MySQL

I have used MySQL  for the past two products that I have been a part of. MySQL  serves as our database layer where we store all our data across whatever platform we have. It functions as the main component that stores our data.

Our product is quite large, so we have multiple databases, with MySQL being one of them where we store user data. Our product is a hiring-based platform, so we store user data, enterprise data, and the jobs that users assign, among multiple other things.

I haven't used a different solution previously, but we are currently using MySQL as well as MongoDB for our database needs.

MySQL is an RDBMS  database, and I have also used MongoDB. MySQL has its own advantages as well as disadvantages. With MySQL, we can easily store data. The latency for accessing data is lower than MongoDB because MongoDB stores in BSON format, whereas MySQL stores in table format. This makes it suitable, and I believe for the type of product we have, this is the right database choice.

MySQL has low latency and is very easy for our use case. We are using Sequelize with it, so implementation is straightforward and putting data into MySQL is simple. As an RDBMS  database, the relational management is excellent. There is less redundancy, and the table structures are well-defined beforehand. Before putting data in, we must create the table and set everything up properly. Error handling is also very good.

Performance-wise, MySQL is very fast and reliable. We have deployed it on AWS  servers, and it is quite reliable. From an integration capability standpoint, integrating it with any platform or application is fast and easy to use. We simply need the database details and to create the tables we want, and we can start using it without hesitation.

As an RDBMS, MySQL provides us great capability. For a product growing to large scale like ours, where we currently have around 10 lakh users but will grow to 20, 30, 40 million or more, having a strong database foundation is essential. MySQL provides that. Creating a database with good structure is crucial, and foreign key and primary key relationships should be well-defined beforehand. MySQL ensures that you create tables in a manner that makes it easy for end users and simple to grow that particular database in the future.

MySQL is very reliable because it has ACID properties, including atomicity and consistency. Replication is easy, and we are replicating it with one of our search services used for fast searching. Scalability is very easy, and security features are very good for enterprise editions, providing transparent data encryption, authorization, authentication, and firewalls.

MySQL can be improved in several ways. It has connectivity errors and administration troubles that sometimes occur, though not consistently. MySQL has slow queries; sometimes when I run a query, it scans the whole table, and if the data is very large, it takes too much time to retrieve the data. There can be resource bottlenecks with RAM and CPU usage being a little lower than ideal. Monitoring system metrics is crucial because we need to identify and address these types of issues. Schema designing is another area for improvement, as a poorly designed schema can lead to data redundancy in the future. If I haven't initially planned for a 20 lakh user database and am only working with a 1,000 user case, it will be very problematic because in the future, it will affect the whole table structure, and we will need to change everything. Thorough thinking is necessary before even creating the table.

MySQL documentation could be better. Sometimes when I need to find something related to MySQL, the documentation is not very comprehensive. If I have a problem with it, I have to go to Stack Overflow or something similar to get the full detail. Additionally, sometimes when we are connecting to local MySQL, it says we cannot connect to SQL, and I don't know the reason. The error messages are not very helpful, so we have to investigate those cases manually. There are multiple instances of this occurring.

Documentation can be better overall. The integration capabilities could be improved slightly. Whatever I have used is working fine for me currently, but it could be a little better. The UI of MySQL Workbench , which I use, is not appealing to me, so it could be improved. MySQL overall is very good, and the foundation is very strong. We can develop features around it and different types of things inside it, which will make it better in the future.

Regarding stability, MySQL is quite stable for us. The product that I am working on is quite stable because we have been using it for three years, and it hasn't given us any problems. The newer LTS versions are the safest for us, especially when we are releasing to production, so they are our go-to choice, and they are stable.

If the database foundation is very good with well-thought-out table structure and everything, then scalability is easy. However, if you are not thinking about the next few years and the client's user database size increases or the use case demands more, you have to consider it beforehand. If that is properly considered, then MySQL is the best option because you can easily grow from 1,000 people to 10 lakh people.

I think customer support is very good. I haven't interacted with it personally, but it appears to be good. From Oracle, they are providing customer support, and we can submit service requests that they solve on a 24/7 basis, providing solutions within a few hours.

Positive

Regarding money saved, we have a 10 lakh user case with user data. I believe in that case, we have saved quite a bit because we set up the foundation very well, and the setup was very good thanks to my seniors. Currently, we are building on top of it, and because the foundation was very good, we are able to scale it further. If we want to scale to 30 or 40 lakh people, then it is still possible, covering three to four million users. So that is good for us right now.

If I give MySQL a rating, as I have said, I have worked with both RDBMS and non-RDBMS databases. In both cases, I would give it a solid nine. It is actually used by multiple companies, and it is actually very good. It is a foundation, and if it is implemented perfectly, then it will be very good in the future.

If your product has a clear table structure and you already know what data you will have and how to manage it, what the table structure will be, what the rows and columns will look like, and if you know how it will grow eventually in the future and understand the end-to-end process, then MySQL is the best option to choose. If you have doubts about some tables, then you can use another type of non-RDBMS databases. If you have clarity about some things and not clarity about others, then you can use a combination of both as well. It depends upon the enterprise use case.

If you have clarity about how you are going to scale and how you are reducing redundancy among the data, then MySQL is the best option. I would recommend going for it. I give MySQL an overall rating of nine.