Book review: High Availability MySQL Cookbook
Posted by Patrice Guay in 
Under the CentOS distribution, a MySQL database service can be transformed into an highly available service using different approaches. High Availability MySQL Cookbook presents them:
- MySQL Cluster
- MySQL replication
- Shared storage
- Block-level replication
Backup solution
Having a process to backup your website sensitive information is a good practice to preserve your data and maintain its integrity. A backup is a copy of your data that can be used to restore the original data after a data loss caused by hardware failure, accidental deletion, data corruption, etc.
Control panel
A control panel is an essential feature for most lower-end web hosting solutions. Generally, shared web hosting packages will provides you with client-side access through a control panel installed on the physical server. A virtual private server (VPS) or a dedicated server could be equipped of a control panel to completely control the server.
A comparison of web hosting solutions
Choosing the right hosting solution is a complex and critical decision for your business. I present two diagrams to guide you in this decision-making process. The first diagram outlines the hosting provider’s responsibility versus the customer’s responsibility. The second one is a summary of the strengths and weaknesses of the different web hosting solutions.
RAID technology
RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) is a technology allowing a higher level of storage reliability and performance from disk-drive components via the technique of arranging them into arrays. A RAID array is a configuration with multiple physical disks set up to use a RAID architecture like RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, etc. While the RAID array distributes data across multiple disks, it is considered as a single disk by the server operating system. The various RAID architectures are designed to meet at least one of these two goals:
- increase data reliability
- increase Input/Output (I/O) performance
Database server clustering
A cluster is a group of two or more independent servers operating as a single system. A database server cluster could help you achieve high availability or improve I/O throughput for your database service. In this article, we discuss the different approaches to database clustering for MySQL and MSSQL.
Web server clustering
A cluster is a group of two or more independent servers operating as a single system. Using a cluster rather than a single server as powerful as the sum of the independent servers offers benefits:
- Increase the availability
- Facilitate the rise in system load
- Allow for load distribution
- Allow the use of low-cost servers
Colocation hosting
Colocation is a hosting option for those who want the benefits of a web hosting provider (robust network infrastructure, electrical power redundancy, cooling equipment, etc.) and still own their server hardware. The upfront cost of a colocation server is higher than the one for a dedicated server. However, the monthly fee is lower in colocation since you do not have to pay the server hardware location fee.
Homemade web hosting
Homemade web hosting is a viable alternative to making business with a web hosting company. Building your web solution with your own equipment and network connectivity requires system administration skills and may result in lower uptime for your web solution if your hosting infrastructure is not adequate. However, on the long term, you may save a lot of money.
Dedicated web server
A dedicated web server is a physical server on which you have a total control of the resources. The CPU, memory and disk IO characteristics of your web server are directly related to your choice of hardware at purchase time. As as result, the performance of a dedicated server is highly predictable. The performance of a web site running on a developer workstation will be similar to the performance of a dedicated web server with equivalent specifications.