What’s New in Databases? April 2017 DBAplus Newsletter Highlights

DB-Engines Ranking (April 2017)

The DB-Engines ranking combines five factors: search‑engine keyword volume, Google Trends, job postings on Indeed, LinkedIn profile mentions, and Stack Overflow activity. Notable movement: Redis overtook SQLite to reach rank 9, with a margin of less than one point.

RDBMS Updates

Oracle 12c Release 2

All platform versions of Oracle 12c Release 2 were released in April 2017, including AIX and HP‑UX. The release aims to increase market share against MySQL.

MySQL 5.7.18

Released on 11 April 2017. Key changes:

Windows builds now use the default runtime library (MD flag).

CMake support added for Developer Studio 12.6.

Numerous bug fixes.

Full release notes: https://dev.mysql.com/doc/relnotes/mysql/5.7/en/news-5-7-18.html

MySQL 5.7 Feature Deprecations

Features slated for removal or already removed include:

SQL modes: ERROR_FOR_DIVISION_BY_ZERO, NO_ZERO_DATE, NO_ZERO_IN_DATE.

Grant‑based user creation.

Extended EXPLAIN keywords (EXTENDED, PARTITIONS).

Various server/client parameters (e.g., --skip-innodb, --temp-pool, --ssl).

System variables such as log_warnings, binlog_max_flush_queue_time, innodb_support_xa, etc.

Encryption functions: ENCRYPT(), ENCODE(), DECODE(), DES_ENCRYPT(), DES_DECRYPT().

Profiling tables in INFORMATION_SCHEMA: PROFILING, INNODB_LOCKS, INNODB_LOCK_WAITS.

Use of \N to represent NULL. PROCEDURE ANALYSE().

mysqld_safe syslog output.

Initialization via mysql_install_db.

C API calls: mysql_kill(), mysql_list_fields(), mysql_list_processes(), mysql_refresh(), mysql_shutdown().

Support for the Linux replace command.

DTrace support.

MariaDB 10.2.5 RC

XtraDB engine upgraded to 5.7.14, improving multi‑processor concurrency.

Online adjustment of innodb_buffer_pool_size without restart (use SET GLOBAL innodb_buffer_pool_size=… during low‑traffic periods).

Online undo‑log shrinkage via innodb_undo_log_truncate=1.

SQL Server vNext

Upcoming “vNext” release adds:

Official support for Linux and Docker.

Cluster‑less high availability.

Cross‑OS Always On availability groups.

Online creation of non‑clustered columnar indexes.

PostgreSQL 10 (Beta)

Planned beta release in May 2017 introduces:

Sharding enhancements (async parallel execution in postgres_fdw, push‑down improvements, parallel Append nodes).

Distributed transaction support.

Security hardening with SCRAM‑SHA‑256 authentication.

Optimizer improvements (incomplete index support for composite ordering).

Feature extensions: JSON full‑text search, JIT compilation, BRIN index smoothing, hash index WAL support, logical replication enhancements, parallel query execution, and extensive partitioning capabilities.

NoSQL Updates

MongoDB 3.4.4

Released 22 April 2017. Includes bug fixes and aggregation framework additions: objectToArray and arrayToObject. Also improves sharded cluster data migration.

Redis 3.2.8

Released 12 February 2017. Critical fixes:

Jemalloc 4.4.0 dead‑lock issue (see issue #3799: https://github.com/antirez/redis/issues/3799).

Crash in MIGRATE during large‑key resharding (see issue #3796: https://github.com/antirez/redis/issues/3796).

NewSQL Updates

TiDB RC3

Released 27 April 2017. Improves MySQL compatibility, optimizer performance, and OLTP write throughput. Tested on clusters exceeding 200 TB and 500 nodes. Source code: https://github.com/pingcap/tidb

CockroachDB

Globally distributed, strongly consistent SQL database inspired by Google Spanner. Provides multi‑version concurrency control, Paxos‑based replication, and full SQL support since its 2016 beta.

Big Data Ecosystem

Hadoop 2.8.0

Released 17 March 2017 with 2 917 bug fixes and new features. Not recommended for production until later 2.8.x releases address remaining critical issues. Documentation: http://hadoop.apache.org/docs/r2.8.0/index.html

Apache HAWQ (HDB) 2.2.0.0

Pivotal’s enterprise release adds Apache Ranger integration, RHEL/CentOS 7 support, ORC external table support via PXF, and 76 bug fixes across query execution, fault tolerance, and management components.

Domestic Chinese Databases

OceanBase

Performance tests on a three‑node Paxos‑based cluster (using sysbench 0.5) show:

>1 M TPS for INSERT workloads.

>2.5 M QPS for SELECT.

>600 k TPS for OLTP.

StarRidge Multi‑Tenant Database

Designed for cloud environments, it balances resource utilization, cost, and isolation. Key capabilities include dynamic scaling, simplified upgrades, logical/physical data separation, and support for horizontal expansion.

SequoiaDB 2.8 Enterprise

Version 2.8 adds extensive unstructured data handling, performance and stability improvements, enhanced high‑availability, and visual management features.