TokuDB is an alternative storage engine for MySQL that offers features like compression, hot schema changes, amortized writes, and multiple clustering indexes. It can help get past limitations of InnoDB. When evaluating TokuDB, you should test queries and overall performance and make sure it meets your requirements. The minimum installation involves configuring parameters like open file limits, cache size, and direct I/O in MySQL and disabling transparent huge pages in Linux. Loading and backing up data may require using ALTER TABLE, SELECT INTO OUTFILE, or the TokuDB Hot Backup plugin. Key things to monitor include open file descriptors, swapping, and checkpoint durations.

1. TokuDB: What You Need to
Know
Jervin Real
MySQL and Friends, FOSDEM 2016

2. Jervin Real

3. Why are you looking at TokuDB?

4. You think it’s shiny?

5. Shiny TokuDB Features
•Compression choices
•Hot schema changes
•Amortized writes
•Longer hardware life
•Faster replication
•Multiple clustering indexes

6. Because you need to get past InnoDB
limitations?

7. Evaluation
•Queries
•Overall performance
•Requirements

8. Evaluation - Queries
•Need for rewrites?
•Grammatical changes

9. Performance
BAD GOOD
UNIQUE KEY Amortized writes, saves IO
Non-sequential PK Wide tables, many indexes, good write
performance
SELECTs penalty from
merging MBs
Read free replication

10. Minimum Install - OS
echo never > /sys/kernel/mm/transparent_hugepage/enabled
echo never > /sys/kernel/mm/transparent_hugepage/defrag
/etc/security/limits.conf
mysql soft nofile 65536
mysql hard nofile 65536

11. Minimum Install - MySQL
[mysqld]
open-files-limit = <LARGE_ENOUGH>
tokudb_fs_reserve_percent = <FIXED_SIZE>
tokudb_cache_size = <50% RAM>
tokudb_directio = ON
log_bin = /path/to/log-bin
[mysqld_safe]
malloc-lib = /path/to/jemalloc

12. Minimum Install - MySQL

13. Minimum Install - MySQL
[mysqld]
open-files-limit = <LARGE_ENOUGH>
tokudb_fs_reserve_percent = <FIXED_SIZE>
tokudb_cache_size = <50% RAM>
tokudb_directio = ON
log_bin = /path/to/log-bin
[mysqld_safe]
malloc-lib = /path/to/jemalloc

14. Loading Data
•ALTER TABLE innodbtbl ENGINE=TokuDB;
•mysql tokuschema < mysqldumpfile.sql
•SELECT INTO OUTFILE, LOAD DATA INTO

15. Backups
•Open source plugin TokuDB Hot Backup
•Copies EVERYTHING!
•datadir, tokudb_data_dir, tokudb_tmp_dir,
tokudb_log_dir
•Disable innodb_use_native_aio! – lp#1521590
•Use LVM!

16. What to Monitor
•Open file descriptors
•Swapping
•Checkpoint durations

17. Questions?