MariaDB is one of the most popular open-source databases. It is managed by the MariaDB Foundation. How the original developers of MySQL managed to pull the rabbit out of the hat by repeating its success is an inspiring story. In this article, you’ll learn why MariaDB has put its trust in Seravo and how MariaDB came to life and became the success that it is today.
High Profile Comes with High Expectations
For MariaDB Foundation it is important that the MariaDB.org server environment is easily scalable, as it receives on average 8 million HTTP requests per month. Also, during announcements and new releases, there can be very high peaks of traffic.
It is understandable that security is also an important factor when we talk about MariaDB. As the MariaDB Server sits deep in the webserver supply chain, there are many attackers that aim to breach the security of the MariaDB release systems, including the MariaDB.org website itself.
It would be very tempting for attackers to get their backdoors inside the MariaDB binaries that are downloaded by millions of users. MariaDB.org has been running the public Hacker One bounty program since August 2018 which has verified that despite a lot of dedicated attempts to find security flaws, nobody has been able to find anything serious on the site itself or the underlying server environment.
Seravo Serves MariaDB on All Fronts
Whether it’s a question of managing high-volume traffic or taking care of server security, Seravo has proven to be a reliable partner, living up to expectations set by MariaDB Foundation. The same server performance and security measures come as a standard for all Seravo customers.
What makes MariaDB a special customer for us is the fact that the database is one of the cornerstones that our platform is built on. So, in turn, it’s only natural that MariaDB is one of the many open-source projects that the Seravo staff contributes to.
Seravo’s servers are set up using a developer’s mindset. The shadow clones allow for easy development, testing and showcasing the result to the end-user. The documentation is spot on for ensuring a quick and painless transition from staging to production. Our downtime was less than one minute when finally going live.
Vicențiu Ciorbaru, Senior Software Developer, MariaDB Foundation
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Story of Two Databases
Once upon a time in the Northern part of the World, a baby girl named My was born. A few years later the family was blessed with another baby, her younger sister Maria. Their father was none other than the legendary Finnish IT entrepreneur named Monty Widenius, the creator of the renowned databases MySQL and MariaDB, namesakes of his two daughters.
Monty started developing MySQL way before its release under a dual license in 1995. MySQL grew out to be a very successful project, competing with databases from large companies like Oracle, IBM, and Microsoft. To stay in the game, getting investors involved was needed. Without financial backing, it would not have been possible to grow and compete at this level.
This put MySQL to the path where eventually in 2008 it was sold to Sun Microsystems, whom Monty considered to be a good steward for MySQL, and still does to this day. Fast forward two years and Sun Microsystems was in turn acquired by one of the largest software companies in the world, Oracle Corporation. Oracle had been one of the primary competitors of MySQL – with a very different mentality to the open-source world – and as the new owner of the Sun Microsystems, it now had full control of MySQL.
It’s very hard to succeed and it is even harder to repeat it.
Monty Widenius on the success of MariaDB following MySQL
Monty felt the need to step back into the ring as the world of open-source needed something to balance the game. This is the point where he decided to fork MySQL. He got most of its core developers and team to create a faster and improved database that would always remain free under the GNU General Public License.
With a great team behind him and the guidance of a purpose-driven vision, MariaDB grew out to be as successful as her older sister MySQL. Prominent MariaDB users include companies like ServiceNow, DBS Bank, Google, Mozilla, and the Wikimedia Foundation. The Foundation guarantees that there is a global contact point for collaboration and that the community can always rely upon MariaDB Server.
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