Project Manager at Realnux
Real User
Top 5
A lightweight database that's easy to maintain and develop
Pros and Cons
  • "MySQL is a light database. It's not very complex. It's easy to develop, easy to maintain, and easy to back up and restore."
  • "We want to continue using MySQL but it merged with Oracle and the scalage changed."

What is our primary use case?

We use MySQL as a light database engine to provide database service to our web application. 

Almost all of our software engineers use MySQL.

We want to continue using MySQL but it merged with Oracle and the scalage changed. After they merged, we tried MariaDB. 

For two years, we tried MongoDB and prepared for application migration; all because the scalability changed when MySQL merged with Oracle. 

What is most valuable?

This solution is very easy to use. It's stable and very quick. MySQL is a light database. It's not very complex. It's easy to develop, easy to maintain, and easy to back up and restore. 

For how long have I used the solution?

Our software team has been using MySQL for more than eight years.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's hard to say if MySQL is scalable as we've never tried to scale it. 

Buyer's Guide
MySQL
April 2024
Learn what your peers think about MySQL. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2024.
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How are customer service and support?

We have never had to contact support. 

How was the initial setup?

We installed MySQL Database on our server. It took roughly 12 to 13 minutes to install it. 

What about the implementation team?

Installation was done by our software team's engineers — seven to eight of them.

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

We've never bought a commercial license. We just use the open-source community edition. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We evaluated other databases and products, including EnterpriseDB and PostgreSQL. The latter was scalable, but it wasn't easy to use. MySQL is much easier to use and install. Before MySQL merged with Oracle, our software engineers were very satisfied.

What other advice do I have?

We recommend MySQL to our customers and other partners. The only problem relates to the business strategy from Oracle. For this reason, most MySQL users are considering migrating to MariaDB.

Overall, on a scale from one to ten, I would give this solution a rating of nine. We're very satisfied with MySQL. If we could scale-out further, I would give it a ten. We need a database cluster or a scalable database solution for our future applications.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Integrator
PeerSpot user
Sysad Database Administrator Lead at USSC
Real User
A stable solution with a community version, but the enterprise manager license should cover more virtual machines
Pros and Cons
  • "It has a community version. When I have to create a new database, I have no problems with licenses."
  • "It can have better monitoring. In addition, the enterprise manager should be able to cater to more than one virtual machine. Currently, you need one license per server. It seems a bit too much to get one license for one enterprise manager. I hope the enterprise manager for MySQL can accommodate more virtual machines for MySQL."

What is our primary use case?

We use it for financial transactions such as money remittance.

What is most valuable?

It has a community version. When I have to create a new database, I have no problems with licenses.

What needs improvement?

It can have better monitoring. In addition, the enterprise manager should be able to cater to more than one virtual machine. Currently, you need one license per server. It seems a bit too much to get one license for one enterprise manager. I hope the enterprise manager for MySQL can accommodate more virtual machines for MySQL.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for a decade.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have categorized the amount of data we have as big data, although we haven't really been using it much.

We have 2,000 people in our company, and we have over 100 virtual machines installed with MySQL.

How are customer service and technical support?

Because we are using the community version, we haven't had the chance to contact the technical support of MySQL.

How was the initial setup?

It is easy for us. After a few trials or installing it a few times, we have benchmarked and created best practices for installing it.

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

It has a community version.

What other advice do I have?

If you are not into command-line usage, I don't think MySQL is for you. I found MySQL easier to use by using the command line rather than by using the workbench. The workbench is comparatively slow, especially when exporting.

I would rate MySQL a seven 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
April 2024
Learn what your peers think about MySQL. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2024.
768,886 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Senior Database Administrator Engineer at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Easy to set up but the stability needs to be improved
Pros and Cons
  • "It was easy to install."
  • "Stability needs improvement and the backup needs to be enhanced."

What is our primary use case?

We only support the backend and only carry it as a database. You can do what you want on the database to create the schema and to manage the rest of the organization.

What needs improvement?

Errors that come from MySQL need to be more clear. In Oracle, for example, you have the aura and you have numbers, you can easily find the error. MySQL should follow the same as in Oracle.

Stability needs improvement and the backup needs to be enhanced.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using MySQL for years.

We are using the latest version. Normally we do upgrades and we follow the upgrade path.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It could be more stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have 15 customers, but I am not sure of the number of users we have.

How are customer service and technical support?

I have not dealt with technical support.

How was the initial setup?

