Sun Microsystem at NXTComm08 unveiled a new version of the open source MySQL database specifically built to the stringent requirements of service provider applications like subscriber databases (HLR and HSS) and service delivery platforms.

Sun has been gaining traction with MySQL in the telco market in the past year, combining the core MySQL database with carrier-ready database cluster technology acquired from Ericsson. The new MySQL Cluster 6.3Carrier Grade Edition tracks with carrier trends of deploying larger, more centralized databases and ensuring data availability across geographies.

“It has been a real hit for us, probably our fastest growing business in the past year,” said Zach Urlocher, vice president of products in Sun’s database group. “Telecom is avery specialized business; when we went into it made sure we had a team exclusively focused on supporting high availability, carrier grade applications.”

Sun’s goal with the open source MySQL is to keep its price at about 90% of commercial databases, making it a strong alternative for both service providers and vendors looking to replace better-known commercial offerings or home-grown database solutions, Urlocher said. Sun counts among its MySQL customers vendors including Nokiea Siemens, Alcatel Luncent and Motorola and service providers such as France Telecom, Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone.

“The cost savings of open source gets us in the door,” said Urlocher, “but we have to have the performance and reliability to stay there. Everybody’s facing the pressure of reducing costs. One of our [vendor] customers told us the price of a database license is often forty to fifty percent of the price of their solution. We can help take out some of those costs.”

New features in MySQL Cluster 6.3 including integrated disk-based data support, enabling simultaneous support for both highly-transaction and persistent data on a single system; geographic replication, improving resiliency and lessening the chance of site-level database failure; and online schema management, reinforcing MySQL’s ability to perform in “five-nines”, high-availability environments.

MySQL Cluster is available under the open source GPL license for a range of popular operating systems, including RHEL and SUSE Linux, Solaris, and Mac OS X. Sun also offers commercial licensing, expert consulting, and technical support for MySQL Cluster.