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Introduction to SkySQL

MariaDB stands as one of the world's leading open-source relational databases, renowned for its maturity and widespread adoption. Born as a fork of MySQL, MariaDB maintains high compatibility with its predecessor while offering enhanced features and performance.

SkySQL is a multi-cloud, fully managed Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS), designed to deploy MariaDB across diverse environments including multiple data centers, regions, and cloud providers. It now offers both traditional provisioned and serverless deployment options, catering to a wide range of use cases and workload patterns while preventing over-provisioning.

Originally developed by MariaDB, SkySQL aimed to be the most comprehensive cloud platform for MariaDB. Its robust feature set is the result of years of insights gathered from hundreds of customers running mission-critical workloads. In late 2023, the core team behind SkySQL formed an independent company, named SkySQL, to further advance the platform.

SkySQL elevates MariaDB to enterprise-grade with production-ready features:

. Automated complex database configurations
. Cloud-native capabilities including VPC integration and auto-scaling
. Global replication
. Automated backups
. Advanced security with end-to-end encryption
. Compliance and governance
. Serverless deployment option for instant scalability
. And numerous other powerful features.

architecture

Key Features of SkySQL

Global Multi-Cloud Presence

Available in 40+ regions across AWS, GCP, and Azure, offering unparalleled flexibility and reach.

Robust High Availability (HA)

  • Resilient Infrastructure: Multi-layered protection across disks, compute, zones/regions, network, and load balancing.
  • Intelligent Proxy: Ensures seamless failover and monitors replication lag, maintaining service continuity.
  • Rapid Failover: Employs real-time health checks for swift, automated recovery.

Advanced Scalability

  • Intelligent Load Balancing: Maintains consistency via smart proxy-based load balancing and read-write splitting.
  • Flexible Consistency: Offers both causal and strong global consistency models.
  • Custom Query Routing: Allows fine-tuned performance optimization through customizable routing rules.
  • Serverless Scaling: Provides near instantaneous scaling from zero to defined upper limit and back down to zero, adapting dynamically to workloads without manual intervention.

Disaster Recovery

  • Multi-Region Replication: Spans across regions and cloud providers for maximum resilience.
  • Flexible External Replication: Supports custom external replica setups for enhanced redundancy and disaster recovery.

State-of-the-Art Data Protection

  • Versatile Backup Solutions: Goes beyond nightly backups with incremental, snapshot, and binlog backup options to both SkySQL and customer-managed storage.
  • Near-Zero RPO: Achieves minimal data loss with continuous binlog streaming.

Dynamic Auto-scaling

  • Predictive Scaling: Anticipates and adjusts storage needs based on usage patterns.
  • Cost-Efficient Scaling: Proactively scales resources up and down to match demand and optimize costs.
  • Serverless Elasticity: Offers effortless cold start and the ability to scale down to zero during idle times, significantly reducing costs when not in use.

Fractional DBA Service

  • SkyDBA Service: Provides access to skilled DBAs for proactive database optimization.
  • Continuous Performance Monitoring: Ensures peak efficiency through ongoing monitoring and rapid issue resolution.

Versatile Interoperability

  • Multi-Protocol Support: Supports both JSON and SQL operations from a single data source.
  • Native MongoDB/MariaDB/MySQL Support: Seamlessly integrates with existing applications via native MongoDB and MariaDB/MySQL protocol support.

For more detailed information, you can refer to the original blog on the SkySQL website.