It was easy to install. It only took ten minutes.

We have a huge database team as we are supporting many regions.

What about the implementation team?

We implemented this solution ourselves.

What other advice do I have?

We plan to continue using this product. It's good, and I can recommend it to others.

I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
COO at a tech vendor with 1-10 employees
Real User
Cost-effective, good performance, easy to use, and the cross-platform capabilities are nice
Pros and Cons
  • "What I've been most pleased with is the cost point, performance, and ease of use."
  • "The analytics features are in need of improvement."

What is our primary use case?

The primary use case is as a reporting solution, data collection, data manipulation, and similar tasks. We install MySQL on Linux and Windows machines for testing our enterprise application.

We are a solution provider and this product is part of our offering to our clients.

How has it helped my organization?

MySQL hasn't really affected our organization, specifically because we primarily use it in a consulting model.

What is most valuable?

All of the databases basically have the same set of features.

What I've been most pleased with is the cost point, performance, and ease of use.

It is very easy to configure, it's easy to deploy, and it's cross-platform capabilities are quite nice.

What needs improvement?

The analytics features are in need of improvement. They aren't as far along as the capabilities that you have in terms of analytics for SQL Server and Oracle.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using MySQL for about five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I've had no problems with stability and its recovery processing, error processing, and things along those lines have been fine.  We always use Java applications and the JDBC drivers work fine.

I haven't had any issues at all with its reporting or its transaction processing, or anything else. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

For our use-cases, the scalability is fine. We haven't seen any issues and we're processing probably hundreds of millions of rows each day. We're not into the billions or tens of billions, so we're probably a medium-to-low use case.

Most of our instances are single-instance databases, so I haven't had to deal with its clustering capabilities or distributed database feature set.

Our clients vary in size, although we generally operate as a small system inside a major organization.

How are customer service and technical support?

I have never had to utilize technical support. There was never an issue that I had to call in.

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

I use a lot of databases including MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, and PostgreSQL. 

The performance of SQL Server and Oracle is better than MySQL. The two alternatives have other features, as well.

How was the initial setup?

The initial set up very straightforward. MySQL is easy to deploy and very easy to configure. We can literally bring up instances in minutes.

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

This product has a good price point.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We had been on SQL Server and Oracle, and a subset of our customers wanted us to switch and use MySQL. We explored what that transition would take and then implemented it.

What other advice do I have?

My advice for anybody who is looking into implementing MySQL is to start by carefully evaluating their use cases. One of the things that we found is that MySQL didn't necessarily have all of the flexibility for JSON and XML processing at the time. I know that they've improved it, although it's not quite the same as what you see specifically in Oracle. So, the customer has to evaluate that. For straight-on basic transaction processing, it's worked out just as well with few issues from SQL Server to MySQL or from Oracle to MySQL.

For my use, I'm fine with what they have. I'll be interested in what they'll provide in analytics, as well as JSON and XML processing if that's even on their roadmap. For right now, it's really not an impact on my use case.

If I were rating SQL Server or Oracle then I would rate either one a nine out of ten. The only difference is that they do perform better than MySQL, although they don't perform so much better than it's relevant.

I would rate this solution 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
PeerSpot user
Head of Business Technology at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
A large amount of software modules and plugins for rapid application development are possible. However, it does not stand out regarding scalability.
Pros and Cons
  • "A lot of the software components have been trialed and tested for often more than 10 years."
  • "The main advantage is the very large user base. This enables users to fix about any issue by answering any question."
  • "It does not stand out regarding scalability. When the company size increases, the user base having actual experience with (very) large MySQL solutions is reduced."

What is our primary use case?

Small to medium-sized business usage. The main advantage is the very large user base. This enables users to fix about any issue by answering any question. From a technical viewpoint, MySQL is on par with the other open source database solutions.

How has it helped my organization?

Due to the large user base, a large amount of software modules and plugins for rapid application development are possible. From an operational viewpoint, this is also a very big advantage.

What is most valuable?

The large user base and the amount of available plugins and modules. A lot of the software components have been trialed and tested for often more than 10 years. It is rock solid from that viewpoint.

What needs improvement?

It does not stand out regarding scalability. When the company size increases, the user base having actual experience with (very) large MySQL solutions is reduced.

For how long have I used the solution?

More than five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

No, it is rock solid.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Yes, other solutions have better features and better performance.

How are customer service and technical support?

Not applicable.

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

No.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very easy with very good online support.

What about the implementation team?

