How does Tungsten Cluster compare to Microsoft Azure Database for MySQL?

Tungsten Cluster supports a far broader set of MySQL deployment scenarios than Azure Database for MySQL. Azure supports only basic high availability and continuous operations within Azure. Tungsten Cluster adds disaster recovery, zero-downtime maintenance, multi-primary, active-active, and geo-scale topologies — deployable on-premises, in any cloud, or in hybrid environments.

Can Tungsten Cluster run outside of Microsoft Azure?

Yes. Tungsten Cluster deploys on-premises, on AWS, GCP, Azure, or in hybrid and multi-cloud environments. Azure Database for MySQL is limited exclusively to Microsoft Azure and does not support multi-cloud or on-premises deployments.

Does Azure Database for MySQL support active-active or geo-scale deployments?

No. Azure Database for MySQL does not support active-active, active-passive, disaster recovery, or geo-scale topologies. Tungsten Cluster supports all of these through its CAP, CAA, and DAA topology options.

How does Azure Database for MySQL support compare to Tungsten Cluster support?

Azure's basic support tier has no SLA, and business-critical Premier support is extremely expensive. Support is often handled by call center staff with limited DBA experience. Tungsten Cluster includes 24/7/365 support with an average urgent response time under 3 minutes, delivered by engineers with 20+ years of DBA and site reliability experience.

Which MySQL versions and storage engines does Tungsten Cluster support vs Azure?

Azure Database for MySQL supports only MySQL 5.6, 5.7, and 8.0 with InnoDB engine only. Tungsten Cluster supports all MySQL community versions, MySQL Enterprise, MariaDB, and Percona Server, and works with all MySQL storage engines.

Tungsten Cluster vs. Microsoft Azure

MySQL and MariaDB Clustering Solutions Comparison

Learn why Tungsten Clustering is a better (complete, proven) and more cost-effective (software, 24/7 support and consulting all included) MySQL High Availability (HA), Disaster Recovery (DR) and Geographically-Distributed (Geo-Scale) solution compared to Amazon AWS Aurora for MySQL.

For any MySQL clustering to be a complete high-availability and disaster recovery solution, it requires three core components working in sync: connectivity (proxy), management (orchestration) and replication (local/global).

Tungsten Cluster

Tungsten Clustering includes three highly integrated and fully tested components Tungsten Proxy, Tungsten Manager and Tungsten Replicator working together to provide both local (individual clusters) and global (multiple clusters working together) data service for continuous 24/7 MySQL operations.

Connectivity Complete and Integrated (Tungsten Proxy)

Orchestration Integrated Business Rules (Tungsten Manager)

Replication Advanced Local and Global (Tungsten Replicator)

 Connectivity
 Orchestration
 Replication

Microsoft Azure

Azure Database for MySQL comes in two varieties: “Single Server” with no failover replica, or “Flexible Server” with a failover replica. Flexible Server was just released as GA in November 2021. Read replicas can be used on either version and a 3rd-party proxy would be needed to fully utilize the read replicas without application changes.

Connectivity Direct (might benefit from 3rd party solution)

Orchestration Limited

Replication Synchronous for failover replica, asynchronous for local read replicas, N/A for global needs

Azure MySQL Comparison

Use Cases Supported

	Tungsten Cluster	Azure MySQL
High Availability	Supported	Supported
Disaster Recovery	Supported	Not Supported
Zero Downtime Maintenance	Supported	Not Supported
Continuous Operations	Supported	Supported
Multi-Primary	Supported	Not Supported
Active/Passive	Supported	Not Supported
Active/Active	Supported	Not Supported
Geo-Scale	Supported	Not Supported

