Percona a Drop in Replacement for MySQL

I have a love hate relationship with MySQL. I first discovered and fell in love with it around twelve years ago. I didn't mind that it didn't have stored procedures and sub queries. My first disappointment was when MySQL announced changes to their client license terms around eight years back.

 

Disillusionment occurred when MySQL was acquired by Oracle. Enough has been said about both issues that I don't need to add any more noise. What I should perhaps have done is to move away from MySQL completely, but even thought I have worked with Postgres and several noSQL databases (such as SimpleDB, Couch and Mongo) something always kept pulling me back.

 

That of course brings me to the question Percona. Though I discovered it a while back the reason that I didn't adapt it is because it's a drop in replacement for mysql. I rediscovered it while looking around for a reliable mysql backup system. The 'official' solution, mysql enterprise backup costs USD 5,000 . That's a figure that I am not quite keen to dish out, specially when Percona xtrabackup is free and has more features (see a comparison).

 

Trying to install Percona didn't go too smoothly though.