From MySQL to Spanner: Simplifying Your Migration Journey
Future applications require dynamic, AI-driven experiences at unknown scale and little downtime, thus old databases are unsuitable. At Google Cloud Next 25, Google Cloud introduced new features, performance, and migration tools to help migrate MySQL workloads to Spanner, their horizontally scaled, always-on operational database.
Moving programs from MySQL to Spanner is easier.
MySQL was not designed for today's availability and scaling needs. Manual replication and sharding are risky and complicated solutions that emerge when the firm is least ready. On self-managed databases, scale planning and implementation require expensive after-market solutions. Development teams may spend months designing and testing these solutions, delaying user-facing functionality. Due to scaling costs, firms often prepare for peak usage even if they seldom utilise it.
Future apps must do more than process transactions. Dynamic pricing, collaborative ideas, real-time fraud detection, and semantic discovery require novel data storage and querying methods.
Live MySQL-Spanner migrations are easier
Enterprises struggling to extend and modernise their applications may use Spanner to safely and quickly migrate production workloads from MySQL with little disruption. They may then use Spanner's full-text search, rich graph, integrated AI, and hands-free reliability.
Spanner migration automates schema and data transfer to consolidate petabyte-sized sharded MySQL databases in days rather than months for live cutovers. Updated built-in reverse replication synchronises data from Spanner to sharded MySQL instances for near-real-time failover in a disaster, and improved data movement templates increase throughput at lower cost and allow data transformation during migration. Finally, new Terraform configurations and CLI interface enable implementation customisation.
Better latency and fewer code and query modifications
Google Cloud adds powerful relational features to Spanner that closely map to MySQL to reduce the cost and difficulty of migrating application code and queries.
MySQL's default isolation level, repeated read, balances performance and consistency. Repeated read isolation, in preview, improves Spanner's serialisable isolation. It gives MySQL developers extra options to enhance efficiency and is familiar. Most popular workloads can see a 5x latency reduction over Spanner. The inclusion of auto_increment keys, SELECT…FOR UPDATE, and over 80 new MySQL procedures dramatically reduces the adjustments needed to migrate an application to Spanner.
A recent Forrester Consulting overall Economic Impact analysis found that Spanner gave a composite company typical of the clients polled a 132% return on investment and $7.74 million in benefits over three years. This is primarily owing to Spanner's integrated, hands-free, high availability operations and elastic scalability replacing self-managed databases. Spanner's ability to reduce unexpected downtime and system maintenance allowed development teams to capitalise on new prospects without expensive re-architecture projects or new capital expenditures.
Summary
The benefits of migrating from MySQL to Spanner, stressing how MySQL struggles to fulfil modern application availability and scalability needs. One of the new tools and features in the article, the Spanner migration tool, aims to reduce migration downtime. Spanner's relational capabilities and isolation levels have been improved to reduce code adjustments and improve application performance after migration. The essay finishes with data and testimonials showing that Spanner's scalable and managed features save money and provide a good return on investment.
