MariaDB vs. MySQL

This article delves into the performance and feature differences between MariaDB and MySQL. It explores their development paths, compares performance metrics, and highlights the unique features that set them apart. The comparison also sheds light on the ongoing debate of MariaDB vs. MySQL performance, providing a comprehensive look at how these two database systems stack up against each other in various scenarios. Before we dig into the specifics, let's look at the foundational elements of an RDBMS.

Introduction to Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS)

Regarding databases and data management, the ability to efficiently store, organize, and access information is the most critical factor on which everything else is based. This is where Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS) step in as one of the most mature and common paradigms within databases, offering a structured and systematic approach to handling vast volumes of data.

What is a Relational Database Management System?

At its core, an RDBMS is database software that manages data within a tabular framework, eliminating data redundancy. At a high level, this type of database solution can be thought of as a more complex and organized spreadsheet, where information is neatly categorized into rows and columns. This tabular structure enhances data integrity and facilitates seamless querying and manipulation.

RDBMS solutions leverage the Structured Query Language, more commonly referred to as SQL, a powerful tool for storing, managing, and modifying data. SQL acts as a bridge between users and the database, allowing for executing complex queries and operations with a familiar and easy-to-use syntax.

Within the database market, there are plenty of RDBMS options available. If you've landed on this article, you likely already know that MySQL and MariaDB are two trendy choices within this category, particularly in web application development. These robust platforms have repeatedly proven their mettle, offering a blend of performance, scalability, and user-friendliness. Let's take a deeper look at the history of these two within the RDBMS landscape.

Brief History of MySQL and MariaDB

MySQL's story began in 1995 when MySQL AB, a Swedish company, first released it. Since then, it has become one of the most widely used open-source RDBMS solutions, powering countless websites and applications worldwide.

In 2009, a new chapter unfolded with the birth of MariaDB. It was forked from MySQL by Michael "Monty" Widenius, one of the founders of MySQL AB. This new venture was driven by a vision to create a drop-in replacement for MySQL, incorporating additional features and performance enhancements while remaining true to its open-source roots.

MariaDB continues to evolve, carving its own path in the RDBMS landscape. It is widely recognized for its commitment to community-driven development, emphasis on performance optimization, and compatibility with MySQL, making it an attractive option for those seeking a seamless transition or a feature-rich alternative. Recently, however, MariaDB has encountered some problems with its business finances, resulting in a takeover by private equity.

Ongoing troubles for MariaDB

As of 2024, MariaDB is facing significant challenges. After a poorly received SPAC IPO in 2022, its stock plunged over 90%, leading to two rounds of layoffs in 2023. Essential products, Xpand and SkySQL, were discontinued, with SkySQL returning as an independent company. Financial troubles have strained its relationship with the MariaDB foundation, while Microsoft has dropped MariaDB as a managed service in favor of MySQL. Most recently, news broke that  K1 Investment Management acquired MariaDB — taking the company back to private after being public.

These uncertainties have led to a significant setback for MariaDB in the database market as it struggles to regain stability after going private. Andy Pavlo, a professor from Carnegie Mellon University, wrote a complete breakdown of the database market in 2023 and touched on MariaDB's catastrophic ups and downs.

Overview of MySQL and MariaDB

Diving deeper into both platforms, let's take a look beyond the histories of each and begin to explore their inner workings. This section will look at a brief overview of the two technologies and then at key features and differences.

MySQL Database Overview

MySQL, an open-source RDBMS, has been and remained a cornerstone of web application development. This is partly due to its inclusion in the popular and widely deployed LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP) stack that ran a good chunk of the internet for many years. Its popularity stems from its versatility, reliability, and ease of use. One of MySQL's key advantages is its compatibility with various Linux distributions, making it a natural choice for developers working in Linux environments. MySQL's popularity is further enhanced by its user-friendly MySQL client package, which provides a convenient interface for interacting with the database.

Its widespread adoption is evident in its use by some of the most popular websites and applications globally, including YouTube, GitHub, and Netflix. While Oracle Corporation acquired Sun Microsystems (the then owner of MySQL) in 2010, MySQL continues to be developed and maintained as an open-source project separate from Oracle Database.

MariaDB Overview

Conversely, MariaDB was born out of a desire to preserve and enhance MySQL's legacy. It is essentially a fork of MySQL, carefully crafted to retain its core structure and features while incorporating additional improvements and optimizations.

Like MySQL, MariaDB is modifiable using SQL statements and seamlessly integrates with Linux distributions. However, its defining characteristic lies in its design as a drop-in replacement for MySQL. This means that migrating from MySQL to MariaDB can be achieved with minimal disruption, allowing developers to leverage MariaDB's enhanced features and performance gains without requiring extensive code rewrites. This compatibility extends to table definition files, making the transition from MySQL to MariaDB even smoother.

In essence, MariaDB represents a continuation of MySQL's journey, building upon its solid foundation and pushing the boundaries of what's possible in open-source relational databases.

