MariaDB Enterprise Server InnoDB Schema Changes with the INSTANT Algorithm

Overview

Changes in enterprise databases and applications are inevitable. Schema changes often block other workloads, incur unique production situations that cannot be fully simulated for testing, and may have unpredictable execution times.

MariaDB Enterprise Server includes the Instant ALTER functionality for the InnoDB storage engine, such that:

  • When possible, schema change operations are performed INSTANT, minimizing impact on other workloads.

  • When the alter_algorithm system variable is set to INSTANT, schema change operations will not run unless they can be performed INSTANT, minimizing the risk of unpredictable behavior.

Information on this topic may be found in the MariaDB Public KB.