“DBAs and developers need solutions that help them manage their MySQL servers efficiently and allow them to identify performance issues before they become expensive, time-consuming problems,” said Tomas Ulin, director, MySQL Development, Oracle.

MySQL is one of the most widely-used database servers on the Web, and most web hosting providers offer it. While the underlying code for the database software is free and open source, there is also a commercially licensed version. MySQL was owned by Sun Microsystems until Oracle recently bought Sun and all of its software products.

Source: MarketWatch

Among the most likely candidates to compete with Linux for the title of “Server King” are Solaris and BSD. Solaris was originally produced by Sun Microsystems, which has since been acquired by Oracle. One might consider the future of this OS as uncertain, but a free and open source version, OpenSolaris, ensures that the community can keep it alive even if Oracle does not.

BSD, originally created at the University of California in Berkeley is the primary Linux competitor in the server market, with several variants of its own that are similar to the Linux distribution model. Some of the more common include FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD. OpenBSD in particular is known for its security-oriented development, and the creators of it are also responsible for OpenSSH, the secure shell server and client. In the coming weeks, we will look at both of these operating systems and see how they stack up against Linux.

Photo Source: Flickr

Apache – This is the most widely used and the one we have spent the most time covering. It is free and open source and runs on nearly every platform available. It is released under the Apache license.

Microsoft IIS – As Microsoft’s proprietary web server, it only comes with and works on Windows. If for some reason you have to run this but do not have Windows, you will have to consider virtualization.

Sun Java System Web Server – This is Sun’s proprietary web server technology that is primarily intended for Sun appliances. Nevertheless, it is cross-platform, and Sun recently opened some of its code under a BSD license.

Ngnix – This is a lightweight web server that runs on both Unix and Windows machines. It has become the fourth most popular HTTP server and is available under a BSD-style license.

Lighttpd – This lightweight HTTP server is designed to take on heavy loads while maintaining a good balance, low memory and CPU usage. It powers YouTube, Wikipedia, and many other high-traffic sites. It is free and open source under a BSD style license.

Photo: Flickr

One of the first things you will want to do with a new OpenSolaris dedicated server would be to install software. The command for installing packages is “pkg”. For example, if you wanted to install mysql, you would type from the command line:

pfexec pkg install SUNWmysql

To install the complete PHP, MySQL, and Apache stack, install the meta package called “amp”.

pfexec pkg install amp

The same command “pkg install” can be used for upgrading packages, and it will automatically upgrade any of the packages dependencies as well. For more information about installing packages in OpenSolaris, see the Sun website.

As the setting of Sun Microsystems nears and the company prepares to be absorbed into Oracle, Sun is wheeling and dealing to make sure its server hardware survives the acquisition. IBM and HP have been busy offering Sun customers deals to leave their hardware and Unix-like operating system, Solaris for their “more reliable” alternatives.

Sun is firing back with its own series of deals. Sun is offering up deals for servers running Sparc64-VII processors. If you buy one of these quad-core servers, they throw in the chassis for free and a 20 percent trade-in allowance. According to them, this could save you $600,000, although there are no public prices available for these “big iron” servers. They are also offering deals on many of their smaller servers, including ones running on Opteron Instanbul processors.

Sun Microsystems is known for its Sparc hardware as well as software ranging from the MySQL database server to Java. Recently, Sun’s shareholders voted to approve a deal that will hand over the company to Oracle. The media and Web have circulated with speculation about the future of both its hardware and software.

Source: The Register
Photo: Flickr

Our previous reports on this developing story posed questions about the future of several key web technologies, including MySQL and Java, both Sun products. Oracle has now created a nice little empire for itself, and fears that it will fracture or dissolve its new software acquisitions might be unfounded. Many large and small to medium sized businesses (SMB) rely on both MySQL for web applications, while others rely on Java and Sun’s server hardware for their websites.

MySQL database software is the third leg of the famous LAMP stack, which includes Linux, Apache HTTP Server, and PHP scripting language. Accoding to its website, over 100 million copies of the software have been downloaded or distributed. It is a favorite among web hosts and website owners alike. MySQL is available under multiple licenses, including free and open source models. Oracle has long been a database leader, offering a range of proprietary solutions.

Talk has already surfaced that Oracle will split the company, spinning off or selling parts of it. HP is taking advantage of the situation by providing support and guidance for those wishing to keep their current data center setups, while moving to HP support — and eventually their systems. They are also offering 50 to 85 percent discounts on HP-UX 11i OS if they trade in their Solaris setups.

The three major software components of Sun’s arsenal are all free and open source: Solaris, MySQL, and Java, so HP and other server vendors are no strangers to them. Sun has also had long-standing relationships with other companies that needed to support its SPARC architecture based hardware. There is little doubt that HP will not be the only suitor, with IBM, Novell, Redhat, and others all seeing an opportunity.

Source: eWeek
Photo: Flickr

The survey monitored some 238,027,855 sites over the last month. It tracked a wide variety of things, including server platform market share and the number of websites hosted by these servers, which increased dramatically.

More servers are running Apache than any other platform with other industry players like Sun and Microsoft making very little headway in catching up. One platform, nginx, did climb 1%, mainly because it is used by blog hosts like WordPress, which have seen an explosion in users recently.

Apache is so popular because it is free, open-source, and easy to customize for use in a variety of scenarios. Chances are very high your host is running it.

Photo: Flickr

As of today, the deal with Oracle and Sun is not finalized, but many of those who rely on MySQL as a free and open source database solution are wondering what it means for free software when its copyright changes hands. Even high-traffic web sites such as Flickr, Wikipedia, Google, Facebook, and YouTube rely on MySQL, and most web hosting companies offer it as one of their database options.

The truth is that, unlike similar situations with proprietary software vendors, users of MySQL have nothing to fear. The current version of MySQL is and always will be protected under the GNU General Public License. It will always be free. What that means is that even if Oracle or whatever company eventually ends up with it, decided to change it, privatize it, or even stop developing it, the source code could be take by another organization or by the community of developers and turned into another product. The worst that can happen is that the trademark name “MySQL” ceases to exist. Aside from that, we can all sleep easily, even after Sun falls below the horizon.