Favorite DB Managment Tool?

[sinious]

What DB management tool do you prefer overall?

Over the years I've mostly used PHPMyAdmin on MySQL DBs. In the last few years I've been tampering with Visual Studio DB projects and got pretty hooked there and then moved over from PHPMyAdmin to MySQL Workbench.

Yes you can be a show pony and say mysql terminal, if that's what you really choose to use. But I'm mostly interested in visual environments for their ability to bring useful schemas into models and visual EER diagrams for their human friendliness.

I'm also not really referring to IDEs that integrate and automate database connections, but tools for directly managing and manipulating databases themselves, the bigger the better. Your favorite?

[Nancy OShea]

I don't know if it's my favorite but it's the most accessible -- phpMyAdmin.

I tried Navicat a long time ago.  It's nice but at the time I couldn't justify its hefty price.

Navicat | Download Navicat 14-day trial versions for Windows, Mac and Linux

Nancy O.

[sinious]

I'm curious, have you tried MySQL Workbench?

MySQL :: MySQL Workbench

[Nancy OShea]

I've seen Rob mention Workbench a few times but I haven't tried it yet.   

Truth is I spend very little time in MySQL.  The majority of my time is spent in the CMSs that populate the MySQL.

Nancy O.

[sinious]

I definitely spend more time there as well but I've been getting more and more custom WP plugin requests lately and that involves quite a bit of DB work for certain types. Sorting out WP's database and understanding how to utilize the information structure has helped me a ton in this aspect. That's where visualization comes in quite handy which Workbench has. Looking at lists of tables and committing the relations to my own personal memory was much easier visually than reading foreign keys all day.

[Rob Hecker2]

I use MySQL workbench and phpMyAdmin. Since I've been working with MySQL I have not really tried anything else except heidiDB. Sometimes I prefer the simplicity of phpMyAdmin to the power of workbench.

[osgood_]

sinious wrote:

What DB management tool do you prefer overall?

Over the years I've mostly used PHPMyAdmin on MySQL DBs. In the last few years I've been tampering with Visual Studio DB projects and got pretty hooked there and then moved over from PHPMyAdmin to MySQL Workbench.

Yes you can be a show pony and say mysql terminal, if that's what you really choose to use. But I'm mostly interested in visual environments for their ability to bring useful schemas into models and visual EER diagrams for their human friendliness.

I'm also not really referring to IDEs that integrate and automate database connections, but tools for directly managing and manipulating databases themselves, the bigger the better. Your favorite?

Sticking with phpMyAdmin for the moment - it works well for my requirements - I see no reason to change. I don't much like deploying anything unless its a real necessity to do so just incase it upsets something else.

[sinious]

MySQL Workbench CE is free, have you given it a try?

I love PHPMyAdmin and because we use a large majority of hosts for our sites which only offer PHPMyAdmin, I don't mind using it at all for most tasks.

However, when I was working on some rather large (dozens+) databases, the visualization tools (EER diagrams to be specific) of DB model data helped clients not only understand what they already had but where I wanted them to move to. It has been not just instrumental in sales but the tables visualized are not just pretty pictures but a true, testable system, ready to implement.

Give it a try!

[Herbert2001]

I agree with Sinuous: PHPMyAdmin is fine for the daily tasks, and is often available through external hosts' control panels. But for visualization purposes and more complex tasks, Workbench is the one I go with. And it is free, which is nice.

[osgood_]

sinious wrote:

MySQL Workbench CE is free, have you given it a try?

I love PHPMyAdmin and because we use a large majority of hosts for our sites which only offer PHPMyAdmin, I don't mind using it at all for most tasks.

However, when I was working on some rather large (dozens+) databases, the visualization tools (EER diagrams to be specific) of DB model data helped clients not only understand what they already had but where I wanted them to move to. It has been not just instrumental in sales but the tables visualized are not just pretty pictures but a true, testable system, ready to implement.

Give it a try!

I looked at it a while ago. I think phpMyAdmin is sufficient for what I need for now, it's pretty simple but the UI is a bit rough around the edges.

[Rob Hecker2]

I've decided to try maridDB (mySQL replacement), and at the same time I am going to take another look at HeidiSQL (phpMyAdmin replacement).

I wonder how many here are using mariaDB instead of mySQL.

