We had several goals in mind for this book. Many of them were derived from thinking about that mythical perfect MySQL book that none of us had read but that we kept looking for on bookstore shelves. Others came from a lot of experience helping other users put MySQL to work in their environments. We wanted a book that wasn’t just a SQL primer. We wanted a book with a title that didn’t start or end in some arbitrary time frame (“...in Thirty Days,” “Seven Days To a Better...”) and didn’t talk down to the reader. Most of all, we wanted a book that would help you take your skills to the next level and build fast, reliable systems with MySQL—one that would answer questions like “How can I set up a cluster of MySQL servers capable of handling millions upon millions of queries and ensure that

things keep running even if a couple of the servers die?”

We decided to write a book that focused not just on the needs of the MySQL application developer but also on the rigorous demands of the MySQL administrator,

who needs to keep the system up and running no matter what the programmers or users may throw at the server. Having said that, we assume that you are already relatively experienced with MySQL and, ideally, have read an introductory book on it. We also assume some experience with general system administration, networking, and Unix-like operating systems. This revised and expanded second edition includes deeper coverage of all the topics in the first edition and many new topics as well. This is partly a response to the changes that have taken place since the book was first published: MySQL is a much larger and more complex piece of software now. Just as importantly, its popularity has exploded. The MySQL community has grown much larger, and big corporations are now adopting MySQL for their mission-critical applications. Since the first edition, MySQL has become recognized as ready for the enterprise.* People are also using it more and more in applications that are exposed to the Internet, where downtime and other problems cannot be concealed or tolerated.