Mysql entry-level series: update MySQL database service _ MySQL

Mysql entry-level series: the first release of MySQL database service to be updated is version 3.11.1. Currently, the 3.22 series stable edition and 3.23 series development edition are popular. The stable version number is always smaller than the development version number. After 3.23 is stable, 3.24 will be used as the development series. MySQL developers seem to work around the clock, and version updates are quite frequent (several times a year ). Both the stable version and the development version release the latest version. The speed of development in progress brings the problem to the MySQL administrator: Should you upgrade your existing MySQL installation when the new version appears. This section provides some guidance to help you make this decision.

The first thing we should do when a new version appears is to find out what is different from the previous version. Check the appendix "change description" in the MySQL Reference Manual to learn about these differences. Ask yourself the following questions:

Have you ever encountered a new version fix problem in the current version?

Do you want additional features in the new version?

Has the performance improved for some types of operations you are using?

If the answer to all these questions is no, there is no need to force upgrade. If all the answers are positive, you may need to continue the next step. In this case, you should wait for a few days to check the MySQL mail list to see if there are any reports about using the new version.

Some other factors that can help you make a decision are as follows:

The stable version releases usually fix existing errors and have few new features. Generally, the upgrade risk in the stable version series is lower than that in the development version series (of course, if you are running the development version series server, you may not care about this risk at all ).

If you upgrade MySQL, you may also need to upgrade other programs created using the MySQLC client library. For example, after MySQL is upgraded, you need to re-establish the PHP, Apache, and Perl DBD: mysql module, connect new client libraries to those programs (this is required when all MySQL-related DBI and PHP scripts start dumping the core after you upgrade MySQL ). Rebuilding these programs is not a great deal, but if you want to avoid it, you 'd better not do it on MySQL. If you use a static Connection program instead of a dynamic connection program, the possibility of this problem will be significantly reduced. However, the demand for system memory will increase.

If you are still not sure whether to upgrade, it is always possible to test the new server independently of the current server. You can run the new server in parallel with the finished server, or install the new server on another server for testing. If different machines are used, it is easy to perform independent maintenance between servers. If no other one is used for testing

You can run a new server on the finished machine. In this case, different parameter values (such as the installation location, data directory, and the network port and socket that the server can connect to the ship) must be used to run the new server.

In either case, you may use data copies from an existing database to test the new server.

If an upgrade decision is made, check whether there are instructions on the special steps required for the upgrade in the "change description" Appendix of the MySQLR reference manual. Usually not, but in summary it is best to check.

Do not be afraid to use the development release

You may not like to use your finished database to use the developed release, but I encourage you to at least try to use a separate test server, or use your finished database backup. The more people try new releases, the more helpful they will find errors. For some database products, it is terrible to find errors. For MySQL, error reporting is an important factor in promoting development, because developers can make actual corrections based on issues reported by the user group.