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Accelerated logs feature in Azure Database for MySQL - Flexible Server

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Azure Database for MySQL - Flexible Server includes a feature called accelerated logs, which is now generally available for servers that use the Azure Database for MySQL - Flexible Server service tiers. The feature boosts server performance by optimizing operations related to transactional logs. When you enable this feature, the server can automatically store transactional logs on faster storage to enhance server throughput without incurring any extra cost.

This article describes the benefits and limitations of accelerated logs. It also outlines the steps to enable and disable the feature.

Key benefits

Database servers with mission-critical workloads demand robust performance, high throughput, and substantial input/output operations per second (IOPS). These servers can also be sensitive to latency fluctuations in commit times for database transactions.

The accelerated logs feature is designed to address these challenges by optimizing the placement of transactional logs on high-performance storage. Separating transaction log operations from database queries and data updates significantly improves commit latency in database transactions.

Benefits of accelerated logs include:

  • Enhanced throughput: Query throughput can increase up to twofold in high-concurrency scenarios, resulting in faster query execution. This improvement also reduces latency by up to 50%.
  • Cost efficiency: Accelerated logs offer a cost-effective solution for mission-critical workloads by providing enhanced performance at no extra expense.
  • Enhanced scalability: Accelerated logs can accommodate growing workloads for applications that need to scale easily while maintaining high performance. Applications and services on the Business Critical service tier benefit from more responsive interactions and reduced query wait times.

Note

If zone-redundant high availability is enabled for your server, expect additional latency due to the cross-zonal copy of data. We recommend that you conduct your own benchmark tests for an accurate performance assessment.

Limitations

  • Once the accelerated logs feature is enabled, the binlog_expire_logs_seconds server parameter is disregarded entirely, and any configured value will no longer have any effect. However, if the accelerated logs feature is disabled, the server will once again adhere to the configured value of binlog_expire_logs_seconds for binary log retention.

  • Storage autogrow is enabled by default for a accelerated logs enabled server and can not be disabled.

Availability of accelerated logs by region

The accelerated logs feature is currently available only in the following regions:

  • Australia East
  • Brazil South
  • Canada Central
  • Central India
  • Central US
  • China North 3
  • East Asia
  • East US
  • East US 2
  • France Central
  • Germany West Central
  • Israel central
  • Italy North
  • Japan East
  • Korea Central
  • Mexico Central
  • New Zealand North
  • North Europe
  • Norway East
  • Poland Central
  • South Africa North
  • South Central US
  • Southeast Asia
  • Spain Central
  • Sweden Central
  • Switzerland North
  • UAE North
  • UK South
  • US Gov Virginia
  • West Europe
  • West US 2
  • West US 3

Enable accelerated logs

You can enable the feature during creation of a flexible server or on an existing flexible server.

Enable accelerated logs during server creation

  1. In the Azure portal, select Flexible Server, and then select Create.

  2. Fill in values for Subscription, Resource group, Server name, Region, and other fields. For details, see the quickstart for server creation.

  3. Select the Configure server option to change the default compute and storage.

  4. In the Storage section, select the Accelerated logs checkbox to enable the feature. The checkbox is visible only after you select the server from the Business Critical compute tier.

    Screenshot that shows the checkbox for enabling accelerated logs during server creation.

  5. Select the Compute size value from the dropdown list. Then select Save and proceed to deploy your Azure Database for MySQL - Flexible Server instance by following instructions in the quickstart for server creation.

Enable accelerated logs on your existing server

Note

Your server will restart during the deployment process, so ensure that you either pause your workload or schedule it for a time that aligns with your application maintenance or that's off-hours.

  1. Go to the Azure portal.

  2. Go to Settings > Compute + storage. In the Storage section, select the Accelerated Logs checkbox.

    Screenshot that shows selections for enabling accelerated logs on an existing server.

  3. Select Save and wait for the deployment process to finish. After you receive a successful deployment message, the feature is ready for use.

Disable accelerated logs

Note

Your server will restart during the deployment process, so ensure that you either pause your workload or schedule it for a time that aligns with your application maintenance or that's off-hours.

  1. Go to the Azure portal.

  2. Go to Settings > Compute + storage. In the Storage section, clear the Accelerated Logs checkbox.

    Screenshot that shows selections for disabling accelerated logs on an existing server.

  3. Select Save and wait for the deployment process to finish. After you receive a successful deployment message, the feature is disabled.

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