Features & Benefits

	Tungsten Cluster	Azure MySQL
Continuous Operations	4.67	2.67
Zero Downtime Maintenance	Both database, operating system and hardware changes & upgrades	Requires maintenance window and downtime
High Availability	Automatic failover of primary	60-120 seconds downtime with DNS change
DR with Active/Passive Cluster	Automated site level switch with one failover command	No automation, stop master (2 minutes to complete), repoint apps to replica
DR with Active/Active Cluster	Only requires repointing the apps	Active/Active not supported
DR Failback	Single command, fast	Requires reprovision, time consuming
Backup & Data Recovery	Flexible backups using existing external tools	Managed, 35 day max retention
Scalability/Read replicas	4.40	3.60
Scalability/Read replicas	Supported	Supported
Scalability/Physical location	Deploy anywhere, on-prem and in the cloud (also hybrid- and multi-cloud)	Azure only
Scalability/Instance size	Choose the instance size, minimal requirements	Choose instance size, minimal requirements
DB Node Auto-Scale	No auto-scale. Requires manual steps	No auto-scale. Requires manual steps.
DB Cluster Scaling	Ideal for the SaaS apps (Pod Architecture)	Add read replicas
Geographic Scaling	5.00	0.67
Scalability/Read replicas	Across regions, availability zones, and clouds	Just simple replication to another region
Active/Active Geo-Clusters	Multi-site active/active supported and widely deployed	Not supported
Active/Passive Geo-Clusters	Supported and widely deployed in cross-regions and cross-clouds, also on-premises	Just simple replication to another region
Performance	4.75	2.75
Smart-Scale	Tungsten Proxy with automatic read/write split, no application changes	Just basic gateway
Load Balancing	Highly configurable with automatic read/write splitting	Requires app changes or 3rd party proxy
Up to Date Read Replicas	Using asynchronous replication	Using asynchronous replication
Robust Database Performance	Tune your favorite database, asynchronous replication adds almost no performance penalty	Tune database using standard MySQL concepts
Transparency	5.00	2.67
No Application Changes	Works out of box without app changes	Though a limited number of SQL constructs not supported, no failover awareness
All MySQL Versions	Native MySQL: Community, MySQL Enterprise, MariaDB, Percona Server, all versions	5.6, 5.7, 8.0 GA, or just 5.7 (flexible service preview)
Compatibility With All Database Engines	All MySQL engines	InnoDB only
Security	4.33	5.00
Security/Encryption at rest	Can leverage existing cloud or filesystem encryption technologies	Supported
Security/Encryption in flight	Supported for all traffic	Supported
Compliance (PCI, HIPAA)	Can be used in security/privacy standards	Can be used in security/privacy standards
Management and Monitoring	4.80	4.00
Deployment	Easy to deploy	Easy to deploy
Cluster Management	Easy management via web-based GUI	UI, region specific - can only view a single region at a time
Monitoring - GUI	Full GUI based cluster monitoring. Performance monitoring with Prometheus	Monitoring is very basic
Alerts / Notifications	Integration with notifications systems	Alerting system in place, though metrics are basic
OS/DB Patching	Assistance with scripts, no downtime	Automatic, however will cause interruption
Real-time Data (Analytics, Data Lake, Reporting)	5.00	1.00
Replication Into Analytics	Real-time to the data analytics engines (AWS Redshift, Hadoop, Vertica, many others)	Basic MySQL replication only, manual setup
Filtering	Complex filtering at schema and data level	Only basic MySQL replication
Cluster Aware	Replication stream not interupted by loss of a single cluster node	External tools need to be made aware

Support Services

	Tungsten Cluster	Azure MySQL
24/7 Support	5.00	2.00
24/7 Support	24/7 support with high, near 100% customer satisfaction	Basic support has no SLA, business-critical Premier support extremely expensive
Fast Support Reponse Time	The fastest in the industry, averaging less than 3 minutes for Urgent support request.	Unless paying very high Premier support fee
Support Team Experience	Each member has 20+ years experience on DBA and Site Reliability	Unknown who will be providing support, often lower-level call center member with limited or no DBA experience

