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Galera Cluster vs Percona XtraBackup: What are the differences?
Introduction:
Galera Cluster and Percona XtraBackup are both popular tools used in database management for different purposes. While Galera Cluster focuses on providing high availability and synchronous replication, Percona XtraBackup is primarily used for creating backups of MySQL databases efficiently.
Replication Method: Galera Cluster uses synchronous multi-master replication, where all nodes in the cluster can accept write operations. In contrast, Percona XtraBackup relies on traditional asynchronous replication, where the primary server replicates data to secondary servers.
Failover Handling: In Galera Cluster, failover is automatic and built-in, ensuring seamless transitions in case of node failures. Percona XtraBackup, on the other hand, requires manual intervention for failover since it focuses on data backup rather than high availability.
Consistency and Data Integrity: Galera Cluster ensures data consistency and integrity across all nodes in real-time, as all nodes receive the same set of transactions. Percona XtraBackup guarantees data integrity through consistent backups, but it does not provide real-time consistency checks.
Operational Complexity: Galera Cluster simplifies cluster management by eliminating the need for third-party tools for replication and failover. Percona XtraBackup, however, requires additional tools and configurations to set up and manage backups efficiently.
Point-in-Time Recovery: Galera Cluster does not support point-in-time recovery, making it challenging to roll back or recover to specific timestamps. Percona XtraBackup, on the other hand, supports point-in-time recovery, allowing users to restore databases to a specific state in the past.
Resource Utilization: Galera Cluster distributes write operations across all nodes, which may lead to higher resource utilization compared to Percona XtraBackup, which focuses solely on backup processes and consumes fewer resources during regular operations.
In Summary, Galera Cluster emphasizes high availability and synchronous replication, while Percona XtraBackup focuses on efficient backup processes and point-in-time recovery in MySQL databases.