[Rob Hecker2]

I upgraded my laptop to mariaDB today. My data driven applications ran fine. PHPmySQL was fine. MySQL Workbench complained but so far seems to work with it fine. I'm using innoDB. I will probably upgrade my main computer on Saturday and if all goes well will upgrade the remote server on Sunday.

[sinious]

Let us know if it keeps working after the upgrade!

[Rob Hecker2]

Let us know if it keeps working after the upgrade!

I have completely switched to mariaDB from mySQL now, and the transition went smoothly.

My reasons for making the switch were

• Although after six years of ownership, Oracle has not yet killed MySQL, but we know there can be no love there
• MariaDB is still 100% compatible with MySQL, but how long will that last? It seems to me now is the time to switch
• GOOGLE, Wikipedia and Mozilla have all switched to mariaDB. Many LINUX packages now bundle it. So industry support for mariaDB is growing

MariaDB and MySQL Workbench are not completely compatible, and we can't expect ORACLE to support a competing product. Navicat has a mariaDB version for $130. PHPmyAdmin works fine with it, but of course I am not yet using any features of mariaDB that are different from mySQL.

[RR456]

Been trying to research for small business annual subscription costing of both MySQL and MariaDB.

It appears once you are conducting commercial activity the MySQL community edition provided in XAMPP should no longer be used (also not recommended for production use anyway).  Thus the purchase of Standard Edition at an annual entry cost of $2,000.00 US dollars MySQL :: MySQL Editions.

MariaDB annual subscription cost for small business is hard to ascertain.  I apologize for the resource, Wikpedia, but it notes:  "MariaDB is a community-developed fork of the MySQL relational database management system intended to remain free under the GNU GPL."  Yet, MariaDB does have MariaDB Enterprise Open Source Database Software MariaDB and somewhere I saw an annual subscription cost of $19,500 US dollars; however, I can't provide the cite link to that currently.

Anyone have small business annual subscription cost information for MariaDB?

[Nancy OShea]

I don't pay directly for PHP or server-side databases since that's all handled by my web host.

Nancy O.

[David_Powers]

RR456 wrote:

Been trying to research for small business annual subscription costing of both MySQL and MariaDB.

It appears once you are conducting commercial activity the MySQL community edition provided in XAMPP should no longer be used (also not recommended for production use anyway).  Thus the purchase of Standard Edition at an annual entry cost of $2,000.00 US dollars MySQL :: MySQL Editions.

You have misunderstood the terms of the licence for the MySQL Community Edition. It is distributed under the GPL Licence, which grants unlimited permission to run the software. The GPL Licence also allows distributors to charge fees. What you're getting with the MySQL Standard Edition is an annual support package. If you don't want/need the support package, you can run the Community Edition for commercial purposes. XAMPP is not recommended for production use because it has very loose security settings, but the components it contains are exactly the same as used on millions of live web servers.

The MariaDB website provides a useful description of the difference between Community and Enterprise editions. The Community Edition focuses on "fast innovation, including both mature, tested enhancements and cutting-edge experimental technologies", whereas the Enterprise edition integrates "the most stable of these advances in a curated, enterprise-grade product, bringing reliability and ease of deployment to customers." In other words, the Community edition is like a public beta; it might have bugs. The Enterprise edition, on the other hand, is meant to be the stable public release.

Most hosting companies are very cautious about updating live servers to the most recent version of open source software. They wait to see if critical bugs surface before committing to updating. It seems as though your experience with XAMPP and MariaDB was a case of XAMPP rushing ahead with buggy versions without thoroughly testing them first.

[RR456]

Thank you David for your very informative discussion on this subject matter.  It is a great help for a beginner such as myself.  Thanks again.

[RR456]

Hey Rob.

Don't know if you saw, but today Apache released its latest XAMPP version and went to MariaDB New XAMPP with MariaDB 

[Rob Hecker2]

Apache released its latest XAMPP version and went to MariaDB

That's good news for the future of MariaDB. Thanks for telling me. I use ZendServer, but I'm glad to hear those using XAMPP will be using MariaDB.

[sinious]

Almost just updated without knowing that. I've been on the frontend lines a bit too long it seems. I know it's a direct branch off MySQL and works the same but honestly I thought there'd be more industry wide information pointing to that change. Thanks for the heads up on that RR456.

MariaDB ~ In a nutshell, anyone have any personal preferences in this databases direction?

