MariaDB
MariaDB is a fork of MySQL, created by the original developers of MySQL. It is guaranteed to stay open source. It lists features that MySQL doesn't have, or adds them faster.
When to Use
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MySQL Compatible: Drop-in replacement for MySQL.
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Open Source: If you prefer GPL over Oracle's dual license.
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Advanced Features: Flashback, Sequences, Dynamic Columns (NoSQL), Spider Engine (Sharding).
Quick Start
Same as MySQL usually.
-- System-Versioned Tables (Time Travel) CREATE TABLE t ( x INT, PERIOD FOR SYSTEM_TIME (ts_start, ts_end) ) WITH SYSTEM VERSIONING;
-- Query history SELECT * FROM t FOR SYSTEM_TIME AS OF TIMESTAMP '2024-01-01 00:00:00';
Core Concepts
Storage Engines
MariaDB supports many more engines out of the box than MySQL:
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Aria: Crash-safe replacement for MyISAM.
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ColumnStore: For analytics (Columnar storage).
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Spider: For database sharding.
Galera Cluster
Synchronous multi-master replication. Available in MariaDB by default.
Best Practices (2025)
Do:
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Use Vector Search (2025): MariaDB Enterprise 2025 adds native vector search for AI RAG apps.
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Use Thread Pooling: Enabled by default in MariaDB (unlike safe MySQL), handling high connection counts efficiently.
Don't:
- Don't assume 100% MySQL parity: While mostly compatible, new JSON functions and optimizers diverge. Check the specific version docs (11.x).
References
- MariaDB Knowledge Base