Backup Compression Ratios: SQL Server vs MySQL
By Tom Nonmacher
In the world of database management, backing up your data is a critical operation. Equally important is the ability to effectively compress these backups to maximize storage efficiency. This article will compare the backup compression ratios of SQL Server 2016, SQL Server 2017, MySQL 5.7, DB2 11.1, and Azure SQL.
SQL Server 2016 and 2017 offer a built-in backup compression feature. The compression ratio highly depends on the type of data but in a typical scenario, you can expect a compression ratio of about 70%. To enable backup compression in SQL Server, you can use the following T-SQL code:
USE master;
EXEC sp_configure 'backup compression default', '1';
RECONFIGURE WITH OVERRIDE;
MySQL 5.7 also offers a backup compression feature. However, it's not as straightforward as SQL Server. To compress a MySQL backup, you must first generate the backup using mysqldump and then use a third-party tool like gzip for compression. The compression ratio, like SQL Server, depends on the type of data but is generally around 70-75%.
mysqldump -u root -p dbname | gzip > dbname.sql.gz
DB2 11.1 takes a different approach. It doesn't have a built-in backup compression feature like SQL Server and MySQL. However, you can still compress DB2 backups by using operating system level tools. The compression ratio in DB2 is usually around 60-65%.
Azure SQL, on the other hand, automatically compresses backups. The backup compression ratio in Azure SQL is typically around 80-85%. This high compression ratio makes Azure SQL a great choice for businesses that require efficient storage management.
In summary, backup compression is a crucial feature in database management systems. SQL Server 2016 and 2017, MySQL 5.7, DB2 11.1, and Azure SQL all offer ways to compress backups, but the efficiency of compression varies. While Azure SQL provides the highest compression ratio, SQL Server and MySQL also offer competitive ratios. However, the compression process in MySQL is a bit more complicated than in SQL Server. DB2, while lacking a built-in feature, can also achieve reasonable compression ratios using OS level tools.
As always, the choice of DBMS often depends more on the specific needs of your business than on individual features. Thus, it's essential to understand your requirements and choose the DBMS that best fits your needs.