Definitely a more advanced topic, but I wanted to see the developers and power users thoughts on this.
I'm currently recovering my OD database (currently MariaDB 10.5.13, InnoDB) from some data corruption. While doing this, I'm also researching setting up replication and going to upgrade my MariaDB to the latest stable in the 10.5 range, and then explore moving that up to more current versions.
From going through the mariadb documentation (https://mariadb.com/kb/en/choosing-the- ... ge-engine/), it looks like MyISAM was deprecated a while back and replaced with the Aria storage engine. All of the internal tables are on Aria (which I confirmed on my install), which is supposed to be a replacement for MyISAM. The default storage engine for most purposes is InnoDB.
What is the default storage engine for the opendental database on new OD installs?
These are all the currently maintained release versions:
MariaDB 10.5.25 is the latest 10.5 GA release, and is maintained until June 2025.
MariiaDB 10.6.18 is the latest 10.6 GA release, and is maintained until July 2026.
MariaDB 10.11.8 is the latest 10.11 GA release, and is maintained until February 2028.
MariaDB 11.4.1 is the current long term development release.
Any thoughts on what version of MariaDB OD is moving to? What are other people using?
I'll be testing different versions to see how they connect, and where they fall short as I work through the data corruption fix on my own OD instance.
I was also curious to see what storage engines other people are using.
MariaDB database storage engines
MariaDB database storage engines
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Danish Qadri, DMD
Lake Family Dentistry
296 Lake Ave
Colonia, NJ 07067
Danish Qadri, DMD
Lake Family Dentistry
296 Lake Ave
Colonia, NJ 07067
Re: MariaDB database storage engines
MyISAM. It is simple and easy to support. It is also easy to make and restore backups with.
Current version that Open Dental supports is MariaDB v10.5.19
https://www.opendental.com/manual/mariadb.html
Many changes to our code were needed when we started to support the InnoDB storage engine for the first time. It was just so different from MyISAM and it took a while to find all of the problems that were caused from treating the database tables as if they were the same storage engine. I'd imagine the same kind of treatment will be required for any new storage engine introduced. It is always going to be a gamble when using a storage engine that we don't officially support or a version of MariaDB that we don't officially support.
The best thing about a boolean is even if you are wrong, you are only off by a bit.
Jason Salmon
Open Dental Software
http://www.opendental.com
Jason Salmon
Open Dental Software
http://www.opendental.com
Re: MariaDB database storage engines
I can definitely appreciate that. I have had OD support bail me out of a few hairy scenarios with backups.
Do you have a roadmap as to where OD is headed with their MariaDB support? As of June 2025 (~ 1 year away), the database hits EOL and is no longer maintained. This was a nice link I found while googling (also good for other projects). https://endoflife.date/mariadbjsalmon wrote: ↑Mon May 20, 2024 4:17 pmCurrent version that Open Dental supports is MariaDB v10.5.19
https://www.opendental.com/manual/mariadb.html
I remember that there was an Oracle option a while back that fell out of favor. One of my friends asked why there was no support for PostgreSQL too. Is the SQL code specific to MySQL/MariaDB or is it the auxiliary data handling code? Why can't OD be SQL agnostic? Use MSSQL or IBM DB2?jsalmon wrote: ↑Mon May 20, 2024 4:17 pmMany changes to our code were needed when we started to support the InnoDB storage engine for the first time. It was just so different from MyISAM and it took a while to find all of the problems that were caused from treating the database tables as if they were the same storage engine. I'd imagine the same kind of treatment will be required for any new storage engine introduced. It is always going to be a gamble when using a storage engine that we don't officially support or a version of MariaDB that we don't officially support.
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Danish Qadri, DMD
Lake Family Dentistry
296 Lake Ave
Colonia, NJ 07067
Danish Qadri, DMD
Lake Family Dentistry
296 Lake Ave
Colonia, NJ 07067
Re: MariaDB database storage engines
I'm not aware of any kind of roadmap.
Simple answer: It would be a nightmare to support every single one of those database management system (DBMS) solutions.dqadri wrote: ↑Mon May 20, 2024 5:12 pmI remember that there was an Oracle option a while back that fell out of favor. One of my friends asked why there was no support for PostgreSQL too. Is the SQL code specific to MySQL/MariaDB or is it the auxiliary data handling code? Why can't OD be SQL agnostic? Use MSSQL or IBM DB2?
Complicated answer: They don't adhere to a standard and each DBMS does their own thing. Often times, they support something in common but will still implement that thing differently (e.g. GROUP BY). It isn't like eClaims where there is a standard (X12) that clearinghouses and carriers all agree on. Sure would be nice if there was such a thing.
The best thing about a boolean is even if you are wrong, you are only off by a bit.
Jason Salmon
Open Dental Software
http://www.opendental.com
Jason Salmon
Open Dental Software
http://www.opendental.com