Replication Future

The current replication features are very robust. The features are bundled in the standard distribution (unlike most commercial databases) and have been used extensively in high-volume environments. Users you will have heard of include Slashdot, Yahoo!, and Google.

Having said that, the features are still relatively new, and there are some rough edges. As you have already seen, the process for setting up a new slave with a snapshot is not very user -friendly. The treatment of MyISAM tables and InnoDB tables is not consistent.

In general, you need to approach replication with a degree of care. The feature works and works well, but can be tricky to initially set up because different systems and setups vary. We generally recommend that you use the newest available versions of MySQL. If you run into problems, we suggest that you try reading through the MySQL mailing list archives or visiting the discussion forum at our Web site for more ideas at

www.lukelaura.com

Some of these problems will be solved when MyISAM gets a hot backup tool like InnoDB's. Other features planned for future MySQL versions include multimastering ”the capability of a slave to mirror two masters and resolve conflicts ”and built-in failover and load-balancing features. Currently, you need to handle failover and load balancing in your application or buy a third-party clustering tool, such as Emic Application Cluster from www.emicnetworks.com.

There are some replication- related settings in the options file that are currently unimplemented. These include options for setting up SSL connections between slaves and masters. If your replication is done over a public network, this will make operating securely easier. Currently, if you want to make secure connections, you need to use another product, such as Stunnel.