In case you've been asleep for the past 5 years, MySQL is the world's most popular open-source database server. Its virtues include...

MySQL Benefits

• It is free. (Realistically, you would be foolish to bet your organization on MySQL without purchasing a license, at about 1/10th the cost of an equivalent MS or Oracle license).
• It does not do things exactly in the same way as the big-iron databases (Oracle, SQL Server, DB/2, Sybase). If you're porting, be prepared to rewrite rather than revise.
• It is extremely fast. If you're coming from Oracle, DB/2 or SQL Server, the speed of MySQL will dazzle you.
• My SQL lacks many of the comfortable pillows provided by Oracle, SQL Server et. al. Stored procedures, triggers, views -- none of these are supported in the current release. There are ways around this, but know this up front before advancing one step further.

Subjects of Interest...

Port from xDB to MySQL

We have ported dozens of databases from SQL Server, Sybase, Oracle, FoxPro and Access. to MySQL. We know what can go wrong. We have translation tools that automatically convert between supported column types.

 

We know what is involved, what won't port, how to write scripts to get around the lack of translation, and so on. We have been there and done that.

 

Modeling

The right way to port is via a data-modeling tool. We have several favourities depending on source and target and platform.

 

Database Integration

In this era of downsizing, a common requirement is to integrate different databases from different sources on different servers designed by different developers of varying levels of expertise. Resolving/dissolving all this disparate information can be an overwhelming task.

 

ADO can be very useful in this situation. We can interrogate the stakeholders (at this level, the application developers rather than the end users), and discover what they require to support their existing applications.

 

ADO can build the bridge database to which all the islands connect. Your in-house developers can concentrate upon their app-specific requirements, assuming that ADO will deliver the data they require.

 

Test Suites

ADO can provide a collection of test data and test transactions, so that you can test your application without human intervention. While your developers sleep, 1000 transactions will be added to your test database, having qualities q, r and s. You can then use SQA Robot or its equivalent to generate the reports that should reflect said inserts.