Galera Cluster vs Oracle: What are the differences?
# Key Differences between Galera Cluster and Oracle
Galera Cluster and Oracle are two widely used database systems, each with their own unique features and capabilities. Let's explore some key differences between the two:
1. **Data Replication Method**: Galera Cluster uses synchronous multi-master replication, where all nodes in the cluster are active and can accept read and write requests simultaneously. On the other hand, Oracle primarily relies on asynchronous replication, where a primary database sends changes to standby databases periodically.
2. **Licensing Costs**: Oracle is a proprietary database system that requires users to pay for licenses based on factors such as the number of CPU cores, users, and data size. In contrast, Galera Cluster is an open-source solution that is free to use and distribute, making it a cost-effective option for many organizations.
3. **High Availability**: Galera Cluster provides automatic node failure detection and failover mechanisms, ensuring high availability for the database system. Oracle also offers high availability features, but they may require additional configurations and resources to achieve the same level of redundancy.
4. **Ease of Scalability**: Galera Cluster offers seamless horizontal scalability by adding more nodes to the cluster, allowing for increased capacity and performance as the workload grows. Oracle, on the other hand, may require manual partitioning and sharding techniques to achieve similar scalability benefits.
5. **Consistency Model**: Galera Cluster uses the InnoDB storage engine by default, providing strong consistency guarantees across all nodes in the cluster. Oracle offers different isolation levels and consistency models, allowing users to configure the system based on their specific requirements and trade-offs.
6. **Monitoring and Management Tools**: Oracle provides a comprehensive set of monitoring and management tools, such as Enterprise Manager, for administrators to oversee the database system. Galera Cluster, being open-source, may require third-party tools or scripts for monitoring and managing the cluster effectively.
In Summary, Galera Cluster and Oracle differ in their data replication methods, licensing costs, high availability mechanisms, scalability options, consistency models, and monitoring tools, catering to different user needs and preferences in the database landscape.