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Facebook Trapped In MySQL a 'Fate Worse Than Death'

Posted by timothy on from the cake-or-death-or-trapped-in-mysql dept.

wasimkadak writes with this excerpt from GigaOM: "According to database pioneer Michael Stonebraker, Facebook is operating a huge, complex MySQL implementation equivalent to 'a fate worse than death,' and the only way out is 'bite the bullet and rewrite everything.' Not that it's necessarily Facebook's fault, though. Stonebraker says the social network's predicament is all too common among web startups that start small and grow to epic proportions."

4 of 509 comments (clear)

  1. "We're so new" by michaelmalak · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I love the snippets "After all, he explained, SQL was created decades ago before the web, mobile devices and sensors forever changed how and how often databases are accessed" from the article and "We’ve been using stonge age technology to solve problems that didn’t exist 30 years ago." Yes, the problems existed 30 years ago, such as (land-line) telephone billing. I don't know how those problems were solved -- probably with a mainframe and a custom non-SQL database and not a PC running a SQL-based server -- but they were solved.

  2. Successful Troll is Successful by tyler_larson · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Academic purist discovers that one of the most prolific and successful database users in the world is using a system he doesn't approve of. He decides, with no insider knowledge at all, and despite all evidence to the contrary, that they should throw everything away and start over from scratch using a system that he thinks would allow them to see the performance and scalability that they've already achieved.

    Presumably he's tired of Facebook being used as a counter-example to everything he's been preaching.

    --
    "With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine. However, this is not necessarily a good idea...."
    RFC 1925
    1. Re:Successful Troll is Successful by rgmoore · · Score: 5, Insightful

      No, he's not an academic purist; he's a businessman who's selling a product that competes with MySQL. So he's trying to convince web startups to pay a bunch of money for his product rather than rely on free MySQL because he claims it will help them scale better than Facebook. IOW, businessman trashes competitor's product, claims you should buy from him instead. Nothing to see here.

      --

      There's no point in questioning authority if you aren't going to listen to the answers.

  3. looks like facebook is doing just fine... by tommeke100 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If anything, it's a success story for MySQL.