VMware SQL with MySQL for Tanzu Application Service is a top choice for customers seeking a multi-cloud, easy-to-use, on demand MySQL service for enterprise applications. Customers who have adopted our solution affectionately refer to it as MySQL tile. Our solution provides tangible benefits over open source and third-party offerings for the VMware Tanzu Application Service platform. To call out a few:
- Multi-cloud support and portability between public clouds
- Every database instance created is secure by default
- Quick and easy to use with sensible settings out of the box to support a wide range of application workloads
- Simplified instance life cycle management for application developers
- Robust platform engineering controls for enterprise policy compliance
Challenges of running open source MySQL
Traditionally, open source software (OSS) offerings have frequent releases and require a customer to be operating on the latest version in order to be supported by the community. This can be challenging in practice, as upgrades have to be done frequently (depending on the open source community’s release cadence) and it takes time, effort, and technical expertise.
This is even more of a challenge for open source database software, especially since database upgrades can be daunting, extremely complex, and time-consuming without the assistance of vendor support. The risk of data loss during upgrades is real, and upgrading a persistent data store will also likely affect application availability. Typically, enterprises do not adopt the latest version of a database software right away because they need to vet and make sure that it meets certain threshold standards. By the time enterprises approve a particular version, the OSS community has already moved on to a latest version, thus making the enterprise-approved software a moving target.
Extended MySQL 5.7 support
VMware has a long history and tradition of supporting enterprise customers with innovative products and solutions. VMware SQL with MySQL for Tanzu Application Service provides enterprises with MySQL versions that are continuously maintained and patched for the life of the tile. Like the Tanzu Application Service platform, the MySQL tile is inherently multi-cloud. When developers create MySQL instances, they can rest assured that the instances are secure by default, and offer easy upgrade paths to different MySQL versions. The MySQL tile also allows platform engineers to set and propagate consistent enterprise policy for MySQL instances created by application developers.
Although it is recommended that our customers migrate their MySQL instances to version 8.0 as soon as possible, VMware understands the challenge of upgrading databases and the time and effort required by enterprise customers in doing so. To address this pain point, VMware will offer support for MySQL 5.7 beyond the end-of-life (EOL) date of October 2023. Our Tanzu Application Service and MySQL tile customers can have peace of mind knowing that their MySQL 5.7 instance is safe and protected from security vulnerabilities throughout the tile end-of-general-support (EOGS) date. This could be as late as April 2025 (which is a full 18 months of extended support beyond the open source community’s EOL of October 2023), depending on the installed tile version.
Our latest value proposition for extended support for MySQL 5.7 reflects the VMware commitment to supporting enterprise Tanzu Application Service customers. If you have deployed MySQL 5.7 instances and are looking for options beyond an imminent upgrade, do not hesitate to talk to a VMware representative on how to get Tanzu Application Service and the MySQL tile.
Further information
Check out all of the VMware Tanzu Application Service sessions at VMware Explore 2023 in Las Vegas!
To learn more about VMware Tanzu Application Service, read VMware Tanzu Application Service 4.0 Improves DevX with Dev Portal and Enhances Platform Engineering.
Get caught up on how the Cloud Foundry community impacts the platform engineering community with Open Source Platform Engineering: A Decade of Cloud Foundry.