[RR456]

sinious,

Wanted to shoot you an update.  Been dealing with MariaDB for about 2 weeks, versions 10.0.17 and 10.1.8.  Both in a XAMPP stack version 5.6.14 where MariaDB 10.0.17 was included.  And then, being so frustrated I downloaded the zip of 10.1.8 and replaced it in the XAMPP stack.  Some of us have discovered a critical problem with regard to User Management.  I don't believe this problem is a function of the db being in a stack or a particular GUI causing the problem since I've used both current versions of PMA and HeidiSQL and the same problem occurs.  Way above my skill set; however, I believe MariaDB has to be compatible with MySQL server or things go horribly wrong.

I'm assuming you have, or soon will have, clients inquiring as to deployment of MariaDB.  As Rob noted, the trend is clearly in that direction; and, performance, as well as, optimal resource usage, because of improved stored engine properties, likely makes MariaDB better from a market performance and budgetary standpoint.  That said, the User Management bug in MariaDB 10.x is this: creating users and then drilling down and assigning them privileges specific to particular databases and/or tables might work when one first creates the user (and that's not a certainty).  But, a reboot and things head south.  Users data is apparently suppose to reside in table db of database MySQL.  Sometimes it's there and on other boot-ups table db is empty.  Or as I say, MariaDB "eats its young".

Obviously the User Management function is a vital component.  No one in their right mind would provide privileges to new users at the global level.

Currently Beltran Rueda, project manager at Bitnami About the XAMPP project, is working on this User Management problem since I'm quite certain they could replicate the bug at Bitnami brought to their attention by myself and another individual.  Thus, I believe they're trying to make MariaDB 10.x compatible enough with MySQL server to properly operate the User Management function.  Currently, MariaDB and MySQL server apparently are not playing nice in this area.  A thread at Apache Friends Support Forum, started October 23rd fully discusses this issue.  On that forum my username is coder1 Apache Friends Support Forum • View topic - Error Accessing "User Accounts" from phpmyadmin

I'm curious if, in your circles, you've heard anything about this bug?  Also, if you have any discussions with your db engineer contacts; we'd all be interested in those observations.

I'd prefer not to move back to MySQL 5.7; but rather, stay with MariaDB 10.x.  And moreover, when Rob makes any observations, I sure as hell listen.

[sinious]

RR456 ~

New to me. Being MariaDB has a 'follow' type branch that waits until the next version and any/all patches released so they can examine and implement them, this should have been a glaringly obvious oversight.

MariaDB has a parallel path, updating core and security with MySQL and their own additions to both on their own, AFTER. So that really surprises me.

I have zero clients interested in the 3-5% real world performance increases to date. My experimenting with Maria will just be myself running random perf tests made in areas that I found problematic previously. None of those have been Users however.

Just let me clarify. I am very interested in MariaDB, but I'd stop short of thinking what you said about MariaDB 10.x being incompatible with MySQL Server, simply because the absolute base is from MySQL itself as a drop in replacement.

After hearing the API was so covetly followed, there may be an implementation desync. I can't imagine this could be so wide spread as affecting general areas Users and privs. I suspect install on this, but I promise I will try it.

[Rob Hecker2]

I don't expect MariaDB to remain in sync with MySQL much longer. My take is that MariaDB has a more promising future than MySQL.

[RR456]

sinious wrote,

After hearing the API was so covetly followed, there may be an implementation desync. I can't imagine this could be so wide spread as affecting general areas Users and privs. I suspect install on this, but I promise I will try it.

It probably was my install since I'm certainly in the beginner class.  Yet, I did find it interesting that Apache was dealing with the same problem of user management in MariaDB 10.0.17 and 10.1.8.  And as of tonight, no discussion of a fix has been put up on the thread Apache Friends Support Forum • View topic - Error Accessing "User Accounts" from phpmyadmin

I was focusing on user management and in particular the behavior of table db.  I did not mean to imply that MariaDB 10.x and MySQL server were incompatible.  I'd been dancing with the user management bug, that at least was in my laptop, for about 10 days; thus, MariaDB 10.x Community Edition was getting rather frustrating.

I did inquire with sales at MariaDB.  The price for a yearly subscription for one production server (i.e. MariaDB Enterprise Edition) is $5,000.  And as David pointed-out, Enterprise Edition is not the same as Community Edition.

The MariaDB sales department noted: MariaDB is an open source database but our MariaDB Enterprise subscription includes things like certified binaries, which is what you would want to rely on for mission critical applications in production.