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What is the difference between MariaDB and MySQL?

Created on 2025-03-19 14:55:03
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MariaDB and MySQL are both relational database management systems (RDBMS) that are widely used in web applications and other software systems. However, there are several differences between them:

  1. Origin and Ownership:

    • MySQL: Originally developed by Michael Widenius and David Axmark, MySQL was later acquired by Sun Microsystems, which was then acquired by Oracle Corporation. Oracle now offers MySQL under the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.
    • MariaDB: MariaDB is a community-developed fork of MySQL, created by the original developers of MySQL, Michael Widenius and others, after Oracle's acquisition. It is designed to remain open-source and free under the GNU General Public License.

  2. Licensing:

    • MySQL: While the original MySQL is open-source, Oracle offers both community and commercial editions. The commercial edition has additional features and support.
    • MariaDB: MariaDB is fully open-source and does not have a commercial edition. It is maintained by the MariaDB Corporation Ab and the MariaDB community.

  3. Features and Performance:

    • MySQL: Offers a wide range of features, including support for various storage engines (like InnoDB, MyISAM), replication, and partitioning.
    • MariaDB: Includes most of the features of MySQL but also adds some new ones, such as improved performance optimizations, additional storage engines (like Aria, TokuDB), and better support for parallel query execution.

  4. Compatibility:

    • MySQL: MariaDB is designed to be highly compatible with MySQL, allowing for easy migration from MySQL to MariaDB with minimal changes to existing applications.
    • MariaDB: While it aims to maintain compatibility, there might be slight differences in behavior or features between the two systems, especially as they evolve independently.

Example: If you have a web application that uses MySQL, you can generally switch to MariaDB without major modifications to your database schema or SQL queries. However, you might need to adjust configurations or update some drivers to ensure full compatibility.

For cloud-based solutions, Tencent Cloud offers TDSQL-C for MySQL/MariaDB, which is a cloud-native, distributed relational database service compatible with MySQL and MariaDB protocols. This service provides high availability, scalability, and security features, making it suitable for various applications.