Open source server-based databases – a viable economic choice?

The choice of server-based databases has never been so interesting! As a champion of the open source movement Jonathan Westlake continually speculates about the open source database market and 2009 was particularly rich with events.

I use a number of open source offerings for my various University database modules but primarily the MySQL database for teaching/advising on server-based database development and administration. The appeal is the low cost approach and the use of MySQL as part of a Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP (LAMP) platform where the database supports a web front end.

More recently, I have also looked at the PostgreSQL and Firebird open source alternatives (links at the end of this column) as an alternative to MySQL given the uncertainty over MySQL’s future. MySQL can be considered as an enterprise database as it has most the administration features (eg transaction handling such as rollback) common in proprietary products such as Oracle.

During 2009 we have had the added spice in that MySQL may now come under the umbrella of Oracle via the impending takeover of Sun Microsystems (awaiting European approval as at 14th Dec, 2009). Recent statistics indicate that open source server-based database use is rising and based on my personal experience I suggest the pros and cons include the following:

Pro

- Zero licence costs;

- Reduced maintenance charges;

- Open source products are now well established;

- MySQL often offered for web-hosting accounts.

Cons

- Mission critical or non-mission critical usage? Should an open source product be used for mission critical applications?

In conclusion, is MySQL now under threat from Oracle? Recent news suggests that Oracle has made reassurances about the future of MySQL as part of gaining final approval for the takeover of Sun from the European Commission.

Perhaps Oracle and MySQL (and any other open source database offerings) are different ‘horses for courses’ and as such represent choice for a business looking to service their database needs across their IT infrastructure.  The future of the server database market has never been more competitive and hopefully the European Commission will ensure that the choice remains with the business user and no one database vendor dominates.

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