MySQL, Oracle Database Customers to Access Common Online Tech Support

Oracle has issued an update to the MySQL Enterprise Edition 5.5 database package that includes 24/7 worldwide customer support that effectively allows MySQL customers to access the same product support infrastructure as Oracle Database customers, according company officials.

By providing access to a common customer support system, Oracle says MySQL customers will experience faster problem resolution. The upgrade will also provide integration with MyOracle support services.

This means that Oracle customers that may also be using the MySQL database for Web and departmental application to obtain MySQL technical support via their existing MyOracle Support service.

The update to Enterprise Edition 5.5 also provides the MySQL Enterprise Backup services, MySQL Enterprise Monitor, which tracks application performance, and the MySQL Workbench application design tools.

MySQL is an open-source relational database that Oracle acquired with its $7.3 billion buyout of Sun Microsystems in 2010. With the buyout, many MySQL customers expressed concerns that Oracle would marginalize its support for the open-source database because it competed with its core Oracle database and because they felt that as a producer of proprietary-licensed enterprise software, Oracle was philosophically hostile to the concept of open-source software that allows customers to make their own modifications and extensions to the application code.

But in the past year, Oracle has treated MySQL as an additional product line with its own valuable revenue stream. It has made a number of improvements to MySQL to improve its value to customers and to the business.

Oracle is positioning the database as an alternative to Microsoft SQL Server and claims that the open-source database can deliver up to 90 percent total cost-of-ownership savings over the Microsoft relational database. Like the Oracle database, MySQL runs on multiple operating systems including Microsoft Windows and Linux.

Oracle claims that overall its enhancements to MySQL will provide greater application uptime and performance.

“The latest enhancements in MySQL Enterprise Edition underscore Oracle’s commitment to helping customers be successful with the world’s most popular open-source database,” Thomas Ulin, vice president of engineering with Oracle, said in a statement.

"With the enhancements to MySQL Enterprise Monitor, MySQL Enterprise Backup along with streamlined global support, database administrators and developers can speed their MySQL deployments while reducing total cost of ownership,” Ulin’s statement said.

MySQL Enterprise Backup 3.5 allows customers to perform “hot” online backup of MySQL Databases while the databases are up and running. Oracle says the backup system improves data integrity and uptime by supporting full, incremental and partial backups while enabling point-in-time recovery and backup compressions.

MySQL Enterprise Monitor 2.3 provides new rules and graphs to help users to optimize the performance and available of the MySQL database and MySQL Cluster. The release includes new MySQL, InnoDB and operating system-specific graphs that allow administrators to visually monitor application performance in real time and to track historical trends.

MySQL Workbench 5.2 enables application developers to visually design, model, generate and manage MySQL Databases. It also provides data modeling, SQL development and database administration tools.