dedicated to reference material that instructs you in how to benchmark your server. This will provide limitless gains in not only profiling server performance but also provide performance indicators for any architectural design changes you make to your database. This subject is expanded with a thorough discussion of data types and table design (3 chapters) followed by a chapter covering the advanced features of MySQL that details the performance gains available for one who knows how to think like MySQL.

The second half of the book deals with the more technical aspects of database processing with MySQL.... Included are tools to discover your system's limiting factor(s) and any bottlenecks; when to use fast CPUs, when to use more CPUs and also includes an in-depth look at pros and cons of types of durability of specific kinds of hard drives. The authors take a couple of chapters to analyze differing types of hard drive devices, Flashcache or Solid State for instance, how to choose them and then code for Replication. Also included is an in-depth guide to designing with RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks). Going from there on to the scaling capabilities of MySQL and then using MySQL as a cloud computing option (a chapter on each) which are followed by a chapter on application-level optimization (of course! You now know server, os, hardware, and MySQL optimization!).

The book ends with a chapter on backup and recovery and another on tools for MySQL users. I suggest reading the tools chapter anytime if you start to feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of knowledge and information contained with these pages. This chapter is full of links for tools to interface with the server and monitor your application - the reason why you're so interested in this book!

Reviewed by Joy King
Was previously a DBA in the Air Force (a decade or so ago!), now back in school upgrading her computer skills, concentrating mostly on Database Programming - also including Web Design. Read more ›

4.0 out of 5 stars MySQL May 23, 2013

By Gerry

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Useful tips on performance for a pre-dominantly Oracle DBA such as myself.

Has encouraged me to look for work in the non-Oracle space

5.0 out of 5 stars Great must read book May 20, 2013

By E. Stuarti

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I am new to MySQL. This book helped me to properly design a MySQL database with performance issues in mind. While it does not address 5.6, it is still very relevant and should be a read for anyone starting out designing a new MySQL database

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book April 1, 2013

By maborak

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Excellent Book, the explanation is very clear. I just optimized my clients servers with this Books and now I understand better the real performance issues in MySQL/Percona/MariaDB

5.0 out of 5 stars Chock full of useful information March 24, 2013

By Scott D Saunders ([e-mail])

Format:Kindle Edition

This is a fairly advanced book that is absolutely loaded with information. The writing is very good and the examples are excellent.

5.0 out of 5 stars Good book March 21, 2013

By Donald A. Tevault

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

It's well-written, and told me what I needed to know to help a customer. Specifically, the customer wanted to know how to optimize MySQL databases for performance, and the book did have some good tips for that.

Although, I must add, that the tip that did my customer the most good wasn't listed in the book. Rather, I found the procedure for placing databases on separate drives by doing a Google search. But still, all-in-all, a useful book.