If you haven’t already tried SkySQL, it is worth noting that you can now launch a Galera Cluster. SkySQL is an automated Database as a Service (DBaas) solution to launch a Galera Cluster within Google Cloud Platform. Launching a Galera Cluster is currently a tech preview and you are still eligible for USD$500 worth of credit, which should let you evaluate it for quite a bit.
When you choose Transactions (it also supports Analytics, Both (HTAP) and Distributed SQL which is also Galera Cluster), you’ll notice that you can launch the Galera Cluster tech preview in multiple regions: Americas, APAC, or EMEA. Costs per hour for Sky-4×15 which has 4 vCPUs and 15GB of memory is USD$0.6546/hour/node (and when you think about it, you’re getting a minimum of 3 Galera Cluster nodes and one MaxScale node which acts as a load balancer and endpoint for your application). You’ll also pay a little more for storage (100GB SSD storage is USD$0.0698/hour due to the 3 nodes). So overall, expect an estimated total of USD$1.9638/hour for the Sky-4×15 nodes, and $0.0698/hour for the 100GB storage per node, bringing your total to USD$2.0336/hour.
Once launched, you’ll note that the service state will be pending till all the nodes are launched. During this time you will also have to whitelist your IP addresses that are planning to access the endpoint. Doing so is extremely straightforward as it does automatic detection within the browser for you. You’ll probably need to add a few more for your application and so forth, but this is extremely straightforward and very well documented.
You’re then given temporary service login credentials, and again, it is extremely well documented. You also get an SSL certificate to login with, and considering this is using the cloud, it makes absolute sense.
A quick point to note: you may see such an error when you’re trying to connect to the MaxScale endpoint, especially if you’re using the MySQL 8 client: ERROR 1105 (HY000): Authentication plugin 'MariaDBAuth' failed. The easy fix is of course to use the proper client library. You also automatically get connected to one of the three nodes in the cluster.
Overall, when we evaluated it, you end up with a 10.5.5-3-MariaDB-enterprise-log, which means it also comes with a few handy additions not present in the community versions: GCache encryption, BlackBox, and non-blocking DDL (wsrep_osu_method = NBO is an option). When you run a SHOW VARIABLES you will notice a few new additions, some of which include: wsrep_black_box_name, wsrep_black_box_size, and an obviously new wsrep_provider, ibgalera_enterprise_smm.so.
Why not take SkySQL for a spin? It is a really easy way to launch a Galera Cluster, and you also have a $500 credit. Load some data. Send some feedback. And if you’re interested in learning more, why not attend: Achieving uninterrupted availability with clustering and transaction replay on November 17 at 10 a.m. PT and 4 p.m. CET? This and more will be discussed at the webinar.