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MySQL is a relational database management system which is better known as RDBMS, it runs as a server providing multi-user access to a number of databases. MySQL is officially named for original developer Michael Widenius’s daughter My. MySQL works on many different system platforms, including AIX, BSDi, FreeBSD, HP-UX, i5/OS, Linux, Mac OS X etc just to name a few. The MySQL development project has made its source code available under the terms of the GNU General Public License, as well as under a variety of proprietary agreements. It was owned and sponsored by a single firm, the Swedish company MySQL AB which is now owned by Oracle Corporation.

Free-software projects that require a full-featured database management system often use MySQL. MySQL is also used in many high-profile, large-scale World Wide Web products. The “M” in the acronym of the popular LAMP software stack refers to MySQL. Its popularity for use with web applications is closely tied to the popularity of PHP. MySQL is primarily an RDBMS and therefore ships with no GUI tools to administer MySQL databases or manage data contained within. The MySQL community has created several forks such as Drizzle, OurDelta, Percona Server, and MariaDB. All of these forks were in progress before the Oracle acquisition.

MySQL has many features which sets it apart from other RDBMS systems. Let have a look at these features.

Multiple storage engines, allows one to choose the one that is most effective for each table in the application (in MySQL 5.0, storage engines must be compiled in; in MySQL 5.1, storage engines can be dynamically loaded).
Customized storage engines.
Native storage engines like Falcon, Merge, Memory, CSV, Blackhole, Cluster etc.
Partner-developed storage engines.
Community-developed storage engines.
Commit grouping, gathering multiple transactions from multiple connections together to increase the number of commits per second.

MySQL has many versions of it that has hit the market since its advent. MySQL Server 6.0.11-alpha was announced 22 May 2009 as the last release of the 6.0 line. Future MySQL Server development uses a New Release Model. Features developed for 6.0 are being incorporated into future releases.