Implementation was done in-house.

What was our ROI?

Not applicable.

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

When you know the setup will continue to grow, make sure you have the paid support. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

MariaDB/Galera.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Ruben Conti - PeerSpot reviewer
Owner at Intersoftware sas
Real User
Top 10
Easy to set up and integrate, works with most languages
Pros and Cons
  • "MySQL is easy to integrate. It works with just about every language."
  • "Security is a concern. MySQL could have better security features."

What is our primary use case?

We use MySQL for internet applications. 

What is most valuable?

MySQL is easy to integrate. It works with just about every language. 

What needs improvement?

Security is a concern. MySQL could have better security features. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using MySQL for several years. 

How are customer service and support?

I've never contacted technical support. It is done on the internet. You have all the support there.

How was the initial setup?

Setting up MySQL is no problem at all. I can do it by myself, and it's deployed almost instantly.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate MySQL nine out of 10. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Has a lot of documentation and bug fixing is better in the latest version
Pros and Cons
  • "However, it is easy to scale MySQL using the functions provided with the product."

    What is our primary use case?

    It is deployed on local servers, and we are using version 8. The whole company uses our database. Our users don't communicate with the database directly. They use a web interface. All programs are deployed using MySQL. We have hundreds of thousands of users accessing MySQL via the website. Two of us manage the database, but it's enough for only one person to manage daily operations. 

    How has it helped my organization?

    As we are using the latest version of the database, it has many functions that have improved it. There are many new features in this version, and it is more powerful in what it can achieve.

    What is most valuable?

    MySQL has a lot of documentation, and bug fixing is better in the latest version.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    We have been using MySQL for about 20 years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    It is very stable.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    MySQL is scalable. We didn't scale it via the database tools provided but on the program side. However, it is easy to scale it using the functions provided with the product.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    The support is fast and helps to find faster fixes to existing bugs. They recently advised us to downgrade to fix one particular bug, which resolved the problem we were having.We only use technical support for bug fixes, and the calls are usually closed quickly.

    How was the initial setup?

    I was able to install it myself in about half an hour.

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

    MySQL is free.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    We have also used PhpStorm and DataGrip.

    What other advice do I have?

    I would recommend that others use MySQL. I would rate it 10 out of 10.

    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
    Business Intelligence Manager at a translation and localization position with 501-1,000 employees
    Real User
    Enables us to query and analyze data types and data structures within the database itself but the UI should be improved
    Pros and Cons
    • "The initial setup was pretty straightforward. I would have worked with our IT team in terms of the initial setup."
    • "I find the Microsoft solution a bit better. But mostly in terms of the UI layout, I would say. I just find it a little bit more efficient."

    What is our primary use case?

    I'm not involved from the database side as much. I primarily use it for reviewing the data structure as the architecture before I build a data model in our BI tools.

    General querying is pretty much what I do, and also analyzing data types and data structures within the database itself. I review the data structure within them. And I use that to build the data model, which we have in our reporting environment. That's primarily all I use it for.

    What needs improvement?

    What it would compare it to, from my point of view would be, Microsoft SQL Studio. I find the Microsoft solution a bit better. But mostly in terms of the UI layout, I would say. I just find it a little bit more efficient. But to be honest, I can work equally as well with both.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I've been working with MySQL for two and a half years. 

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    We haven't experienced any issues with scalability.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    I haven't directly contacted their technical support. 

    I haven't gotten feedback from the IT team.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup was pretty straightforward. I would have worked with our IT team in terms of the initial setup. In terms of connecting to the database and to the data sources, it is pretty straightforward.

    What other advice do I have?

    I would rate MySQL a seven out of ten. 

    To make it a perfect ten, they should improve the UI. It's got quite a narrow range, and there's a lot more obvious to the database side than what I deal with. The UI is not quite as sharp I would say as the Microsoft solution. In some cases, I find that there are better shortcuts available in Microsoft solutions.

    If I was choosing, I would probably lean towards Microsoft. That may be just a purely personal preference. My use of MySQL has primarily been from a data integration point of view, a data architecture point of view, and reviewing the database itself, and the data structure, data types. In my role, I don't define data and I don't build the database, I'm purely on the interrogation and the analytics side. I probably would find the Microsoft solution slightly better. But MySQL does absolutely provide what I require from that point of view. So I would recommend it, yes.

    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.
    PeerSpot user
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free MySQL Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
    Updated: April 2024
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free MySQL Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.