SkySQL, the MariaDB MySQL fork company, isn't just for open-source database management system (DBMS) experts anymore. With the release of its MariaDB Enterprise product, SkySQL is going straight for Oracle's MySQL enterprise customers.

MariaDB Enterprise is built on top of open-source MariaDB Server and Galera Cluster software. It enables users to provision a cluster of separate database servers in minutes. MySQL claims that, MariaDB Enterprise helps "users manage and monitor their clustered database resources with an intuitive dashboard."

Matt Aslett, 451 Research's Research Director for Data Management and Analytics, said in a statement that, "We are seeing growing adoption of both MariaDB as a drop-in replacement for MySQL, as well as Galera Cluster's synchronous replication capabilities. With MariaDB Enterprise, SkySQL gives MariaDB and Galera adopters the confidence of commercial support as well as monitoring and management functionality, without compromising the commitment to open source."

Aslett's right. Not that long ago, MySQL, acquired by Oracle as part of its Sun buyout, was the open-source DBMS. Heck, the LAMP software stack that powers most of the Internet Websites stands for Linux, Apache, MySQL, Perl/PHP/Python.

Things have changed.

Google has replaced MySQL with MariaDB for some of its work. Red Hat is making MariaDB its default DBMS . The other major business Linux distribution, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES), is also expected to switch to MariaDB .

The real key to MariaDB replacing MySQL is in Aslett's phrase, "confidence of commercial support." It's one thing for Linux and DBMS experts to pull out MySQL and put MariaDB in its place, it's another for companies that just want a fast, reliable DBMS with technical support. While technically using MariaDB instead of MySQL isn't a big deal, companies need to know that they can have the corporate backup and support they need to base their businesses on MariaDB. That's what SkySQL is giving them now.

To be exact, "MariaDB Enterprise is sold as a renewable one year subscription, which includes up to 24x7 coverage, all maintenance updates and patches, and quick access to the experienced support team at SkySQL."

This first release isn't for everyone. In the MariaDB Enterprise FAQ, SkySQL states, "The first release of MariaDB Enterprise has a very specific focus on simplifying the deployment and management of high availability [HA] clusters. It includes a set of management tools and an [application programming interface (API)] with which you can easily provision, monitor, and manage a cluster of MariaDB server nodes configured to use the high availability Galera library for multi-master, synchronous replication.

In short, for now MariaDB Enterprise is a service offering for data-centers, not just say a few Web front-end servers.

The pricing reflects this as well. "MariaDB Enterprise is offered on a per-server yearly subscription basis. Because this is a product designed to deliver high availability through replication, your database cluster must have a minimum of 3 nodes. Thus, pricing for a MariaDB Enterprise Subscription starts at 3 systems for 15,000€ or $19,500." There's also other subscription options, but you'll need to contact SkySQL's sales team for details.

Sound expensive? Have you priced Oracle's HA options recently? SkySQL's making no bones about it. They want your Oracle HA MySQL business and they'll make it worth your time to switch.

Look out Oracle, the MariaDB vs. MySQL enterprise DBMS fight is on.

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