Key Similarities Between MySQL and MariaDB

While MySQL and MariaDB have distinct identities, they share a common heritage and fundamental similarities contributing to their widespread adoption and effectiveness in web application development. These key similarities include:

• Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS): MySQL and MariaDB adhere to the principles of relational databases, organizing data into tables with defined relationships between them. This structured approach ensures data integrity and facilitates efficient querying and manipulation.

• Structured Query Language (SQL): Both databases utilize SQL as their primary language for data interaction. This allows developers to leverage a standardized and widely understood language for creating, modifying, and retrieving information from their databases.

• Open-Source and Community-Driven: MySQL and MariaDB embrace the open-source philosophy, fostering a vibrant community of developers and users who contribute to their development, provide support, and share knowledge. This collaborative environment ensures continuous improvement and a wealth of resources for those working with these databases.

• Widely Used in Web Applications: Both databases have proven their mettle in the real world, powering countless web applications across various industries and domains. From social media platforms to e-commerce websites, MySQL and MariaDB play a vital role in managing the data that drives these applications.

With this brief comparison in the rearview, let's now examine how these two platforms differ, focusing on key differences in their performance and features.

MariaDB vs. MySQL: Performance comparison

Although both are open-source databases,  MariaDB generally outperforms MySQL in most scenarios. This is due to MariaDB's optimal scalability options and several optimization techniques, including efficient indexing, advanced query optimization, and fast data processing. Benchmarks have shown that MariaDB significantly outperforms MySQL in query performance, making it a strong choice for performance-critical workloads.

One notable advantage of MariaDB is its thread pool mechanism, which allows it to handle up to 200,000 simultaneous connections. This feature is particularly beneficial for scalable applications that rely on heavy concurrent usage. In contrast, MySQL only offers a thread pool plugin as part of the MySQL enterprise edition, limiting its concurrency capacity.

MariaDB shows improved speed in specific areas compared to MySQL, particularly regarding views and handling flash storage through its RocksDB engine. MariaDB also outperforms MySQL in replication tasks.

It's important to note that performance comparisons between MySQL and MariaDB can vary based on specific use cases and configurations. However, recent benchmarks consistently show that MariaDB often outperforms MySQL in query performance and replication tasks.

MariaDB vs. MySQL: Feature differences

Although similar foundationally, MariaDB and MySQL have developed distinct features over time. One notable difference lies in their approach to JSON support. MariaDB stores JSON as true text, providing faster JSON functions than MySQL's binary storage format. This approach allows MariaDB to maintain high performance without the added complexity of binary manipulation.

In terms of storage engines, MariaDB offers a broader range of options. In addition to standard engines like InnoDB and MyISAM, MariaDB includes unique engines like ColumnStore for analytical workloads, RocksDB for improved compression, and CONNECT for accessing remote data sources. These additional engines allow MariaDB users greater flexibility in optimizing their database performance for specific use cases.

Here is a closer look at the specific features and the differences between the two platforms:

Security and Encryption

MySQL Security and Encryption Features

• Employs the validate_password component for enhanced password security.

• Supports encryption for both data at rest and in transit.

• Encryption mechanisms are designed to safeguard data against unauthorized access.

MariaDB Security and Encryption Features

• Offers three password validation plugins for increased security options.

• Provides encryption for data at rest and in transit.

• Encryption features aim to protect sensitive information from unauthorized access.

Data Handling and Analytics

JSON Data Handling in MySQL and MariaDB

• Both MySQL and MariaDB support JSON data handling.

• MySQL stores JSON data as binary objects, while MariaDB stores them as strings.

• MariaDB's JSON handling is generally considered more flexible and customizable.

Analytics Capabilities in MySQL and MariaDB

• MariaDB boasts a dedicated analytics solution called ColumnStore, optimized for handling large datasets.

• MySQL lacks a comparable built-in analytics solution.

• MariaDB's analytics capabilities are generally more robust and scalable.

High Availability and Scalability

MySQL High Availability and Scalability

• Offers various high-availability options like MySQL Cluster and group replication.

• These features aim to ensure continuous availability and minimize downtime amongst MySQL databases.

MariaDB High Availability and Scalability

• MariaDB achieves high availability through Galera Cluster, ensuring that your MariaDB server remains operational even in the face of failures.

• High-availability features focus on continuous availability and downtime reduction.

• MariaDB's scalability is often perceived as more robust and adaptable.

User Authentication and Authorization

MySQL User Authentication and Authorization

• Utilizes the validate_password component for password verification and security.

• Supports user authentication and authorization through SQL commands.

• These features are intended to protect data from unauthorized access.

MariaDB User Authentication and Authorization

• Provides three password validation plugins for enhanced security options.

• Supports user authentication and authorization via SQL commands.

• User authentication and authorization mechanisms aim to prevent unauthorized data access.

Thread Pooling and Connection Management

MySQL Thread Pooling and Connection Management

• Thread pooling is limited to the enterprise edition.

