CockroachDB vs MariaDB: What are the differences?

Introduction

CockroachDB and MariaDB are two popular relational database management systems (RDBMS) that are used for storing and managing data. While they share some similarities, there are key differences between them that make them suitable for different use cases. This article will explore the main differences between CockroachDB and MariaDB.

1. Architecture: CockroachDB is a distributed SQL database that offers automatic data replication and distribution across multiple nodes, allowing for high scalability and fault tolerance. On the other hand, MariaDB follows a traditional master-slave architecture where data is stored and replicated on separate nodes.

2. Consistency: CockroachDB uses a distributed consensus protocol called Raft to ensure strong consistency across the distributed database. This means that every read operation will return the most recent committed value. In contrast, MariaDB uses asynchronous replication, which can potentially lead to eventual consistency, where reads may return slightly outdated data.

3. Scaling: CockroachDB is designed to scale horizontally by adding more nodes to the cluster, allowing it to handle increasing workloads. It automatically distributes data across multiple nodes, optimizing performance. MariaDB, on the other hand, scales vertically by adding more resources (such as CPU or RAM) to a single machine or by using replication to offload some of the workload to other machines.

4. Fault Tolerance: CockroachDB offers built-in fault tolerance by replicating data across multiple nodes, ensuring that even if some nodes fail, the database remains available. It automatically handles data rebalancing and failover. MariaDB also supports replication for fault tolerance, but it requires manual configuration and management of replicas.

5. SQL Compatibility: CockroachDB is compatible with the PostgreSQL wire protocol, which allows it to work seamlessly with PostgreSQL client libraries and tools. MariaDB is a fork of MySQL and is compatible with MySQL's wire protocol, providing compatibility with existing MySQL applications.

6. Consistency Models: CockroachDB offers both serializable and snapshot isolation levels, allowing developers to choose the level of consistency required for their application. MariaDB supports various isolation levels, including read committed, repeatable read, and serializable, but it does not offer snapshot isolation.

In Summary, CockroachDB is a distributed SQL database with automatic data replication and fault tolerance, strong consistency, horizontal scaling, PostgreSQL compatibility, and support for multiple consistency models. In contrast, MariaDB follows a traditional master-slave architecture, uses asynchronous replication for fault tolerance, supports MySQL compatibility, and offers a range of isolation levels.