Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) has released an update to the commercial edition of the company's MySQL database for Windows that includes a new installer and failover capabilities.

The improvements to the MySQL Enterprise Edition Server make it a more attractive option for administrators and programmers on the Windows platform.

The new installer is wizard-based to simplify the process of installing the database engine, and according to The Register is capable of simultaneously downloading and installing all MySQL modules. An updated mechanism will also patch all MySQL products with bug fixes and updates.

The second feature, failover clustering, is seen as a huge boost to businesses that require high availability. On Windows Server 2008 R2, MySQL Enterprise Edition can make use of native Windows Clustering Services to dynamically shift the workload to a duplicate database for continued uptime should the first instance fail. While this ability could already be found in MySQL Cluster, the new implementation is easier to set up.

Despite slightly different markets, the new enhancements up the heat on Microsoft's own SQL Server. Companies who may find MySQL's feature acceptable but were deterred by ease-of-use issues in the past now have a greater incentive to explore MySQL. You can download the current version of MySQL here.

For more:
- check out this article at The Register
- check out this article at Computerworld

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