No North Texas Users Group Meeting in May, new job

There will not be a May meeting of the North Texas MySQL Users Group but I am scrambling to get us a great location for the June meeting. I have left my Job with MySQL/Sun/Oracle and am no longer responsible for MySQL Certifications. That means my access to the Sun office were we have been meeting is ended also.

I am now the Customer Service Manager for Calpont and the InfiniDB storage engine. InfiniDB is column based, multi-threaded, and the community edition is open source. If you run intensive reports against InnoDB or MyIsam databases, you need to investigate this product. And if you regularly run massive queries in data warehousing or business analytic operation that you need to see how the massively parallel process architecture of the enterprise product can make life easier.

Book Review: MySQL Admin Cookbook

Usually I try to avoid the cookbook type of computer books because usually the 'recipies', often messy scripts or pages of obfuscated code, seem only to work for the authors and not for me. So I had a little trepidation when I was asked to review the MySQL Admin Cookbook. Daniel Schneller and Udo Schwedt manage to pack a lot of very solid information into 360 pages of text that would work for novice to intermediate MySQL DBAs and provide some food for thought for seasoned DBAs.

What I liked: The material was presented with the reasons behind the recipe and pointers to useful tools. Yes, all the material is in the manuals but sometimes there are too many trees in the way for a novice so see the trees. In very calm ,concise language, the authors tackle successfully a wide range of DBA chores in a way that is easy to follow.

I would not hesitate to give this book to a novice to intermediate DBA as a tool to help them work through replication, configuration, indexes and tools.

What I did not like: Time has marched on and the references to MySQL Administrator make a few tiny sections seem dated but I am sure only the Workbench team knew what that product would evolve into. Also the section on monitoring is a bit light but then most DBAs do not need to wade in as deeply as the book goes let alone into Enterprise Monitor or other tools.

So this book is a solid four out of five stars and well worth being brought home by those new to MySQL DBA work and those seeking 'recipes' for thie instances.

2010 UC Cert Wrap-up

The 2010 MySQL is over but many have left with certifications among their souvenirs. 150 exams were given this year and we now have three new Associates, two new cluster DBAs, two new 5.1 DBAs, twelve new developers, and thirty-eight new 5.0 DBAs! Some folks walked away with two or three new certifications. Those were just the folks who tested this year and does not count those who finished up a 5.0 DBA or 5.0 Developer cert at the UC!

Thank you to all who took exams this year. It takes a few days for the exam data to peculate into the Sun Certification Database but your certification kits will be posted ASAP.

A big thank you to Carey Hardey and Shankar Kondur who ran certifications this year. An Oracle travel ban kept me from attending this year and Carey, from the Oracle University Certification Department volunteered to travel down the treacherous Highway 101 to oversee the exams. Shankar is from Devsquare and made sure the new plaftform for the hands on exam worked properly for the UC.

Last day of testing at the MySQL Users Conference

Today is you last day to take MySQL Certification Exams at a deeply discounted price. So if you want to test, head over before the doors close on the Magnolia room for 2010!!

Results of Certification Exams from First Day of the MySQL Users Conference

Please note that Oracle Univerisity has placed a hard limit on number of exams at the Users Conference this year. If you wait to the last moment, you may not get a chance to show your knowledge!

Congratulations to those who took certification exams at the MySQL Users Conference this year. We have 18 new 5.0 DBAs and 2 new 5.0 Developers after Monday.

Testing is in the Magnolia Room in the Hyatt, near the front desk and starts at 8:30 AM PDT.

Certification at the MySQL Users Conference

If you are planning to take a certification exam at the MySQL Users conference next week, please bring a laptop with WiFi and plan to come early! Testing will be in the Magnolia Room by the escalators in the Hyatt Lobby from 8:30 AM to 3:00 PM starting Tuesday.

The exams are online which means you will need a laptop.

And this year there is a limit of 250 exams total. Once that hard limit is reached, there will be no more exams given at the UC in 2010. So do not wait to the last minute to finish off that certification.

North Texas Users -- InnoDB Plugin

The InnoDB plugin will be the subject of the next North Texas MySQL Users Group on Monday April 5th. The InnoDB plugin has some big performance and scaling benefits. But there are some messy things you have to take care of before it will work.


All are welcome!

Monday April 5th
7:00 PM
Suite 700
16000 North Dallas Tollway
Dallas, TX