Issue: MySQL Services for SC4

Within IT at CERN, the database of choice is Oracle. This is a supported service which is staffed by an experienced team of database administrators with appropriate infrastructure and procedures.

However, there are some Grid applications which only support MySQL. While there may be development plans to support Oracle in the future, these will not be available before the code freeze for SC4 (and may not even be ready for LHC production).

The current list of MySQL-only applications are

• Resource Broker
• R-GMA
• Archiver
• Site Functional Tester

The Resource Broker service is defined as Critical in the SC4 service definition. The others are classified as Medium.

For the critical services, the following functions need to be in place

• Administrator on-call 24/24
• Automated monitoring of the database with alerts to operator
• Automated and online backup with tested restore procedures
• Working Instructions for the administrators and operators on starting/stopping/diagnosing databases and their associated applications
• Recovery in the event of failed components

The delivery of reliable Grid application services will be dependent on a reliable database service that provides the above functions.