Page 256 - Open Soource Technologies 304.indd

Web Technologies-I

Notes MySQL database is also used for internal operations, tracking game downloads, account
authentication, game activations and server logs.
MySQL Query Analyzer
In order to accommodate the growth in website traffic, the DBA team at Big Fish Games has
been looking into opportunities to improve application performance. Tuning and optimizing
the database is one of the options, but it would not help if the performance problem is caused
by poorly-written SQL code.
To gain insights into the quality of the SQL code and execution statistics, Big Fish Games
has been using the command line tools to identify target areas for potential performance
improvement. However, for every problem resolution, extra effort was required to combine
information from multiple sources because each command only provided a limited
perspective.
Now, the MySQL Query Analyzer provides a consolidated view of query activities and
execution details, and has enabled Big Fish Games to quickly identify poorly running queries
and tackle the root causes directly in the SQL code. With the help of the MySQL Query
Analyzer, the DBA team caught a “bad” query running 400,000 times overnight which never
showed up in query logs. Furthermore, the MySQL Query Analyzer is very easy to use and
does not require the user to be a world-class MySQL expert to fully leverage its benefits.
Since the Query Analyzer uses a Service Agent listening to application queries and
performances metrics, the MySQL servers can always be live and operational when being
analyzed. There is no need to switch the servers back and forth between on-line and off-line,
which eliminates unnecessary risks to server availability and reliability.

After deploying the MySQL Query Analyzer, Big Fish Games tripled its database performance
within three days, rather than weeks.
MySQL Enterprise Monitor

Big Fish Games also relies on the MySQL Enterprise Monitor and the Dashboard graphs,
which show the number of queries per second, CPU load and replication status, to ensure
that the website is performing well. Big Fish Games finds the MySQL Enterprise Monitor
valuable because it is built for MySQL and offers more relevant and useful information than
generic monitoring tools.
The MySQL Enterprise Monitor provides critical data points for Big Fish Games to analyze
and determine the optimal number of slaves to serve its current website traffic and to plan
for the future capacity requirements. This tool also helps the DBA team to gain insight into
the system status, usage patterns and potential problems, without having to wait to be
notified by the operations group.
Big Fish Games chooses to deploy MySQL Enterprise for the following reasons:
• High Performance: MySQL provides fast transaction speed to serve over 300,000
simultaneous users on BigFishGames.com.
• Ease of use: MySQL is very easy to use which allows DBAs to manage MySQL servers
without a steep learning curve.
• Low Maintenance: Using MySQL Enterprise Monitor, Big Fish Games employs just two
DBAs to monitor over 70 MySQL servers, 40 in active production and 30 in the testing
environment.
• Low TCO: MySQL enabled Big Fish Games to launch their business, grow fast and
establish themselves as the industry leader at a fraction of the cost compared to using
a proprietary database.
Contd...

250 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY