---
title: "The quickest ways to try MariaDB Xpand"
publish_date: 2022-10-26
updated_date: 2023-07-20
author: "Patrick Bossman"
channel:
  - name: "Product"
    url: "/ja/resources/blog/channel/product.md"
tags:
  - name: "Distributed SQL"
    url: "/resources/blog/tag/distributed-sql.md"
  - name: "Xpand"
    url: "/resources/blog/tag/xpand.md"
---

# The quickest ways to try MariaDB Xpand

By now, you’ve heard of [MariaDB Xpand](https://mariadb.com/products/enterprise/xpand/), our distributed SQL database purpose built for scale. Xpand provides automatic data distribution, is built to handle read and write scale, and comes with built-in high availability, always online DDL, and is compatible with MariaDB and MySQL databases.

Want to give Xpand a spin? We have two easy ways to try Xpand.

##### Xpand Docker Image (single node only)

Xpand is now available as a docker image, which provides an easy way to deploy a single Xpand node. The docker image is a great sandbox for developers, testing application compatibility, and learning Xpand features. You’ll have Xpand up and running faster than getting a cup of coffee by simply running the following docker commands:

```
$ docker pull mariadb/xpand-single

$ docker run --rm -p3306:3306 --ulimit memlock=-1 --name xpand mariadb/xpand-single
```

Once Xpand has started, you can connect to Xpand with the mariadb client included in the image:

```
$ docker exec -it xpand mariadb -u xpand
```

Additional details on usage and configuration are available [here](https://mariadb.com/docs/deploy/deployment-methods/docker/xpand/). The single node Xpand docker image is not suitable for production use or performance testing. Get the Xpand docker image from our [MariaDB downloads page](https://mariadb.com/downloads/community/xpand/).

##### Xpand in SkySQL (single node and multi-node)

For production environments, performance testing and to experience its full scale out powers try Xpand in [MariaDB SkySQL](https://mariadb.com/products/skysql/), our fully managed cloud database service. You can opt to deploy a single node or cluster with a few simple clicks. Choose the cloud, region, size and number of nodes, and SkySQL handles deployment, including a load balancer and deployment across multiple availability zones.

##### Other Resources

Full deployment documentation is available here: <https://mariadb.com/docs/deploy/topologies/xpand/xpand-6/>