A Message For MySQL Galera Cluster Users: Our Commitment To Your High Availability

In an ever-evolving technology landscape, clarity and commitment are paramount. With MariaDB’s recent acquisition of Codership, the creators of Galera Cluster, we want to provide a clear path forward for users who depend on high availability. 

By bringing the architects of Galera Cluster under the same roof as our own database experts, we are not just preserving this essential technology – we are fully investing in the future of the Galera Cluster technology.

A Clear Path Forward for MySQL Galera Users

For every user of MySQL Galera Cluster, this move is our pledge: your high-availability infrastructure has a secure and innovative home. We will continue to provide essential updates and security patches for your existing versions of MySQL Galera Cluster.

As we look to the future, we are focusing our innovation and new feature development exclusively on MariaDB Galera Cluster. This allows our engineering team, which now includes the Galera Cluster engineering team, to accelerate the delivery of more powerful and advanced clustering features. We are committed to maintaining the existing MySQL Galera Cluster releases series with ongoing updates. However, going forward, all new features and capabilities will be available in the MariaDB Galera Cluster versions only. 

To ensure future compatibility and access to the latest innovations, we recommend migrating to MariaDB Galera Cluster. This path provides the most secure, stable, and feature-rich platform for your high-availability needs.

Migration Path to MariaDB Galera Cluster

For users who wish to leverage these new capabilities, we have been working on creating straightforward migration paths to MariaDB Galera Cluster:

Immediate Migration Path: For those ready to migrate now, our documentation provides a complete guide to the process.  The migration involves setting up a new MariaDB Galera Cluster and establishing replication from your existing MySQL Galera Cluster. This is followed by a switchover to the new MariaDB Galera Cluster, which requires a period of planned downtime to ensure data consistency. 

For detailed instructions, please visit the official Galera Cluster migration guide.

Future Seamless Migration: To make this transition as seamless as possible, our engineering team is developing a major new capability: a direct, in-place upgrade from MySQL Galera Cluster to MariaDB Galera Cluster binaries. The goal is to allow you to migrate by replacing the existing binaries, which will dramatically simplify the process.

We are actively working on this new upgrade path. As it becomes ready for release, we will provide a comprehensive migration package.

The MariaDB Advantage

Beyond the roadmap for Galera Cluster, migrating to MariaDB Server offers broader strategic advantages for your data platform. The transition is seamless, designed to leverage your existing MySQL skills and tools to ensure high compatibility with minimal disruption.

By choosing MariaDB you’ll unlock several advantages:

• More Innovative Features: Gain access to a richer feature set than MySQL, with capabilities like our open-source native vector search, advanced JSON functions and temporal tables for historical data.
• Architectural Flexibility: Leverage our pluggable storage engines to efficiently handle diverse workloads – from transactional to analytical – all in one database.
• True Open Source: Join a truly open-source platform – created by the original developers of MySQL – that is free from vendor lock-in.
  

Learn more about the MariaDB advantages here.

We understand change is difficult but we believe that consolidating future development efforts to MariaDB is ultimately beneficial to the entire Galera Cluster ecosystem. Under MariaDB, we are ensuring Galera Cluster continues to receive the level of innovation and advancements it deserves. 

The future of your high-availability clusters is secure with MariaDB. Stay tuned for further  announcements. 

Need help with migrating?

If you have immediate questions or want to discuss your specific migration strategy, please don’t hesitate to contact us.