How MySQL Powers Web 2.0

An overarching goal of Web 2.0 application design is for the system to harness collective intelligence with network effects so that the ownership of unique and difficult to reproduce data can be generated. Obviously, at the core of this story is the database which will store and dispense the data. The importance of data within the context of Web 2.0 cannot be overstated.

There are many reasons why MySQL is being leveraged time and again by established web companies and new emerging Web 2.0 companies. The most glaring one is cost.

Fail Fast – Scale Fast

“Web 2.0 has been summed up as “Fail Fast, Scale Fast”. The point being made is that the operational environment will be a key differentiator in the success of Web 2.0’s adoption, especially in the enterprise. These services are required to fail over and scale transparently without any disruption in service to the consumer. The ability to handle explosive growth in user volume, transactions and storage capacity is critical to delivering services on a web-based platform. To this effect, MySQL addresses these types of issues via Scale Out, MySQL Network and an ecosystem of partner solutions.

Scale Out vs. Scale Up

Scale-out using MySQL enables organizations to cost-effectively solve database capacity issues that result from increased traffic and transaction volumes. In particular, scale-out with MySQL provides organizations with the following advantages:

MySQL is widely used for the following Scale-Out architectures:

• Web Scale-Out to improve the performance, scalability, and availability of web applications such as e-commerce, content management, session management, search, and security.
• Data Warehousing Scale-Out to improve the performance and availability of traditional data warehousing (e.g. centralized data warehouse and data marts) as well as real-time Operational Data Stores.

Virtually any application that has a rapidly growing volume of users, transactions or data may be a candidate for more cost-effective deployment using open source technology combined with a scale-out architecture.