MySQL to be replaced by Drizzle at RackSpace?

I just read a post on Cloud Computing Journal that suggests that RackSpace will be rolling out Drizzle later this year on their Cloud, and are probably going to replace MySQL in the process.

Drizzle is a cloud-directed, Linux-leaning, stripped-down, hitherto for unsupported, GPL 2 MySQL 6.0 fork that Rackspace is betting will infinitely scale, or at least scale better than MySQL.

From Wikipedia:

Drizzle is a stripped down version of MySQL v6.0 and as such is planned to have many common MySQL features stripped out such as;

• stored procedures
• query cache
• prepared statements
• views
• triggers
• grants
• some non-pluggable storage engines

In their stead Drizzle is doing:

• micro kernel architecture, making Drizzle more modular than MySQL
• more pluggable interfaces, such as for authentication and for logging
• multi-core optimization (compared to MySQL’s potentially lacking multi-core optimization)
• fewer data types
• fewer engines
• less code making for a smaller and potentially more maintainable codebase

Although less of a functional feature and more of a developmental feature, the Drizzle project is being built to remove distinctions between internal and external contributors, allowing for cleaner community involvement.

While this may be better within a Cloud hosting environment in the long term, the short term is filled with questions for the business such as:

• Should I rework my existing code, or just move my site to somebody providing MySQL?
• Will I need to learn new ways of doing things? Should I invest the time?
• Will the people who host websites with me need to make any changes? Will I lose these clients? How can I make sure they transition effectively?
• Will my third-party developers embrace this change, or will they force me to look for alternative hosting?

Since Drizzle is a MySQL fork, the basic elements of coding should remain the same, but the removal of elements such as stored procedures – a mainstay of database developers – could have far-reaching implications for existing code.

I will be watching the developments of this story as it unfolds as it could affect a lot of people (my company included).

What do you think? What are your views and concerns?

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