• Connection management focuses on performance and scalability optimization.

• These features contribute to continuous availability and downtime minimization.

MariaDB Thread Pooling and Connection Management

• Thread pooling is available in the community edition.

• Connection management is designed to optimize performance and scalability.

• These features aim to ensure continuous availability and reduce downtime.

Pluggable Storage Engines and Federation

MySQL Pluggable Storage Engines and Federation

• Supports multiple storage engines, including InnoDB, MyISAM, and Memory.

• Pluggable storage engines are intended to enhance performance and scalability.

• Federation features enable access to data across multiple databases.

MariaDB Pluggable Storage Engines and Federation

• Supports multiple storage engines, such as InnoDB, MyRocks, and Aria.

• Pluggable storage engines are designed to optimize performance and scalability.

• Federation features allow access to data from various databases, including Oracle Database.

Temporal Tables and Columnar Storage Format

MySQL Temporal Tables and Columnar Storage Format

• Lacks built-in support for temporal tables and columnar storage format.

• These features are only accessible through third-party plugins.

MariaDB Temporal Tables and Columnar Storage Format

• Offers native support for temporal tables and columnar storage format.

• These features contribute to improved performance and scalability.

• MariaDB's implementation of these features is considered more robust and flexible.

Comparison of MariaDB and MySQL Pros and Cons

Although we covered the various ways each platform handles key features, it also makes sense to do a quick side-by-side comparison at a high level. In the table below, there are a few high-level features compared against each other, including comparing both solutions against SingleStore, a MariaDB and MySQL replacement that supports a wider array of capabilities compared to the others. Here’s a simple breakdown of SingleStore, MySQL, and MariaDB.

A Faster MariaDB with SingleStore

When it comes to core needs in a transactional database, SingleStore outperforms MariaDB in the most important criteria. Let’s dive deeper into these:

• SingleStore’s hybrid row and column storage allows for fast analytical queries on data, making it ideal for real-time data platforms, financial services, and IoT applications. Conversely, MariaDB is primarily designed only for OLTP (Online Transaction Processing) workloads and offers limited capabilities for real-time analytics compared to SingleStore.

• SingleStore uses a distributed, shared-nothing architecture where data is sharded across multiple nodes. This allows for horizontal scaling, high availability, and excellent performance with large datasets (think petabyte scales with trillions of rows). MariaDB traditionally operates as a single-node relational database with vertical scaling. It has added distributed capabilities through MariaDB Xpand, but SingleStore’s distribution is more mature and robust for large-scale, distributed workloads.

• Due to its lock-free architecture and distributed nature, SingleStore efficiently handles high-concurrency workloads, allowing more users to access the database simultaneously without performance degradation. Whereas MariaDB handles concurrency well for transactional workloads, it may struggle with the same level of scale and concurrency that SingleStore is optimized for—especially in mixed workloads.

• SingleStore combines OLTP and OLAP workloads in a single HTAP database, eliminating the need for separate databases for different types of workloads. Since MariaDB is designed primarily for OLTP workloads with limited HTAP capabilities, it is less efficient in running both transactional and analytical queries in the same environment.

• SingleStore has native support for geospatial and time-series data, which is ideal for applications in logistics, finance, IoT, and monitoring. MariaDB does support geospatial data but does not perform as well as SingleStore in handling large-scale geospatial queries and time-series data.

• SingleStore enhances its support for JSON data with SingleStore Kai™, enabling developers to perform real-time analytics on JSON without altering existing MongoDB queries. This allows for 100x faster analytics while maintaining compatibility with MongoDB tools, streamlining the process for developers working with JSON datasets.

• SingleStore has supported vector capabilities since 2017, enabling efficient storage and retrieval of high-dimensional vector data. This functionality allows for advanced applications, including semantic search, recommendation systems, and real-time analytics, making it a versatile choice for modern data-driven solutions.

• SingleStore's new bi-directional integration with Apache Iceberg enables low-latency ingestion and real-time analytics on data stored in Iceberg-based data lakehouses, helping enterprises unlock the potential of "frozen" data for intelligent applications and analytics.

For more particulars, check out this article on additional reasons to migrate from MariaDB to SingleStore. If you're interested in what it takes to migrate MySQL data and workloads over to SingleStore, check out our step-by-step article on how to migrate from MySQL to SingleStore.

Conclusion

Choosing between MariaDB and MySQL can depend highly on the use case, your team's expertise with each platform, and how each platform can fit into your existing architecture. This blog covered various angles to help you decide which solution best fits your application and analytics needs.

We also covered the option of using SingleStore to replace either platform. This allows users to have all of the capabilities of MariaDB and MySQL, plus many additional benefits regarding storage types, performance, and scalability. As a drop-in replacement for either solution, SingleStore allows applications to use it as a primary application database and a performant platform for analytics and other functionalities, such as full-text and vector search capabilities, that require additional infrastructure on different platforms. To try out SingleStore for yourself, sign up for SingleStore Cloud today.