Getting to know the capabilities and features in MariaDB SkySQL

SkySQL is the first database-as-a-service (DBaaS) to unlock the full power of MariaDB Platform in the cloud. Engineered for mission-critical applications and enterprise governance, the SkySQL cloud database is focused on features which make life better for the developer, the DBA, and the operator – extending powerful enterprise features with unrivaled ease of use and first-in-class innovation.

MariaDB Platform for Transactions

Whether you need transactional capabilities for dev/test or production, MariaDB Platform for transactions delivers the robust modern SQL capabilities of MariaDB Enterprise Server either in single-node Standalone configuration, or in a multi-node replicated Primary/Replica topology.

The production-ready Primary/Replica replication topology combines the reliable and fast InnoDB storage engine with persistent SSD block storage. Leveraging MariaDB MaxScale, this topology includes read/write splitting, multiple read replicas, and automated failover for high availability. Since SkySQL is built on Kubernetes, robust self-healing capabilities further enhance service availability and resiliency.

SkySQL services can be stood up with a few clicks, giving you the flexibility to deploy a primary and up to five replicas for production, and then deploy the same configuration for testing. Ready in minutes, SkySQL eliminates the need to pre-provision expensive hardware for testing which often sits idle. As with any cloud offering, you pay for only what you use.

MariaDB Platform for Analytics

Traditional RDBMS platforms deliver great transactional processing, which typically depends on indexes to achieve query performance. Modern applications demand the ability to query large data on the fly, with complicated filters – it’s not possible to add an index for every query. The solution is columnar data storage.

MariaDB Platform for analytics leverages the columnar capabilities of MariaDB ColumnStore with data placed in object storage in the cloud. In this configuration, you not only get the high-performance analytical benefits of columnar storage, but you eliminate the need to pre-allocate storage for growth. MariaDB Platform for analytics allows you to perform real-time ad hoc queries on big data, on inexpensive pay-as-you-go object storage.

With easy single-node provisioning, it’s simple and cost-effective to stand up columnar data storage for testing and periodic business analysis tasks.

MariaDB Platform for Smart Transactions

“Both.” We’ve talked about fast, reliable transactional processing. We’ve talked about real-time analytical processing. Smart transactions use the best storage engine for each type of workload, and logically and physically combine the information to make it accessible in near real time. Improving access to data in this way increases the productivity of knowledge workers and can provide an enriched customer experience. 

MariaDB Platform X4 enables smart transactions by storing data in both row and columnar formats. Using replication, MariaDB Enterprise Server replicates writes from InnoDB tables to the MariaDB ColumnStore tables, ensuring that the application can perform analytical processing on current data. With a simple cloud deployment, you have hybrid database capabilities with familiar MariaDB SQL syntax and connectors.

MariaDB Platform for smart transactions eliminates the need for expensive and time consuming ETL (extract, transform, load) into a separate data store for running analytics workloads. Queries can be performed on either storage engine, or use cross-engine joins to combine the information. MariaDB SkySQL provides a solution for users who need near-real-time analytics on data which is stored in the transactional database. 

MariaDB Platform for smart transactions on SkySQL uses persistent storage and the InnoDB storage engine for transactional data and uses object storage and the ColumnStore storage engine for analytical data – both on a single server with MariaDB MaxScale as the database proxy. MaxScale provides the interface between the data and applications. Using SkySQL for smart transactions eliminates much of the work and worry of setting up a hybrid transactional/analytical processing database. You simply launch your database instance and get going.

SkySQL Features

  • SkySQL is supported by MariaDB – our MariaDB-certified SkyDBA team, Site Reliability Engineers (SRE), and the MariaDB engineering team who built MariaDB Platform – the experts who know the platform best.
  • SkySQL is available on Google Cloud Platform (GCP), in six GCP regions across three continents. We leverage the features of Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) for added resiliency, agility and isolation.
  • SkySQL service instances come in a range of sizes, with vCPU, memory, and storage sizes to meet the needs of your workload.
  • Security is a concern to every database customer. SkySQL is designed with a robust security architecture to address the needs of our demanding enterprise customers. Data at rest is encrypted. Data in transit is encrypted by SSL/TLS. The system is designed such that data stored in SkySQL services cannot be accessed by our operations engineers and SREs.
  • Automated nightly backups are included with SkySQL services.
  • This release introduces a technical preview of SkySQL Monitoring that provides a real-time graphical view of SkySQL services. SkySQL Monitoring is built by database experts at MariaDB who know the importance of providing robust database metrics with easy-to-use clickable graphs and charts that are relevant to database users.
  • Also included is the technical preview of workload analysis. SkySQL workload analysis, available now with pre-captured data, applies thousands of observations per week to a deep learning model. The result is a set of distinct workloads with recurring transitions and patterns, and their key distinguishing metrics – all helpful in diagnosing workload irregularities and changes, and all available for interactive visualization.

Get Started

SkySQL is built by creators of MariaDB database to be the best MariaDB DBaaS service on the planet. SkySQL architecture combines the best elements of MariaDB Platform, Kubernetes, and the cloud to meet mission-critical enterprise application requirements. We are very excited about this release and happy to invite you to give it a spin.