Enterprise cloud adoption is growing fast, thanks to extreme cloud scalability and the opportunity to balance cost and performance. One popular cloud driver is hosting SQL databases in the cloud. Let's take a closer look at how MySQL and the Azure cloud come together.
With Azure, MySQL server workloads can run in a hosted virtual machine infrastructure as a service (IaaS). With this service, you can run MySQL Server inside a fully managed virtual machine (VM) backed by Azure NetApp Files on the Azure cloud platform. All recent versions and editions of MySQL can be installed on an IaaS virtual machine, and you retain full control over their MySQL OS and database software.
The MySQL database platform enables high availability and dynamic scaling, which lets you easily adjust to changing user needs. Strong security and compliance add to Azure’s offering, and upfront pricing models have no hidden costs.
Azure NetApp Files is a one-stop storage solution for cloud customers who are looking to run MySQL databases in the cloud. With Azure NetApp Files, you can run a high-performance database with low latency and maximum data protection. ANF is built on NetApp ONTAP software-defined storage, which boosts performance and data protection for enterprise-level MySQL applications on Windows and Linux.
ANF is a fully managed cloud service with full Azure portal integration and access via REST API, CLI, or PowerShell. With ANF, you can seamlessly migrate and run your MySQL database applications in Azure without purchasing or managing storage infrastructure. ANF customers access ANF support through existing Azure agreements, with no up-front costs or separate support terms.
Let’s take a look at a few of the major benefits of running MySQL on Azure VMs with Azure NetApp Files:
Let’s break down the details on ANF performance, resilience, fast copy, high availability and durability, security, and simplified migration.
MySQL database workloads are latency-sensitive. ANF boosts performance in Azure with sub-millisecond response times via adjacent VMs, which drives transactional performance over 460k IOPS for a single volume. Throughput-sensitive applications can perform up to 4.5GiB/s throughput on Azure.
NetApp SnapshotTM technology enables exceptional resilience in ANF. Snapshot copies act as logical backups to enable rapid backup and revert with no downtime. ANF takes seconds to create a snapshot, and the tiny block size of 4KB stores unique data. You pay storage consumption costs only for new writes, which means you can cost-effectively store thousands of snapshots. You can create snapshots manually or on a schedule.
Azure NetApp Files creates complete copies of database volumes, and backs them up for simplified copy management. This allows DevOps to easily copy database files without compromising production databases or filling up storage capacity with outdated copies. The extremely fast operation enables DevOps to work faster and more accurately for a quicker time to market.
ANF’s redundant network paths, failover, and advanced data protection ensure high availability and uptime. Azure adds to availability by guaranteeing 99.99% connectivity for multiple instances. ANF also enables eleven 9’s of data durability, protecting data and data integrity against drive failures and storage media errors.
Azure NetApp Files is purpose-built for Azure security standards and compliance certifications. ANF provides exacting security features with FIPS-140-2-compliant data encryption at rest, role-based access control (RBAC), Active Directory authentication for SMB, and secure export policies for network-based access control lists. ANF also enhances data security in virtual private clouds by presenting mount points instead of a public IP address.
Migrating MySQL databases from on-premises servers to the cloud can be complex and time-consuming. Azure NetApp Files uses NetApp Cloud Sync to replicate and synchronize data between on-premises servers and the cloud. High performance, low latency Cloud Sync simplifies lift and shift data migration to Azure. Instantaneous snapshots and strong security algorithms protect moving data from loss or exposure, and Active Directory integration for SMB protocols work the same way in Azure and on-premises.
With MySQL on Azure VMs, you have full control over the operating system and the MySQL server instance configuration. With a VM, you decide when to update or upgrade the operating system and database software. You also decide when to install any additional software such as an antivirus application. Some automated features are provided to greatly simplify patching, backup, and high availability. You can control the size of the VM, the number of disks, and their storage configurations. For more information, see virtual machine and cloud service sizes for Azure.
For more details on NetApp APIs on Azure, check out our blog on Azure NetApp Files APIs.
Learn about the next steps toward deploying your MySQL database on the Azure cloud today.