Author: Mike Azevedo, Clustrix
Those scrappy souls who have mastered finding solutions to the tangled messes of databases and their underlying IT infrastructures can be proud of the craft they have honed. It’s quite the challenge to scale databases, particularly those of the MySQL variety, to handle the voluminous mixed workloads seen in many industries today, while maintaining that seamless experience expected by today’s end user.
Yet, over the years DBAs have performed technical gymnastics to keep databases humming while minimizing downtime and transaction errors. And while DBAs and IT support staff deserve a medal for their feats, we’re entering an age where they shouldn’t have to be so clever in dealing with a tangled web of hardware and database fragments.
Unfortunately, DBAs often inherit databases that were chosen in a previous era that had significantly different technical requirements. These products are simply not suited to the increasingly demanding environments characterized by increased bandwidths, more Internet users around the globe and the proliferation of mobile devices. As such, a well thought-out database strategy and architecture that will be sustainable for years to come is essential.
Of course, this is a tough sell. CIOs’ tenures are only so long, and often the big structural challenges get pushed aside in the effort to put out today’s fires. However, there are a lot of companies out there who are getting it right and finding solutions that will allow their DBAs and IT staff to be the caretakers they should be and not the Macgyvers they are often forced to play.