MariaDB database storage engines

[dqadri]

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.

[jsalmon]

What is the default storage engine for the opendental database on new OD installs?

MyISAM. It is simple and easy to support. It is also easy to make and restore backups with.

Any thoughts on what version of MariaDB OD is moving to? What are other people using?

Current version that Open Dental supports is MariaDB v10.5.19
https://www.opendental.com/manual/mariadb.html

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.

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.

[dqadri]

What is the default storage engine for the opendental database on new OD installs?

MyISAM. It is simple and easy to support. It is also easy to make and restore backups with.

I can definitely appreciate that. I have had OD support bail me out of a few hairy scenarios with backups.

Any thoughts on what version of MariaDB OD is moving to? What are other people using?

Current version that Open Dental supports is MariaDB v10.5.19
https://www.opendental.com/manual/mariadb.html

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/mariadb

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.

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.

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]

Do you have a roadmap as to where OD is headed with their MariaDB support?

I'm not aware of any kind of roadmap.

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?

Simple answer: It would be a nightmare to support every single one of those database management system (DBMS) solutions.
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.