Intangibles

	Tungsten Cluster	Azure MySQL
MySQL Version Support	5.00	1.00
MySQL Community	Fully supported, all versions up to 8.0	MySQL 5.6, 5.7, 8.0
MySQL Enterprise	Fully supported, all versions up to 8.0	Not supported
MariaDB	Fully supported, all versions up to 10.5	Not supported
Percona Server	Fully supported	Not supported
Infrastructure and Platform	5.00	0.75
On-premises Deployment	Fully supported	Not supported
Cloud Deployment	All cloud environments (AWS, Google Cloud, MS Azure) are supported	Microsoft Azure only
Multi-Cloud	Fully supported	Not supported
Hybrid-Cloud	Fully supported	Not supported
Product Maturity	5.00	2.00
Complete	One solution for HA, DR & Geo-Scale	Basic HA available as of Nov 2021
Integrated	Comes with Manager, Proxy & Replicator	Comes with components but each are lacking functionality, some components newly available
Fully Tested	Proven in business-critical customer environments	Not mature
Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)	4.33	3.33
Low Subscription Cost, High Value	Instance size does not matter, non-linear pricing (additional clusters are at increasingly lower cost), no cost TrueUps	Instance size based pricing, Linear pricing
24/7 Support	Included	Enterprise-level support available at a very high cost
Few DBA Resource Needed	Large number of clusters can be managed with small number of DBAs	Although, the 'managed' DBaaS still needs DBAs

Tungsten Cluster

Tungsten Clustering is the only complete, fully-integrated, fully-tested MySQL HA, DR and geo-clustering solution running on-premises and in the cloud combined with industry-best and fastest, 24/7 support for business-critical MySQL, MariaDB, & Percona Server applications.

It allows enterprises running business-critical MySQL database applications to cost-effectively achieve continuous global operations with commercial-grade high availability (HA), geographically redundant disaster recovery (DR) and geographically distributed active/active.

Continuous Operations

Local clustering for enterprise-grade high availability (HA) and multi-site clustering for best-in-class disaster recovery (DR).

High Availability

Automated local failover, automated recovery and failback for MySQL and MariaDB clusters.

Disaster Recovery

Composite “clusters of clusters” spread across two or more sites or cloud data centers for a geographically distributed managed mesh of MySQL or MariaDB clusters.

Global Scaling

Geo-distributed and global clusters that are locally and globally aware. Serve a geographically-distributed user base with high availability and performance.

Interested to Learn More? Get in Touch!

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Related Resources

Read the Comparison Blog

MS Azure MySQL - High Noon with Tungsten Clustering MySQL High Availability (HA), Disaster Recovery (DR) and Geographic Distribution

This is the next in our ‘High Noon’ comparison series in which we look at the main solutions for MySQL high availability, disaster recovery and geographic distribution. Here we focus on highly available, geo-scale, multi-region MySQL for mission-critical sites and apps with Microsoft Azure Database for MySQL as compared to native MySQL, MariaDB clusters with Continuent Tungsten in the cloud, hybrid-cloud, multi-cloud or on-premises.

Matthew Lang

Mar 02, 2021

MySQL Clustering Competitor Comparisons, Disaster Recovery, MySQL High Availability, Tungsten Clustering

Watch the Comparison Presentation

MySQL HA/DR/Geo-Scale - High Noon #4: MS Azure Database MySQL

This fourth of our High Noon series of on-demand webinars is focused on Microsoft Azure Database for MySQL. It looks at some of the key characteristics of Azure MySQL and how it fares as a MySQL HA / DR / Geo-Scale solution, especially when compared to native MySQL, MariaDB, or Percona MySQL using Continuent Tungsten Clustering.

Matthew Lang

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Tungsten Cluster vs. Microsoft Azure

Azure MySQL Comparison

Use Cases Supported

Features & Benefits

Support Services

Intangibles

Tungsten Cluster

Continuous Operations

High Availability

Disaster Recovery

Global Scaling

Interested to Learn More? Get in Touch!

Related Resources

Read the Comparison Blog

MS Azure MySQL - High Noon with Tungsten Clustering MySQL High Availability (HA), Disaster Recovery (DR) and Geographic Distribution

Watch the Comparison Presentation

MySQL HA/DR/Geo-Scale - High Noon #4: MS Azure Database MySQL

Upgrade From the Following Solutions

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Highly Experienced

Quick Response

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