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A Tour of MySQL Certification
By Mark Schoonover

CMA
Certified MySQL Associate (CMA) is the entry level MySQL certification. Requiring but a single test, if you have experience with other database systems, you'll find your knowledge will apply to the CMA track. If you already understand client/server, data definition language (DDL), basic SQL with grouping, joining tables and the ability to modify data, you'll have a huge head start on studying, or you could be ready to take the exam!

CMDBA
The CMA will get you started towards working on the Certified MySQL Database Administrator (CMDBA) certificate. This exam is very comprehensive in what a database administrator should know about MySQL. Keep in mind, this is a starting point for a DBA, not an ending point. You should have about six months of daily experience in a moderately sized MySQL environment. Having the ability to install and use a MySQL learning environment is crucial too. There will be parts of the curriculum that will go into areas of MySQL that you environment may not require.

This certification continues on where the CMA leaves off. Not only are there more requirements, it goes deeper into the details. You'll be challenged, but if you've created a learning environment, you can try all the commands on a live system to see how things work. This is a crucial concept, some questions may ask you all the ways to do the same thing. If you know only a single way to accomplish a certain task, you'll get the question wrong. ...

About the author
Mark Schoonover lives near San Diego, California with his wife, three boys, a neurotic cat, and a retired Greyhound. He's experienced as a DBA, system administrator, network engineer and web developer. He enjoys amateur radio, running marathons, and long distance cycling. He can also be found coaching youth soccer, and getting yelled at as a referee on the weekends.

Download MySQL Magazine, Spring 2008

PDF format, 1.6MB, 25Pages.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE
2 A Tour of MySQL Certification
7 On Efficiently Geo-Referencing IPs With MaxMind GeoIP and MySQL GIS
15 Introducing Kickfire
18 Automatic Query Optimization with QOT

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In case you don't get your MySQL news from anywhere else – I have a shocker. Sun bought MySQL AB for one billion USD in stock and cash earlier this year. The deal was finalized just a few weeks ago. So there - now you know. And I thought I would take the time to write a couple of paragraphs about how this will affect the MySQL community down the road.

There has been much virtual ink (blog entries) written about this deal. Some people feel like this could be the best thing that could ever happen to MySQL. Some people probably think this is the death knell of MySQL.

Me?I certainly don't think this is the “end” for MySQL. I am somewhere in the middle. Sure things will change, but change is part of life.

Examining the worst case scenario first, here is what I see. Let's say Sun pretty much kills MySQL, runs off the core developers and basically buries it. That is very unlikely considering the amount of money invested but lets assume this is what they do.

While the code of MySQL is very complex, possibly as complex as anything that runs on Linux (including the kernel), it is still open source. That means that the project can “fork”, taking the current codebase of MySQL and going off and playing with it on our own..maybe even under an new name. Even if the server changed names the project could conceivably continue. Even with this worst case it is entirely possible (and very probably) that MySQL continues.

What is the best case? Do you realize that Sun has some of the best hardware and software engineers in the world? Back in 2000 and 2001 I worked extensively with Sun servers running Solaris. These servers provided incredible amount of processing power at the time. They supported up to 64 CPUs and 64 gigabytes of RAM. Their hardware and software has only continued to improve. What if Sun “cross-pollinates” some of these engineers to help improve the MySQL codebase? What if engineers who have worked on parallel-processing problems contributing to MySQL server? And it would be only natural to improve the ability of MySQL to run on Sun hardware with Solaris (the number three platform for MySQL server). In addition, over the last several years, Sun has made a commitment to Linux. Did you know that Sun sells a server that supports up to 16 cores of processing power and a whopping 256 GB of RAM and runs either Linux or Solaris? Meet the SunFire X4600.

I know that it is very important that MySQL scales out. It does this very well. But there is also opportunities for MySQL to scale up. There are companies who run Oracle on some very high end boxes. Sun engineers working with MySQL engineers can help make it possible to replace Oracle on those servers and save companies millions of dollars. What a way for a company to cut cost. Sure it cost money to migrate large datasets and applications from Oracle to MySQL.

But with the astronomical licensing fees of Oracle it makes perfect sense for companies to do this if MySQL provides the same or better performance on the same hardware. And with a beefed up support program through Sun large companies will feel safe put their data in the hands of a MySQL database. This will only create more opportunities for MySQL DBAs.

Somewhere in between these two views is probably where the future is found. Sun is a gargantuan corporation. MySQL isn't small anymore. Meshing these two companies together will create some problems. There will be MySQL employees who leave. Adjustments will be necessary. Some operational aspects will probably not be as smooth as we would like. However, in the end, there will be new opportunities for growth. This cross-pollination I wrote about will occur even if only on a limited basis. The product that comes out of this marriage will be stronger for it. Sun probably has servers in every Fortune 500 company in the United States. Now that MySQL is a Sun product there will be new opportunities for MySQL in these companies.

MySQL can continue to embrace future technology and extend its reach ever deeper into data centers everywhere. That is where I am placing my bet. Feel free to write me with your thoughts.

Thanks,
Keith

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